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Can Most Spanish-dominant Hispanics Now be Reached via Online Advertising?

Are first generation Hispanic-Americans still hard to reach online? How do major marketers answer this question and how does it affect their 2010 media planning? Enrique Dussan, VP Director of Communications Planning for Wing (Goya, IDT etc.), Eva May Español Marketing & Communications, Inc., Cary (Novamex) and Franklin Vargas (Marketing Director, Genius).

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In November 2007 Portada published an article on whether it did make sense to target Spanish-dominant Hispanics online. The jury was still out on whether Spanish-dominant first generation Hispanics, most of them of Mexican origin, where online or not. Have things changed during the last two years?

According to ComScore data, the number of Hispanic Internet users rose by 10% to 22.144 million users in August 2009 compared to the same month in 2008.   It is very likely that most of the new Internet adopters during the last year are Spanish-dominant Hispanics. So does it now make sense to use the online channel to advertise to them? Portada interviewed Media Buying executives at agencies and corporations and asked them for their opinion: Here is what they had to say:

  • Enrique Dussan, VP Director of Communications Planning for Wing, Miami, FL (buys for companies including Goya and IDT).

“Internet access is more and more available in Hispanic households, first generation Hispanics are being exposed through their kids and families, we see online habits changing day to day, what was true yesterday is no longer true today and reality sometimes surprises statistics. As online evolves and becomes more and more a communication and information platform, I am sure that more and more Hispanics will embrace and take full advantage of this great media. I believe that as marketing initiatives are planned and strategize, part of the role of the message will be to engage consumers, and what a better way to engage them beyond 30 or 60 second spots than a whole online platform?”

 

  • Eva A. May, Managing Director, Español Marketing & Communications, Inc., Cary, NC (organizes campaigns for Novamex, the importer of Mexican food and soft drinks including Jarritos, Sangría Señorial, Mundet, and Mineragua; media buying is done by SMG-MV42).

”We have found that more and more families have computers and internet access for their children at least, so we believe that it is a good idea to offer online information and an educational website as an ancillary tactic. Most Mexican-American consumers are active information seekers, and respond very positively to companies who offer helpful and relevant information in Spanish. We believe that TV and radio continue to be the ideal media for targeting first-generation Mexican-American consumers, as media consumption of both media is very high. With the high ratings of Mexican soccer games, it's EASY to target Mexican men, and with the popular Mexican novelas, it's easy to target Mexican women on TV. Additionally, the emergence of special programming, local stations and networks specifically targeting Mexican Americans makes it possible and efficient for a company to reach Mexican-American consumers very effectively using TV. Most markets offer several radio stations (with very good ratings) that particularly target Mexican Americans, making it an efficient and effective medium as well.  Additionally, major Spanish-language newspapers throughout the US offer special supplements during key Mexican holiday periods, in combination with some local newspapers that target primarily Mexican-Americans, that can be used effectively for national and local market promotions.”

 

  • Franklin Vargas, Franklin Vargas, Director of Latin American Marketing, Genius, Miami, FL

”It is estimated that by 2050, there will be approximated 132.8 million of Hispanics in US, at this moment according to the US Census, Mexican American constituted 64% of Hispanic population in the US and their average age of is between 27.7 to 30 years of age. The amount of people that are not online cannot be as significant as to ignore the role of digital marketing nowadays. There fore, The role of digital marketing will be strong and aggressive in the next few years.”

 

Related Article:

Market Intelligence: Hispanic Online Media Can Charge 3 to 10 times More than General Market

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