According to figures provided by CMR, large retail chains are still relatively small advertisers in Spanish-language newspapers. CMR includes both FSI (free standing inserts or preprints) and ROP (Run on Press) advertising in its ad-ranking. Interestingly, during the first five months of this year, the top 20 Hispanic newspapers had total retail revenues, including department stores, discount department stores and variety stores, of US $22 million.
This figure is almost twice as high as the total advertising expenditures in Spanish-language newspapers by the top 50 retail brands (US $13.56 million). This ratio implies that advertising from mom and pop stores is still the bread and butter of even the largest Spanish-language papers. As the major retail brands (Sears, Home Depot, Best Buy, Target, etc.) increase their print budgets to reach Hispanics, the weight of mom and pop stores in total retail advertising will probably decline. Overall, advertising revenue for the top 20 Hispanic newspapers during the first five months of the year was US $115.5 million. This means that retail accounted
for 19% of the overall advertising pie.
Magazines/ Tiny But Growing
Total retail advertising sales in Hispanic magazines during the first five months of 2004 were US $7.74 million, an increase of 25.2% compared to the same period of 2003, according to data provided by HispanicMagazineMonitor, a service of Media Economics Group. Department stores lead the retail category, making up 21.5% of total retail advertising, followed by Clothing and Clothing accessories (16.3%), Food and Drinking Places (14.4%), and Food and Beverage Retailers (5.1%). TV y Novelas magazine had the most retail advertising, with revenues of US $1.34 million (17.3% of total advertising), followed by People en español (US $908,000, 11.7%) and Latina (US $630,530, 8.1%).
