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Answering The Language Question

By William R. Ortiz
President, HispanicWorks

Now that the U.S. Hispanic segment numbers 40 million, many a corporate boardroom has taken notice, triggering phone calls to marketing and segmentation departments to figure out how to best leverage this opportunity. While we've come far from the days when I was asked by a senior executive, "When does a Hispanic stop being a Hispanic?" the question of which language to use to reach this segment has always been a topic of much discussion. Some marketers argue that Spanish is the only way to reach this segment, while others feel that English is themost effective way to go. Each of these lines of thinking has merit, but also considerable flaws. The process truly begins with good marketing. By treating the segment with the same degree of care you would give to any new important market segment and investing the time and money needed to understand category usage, consumer needs and purchase drivers. This is a critical point, because to assume that links between a consumer and product will be the same across cultures isto walk away from the power of personal relevance.

Multicultural marketing experts experience that power again and again. Talking with consumers and drawing out their cultural perspectives, often exposes reactions, positive and negative, that never occur to an outsider. That is the key imperative for marketers who want to tap the revenue potential of the Hispanic market. With that as a basis, what are some of the key things you should know about language spoken and media usage in the Hispanic market? What is the fact-based research that provides insights into their language use? And how effective are commercials in English vs.Spanish? One keything to note is that almost half of U.S.Hispanics are foreign-born. This is significant, as this group of Hispanics is even more likely to be Spanish-speaking and slower to acculturate than U.S. born Hispanics. In fact, 47% ofthe growth in the U.S.Hispanic population is driven by immigration, guaranteeing that there will always be an influx of new Spanish-speaking immigrants, requiring different communications strategies. Beyond place of birth, age and language classification, there are several other factors to be considered as you work to gain a better understanding of your target and how to best reach them. These factors include: length of residence, marital status, self-identification and life stage.

The Yankelovich/Cheskin Hispanic Monitor has derived four distinct life stage segments based on these factors:Young Progressives, Home Builders, Hearth-Hearted and Prime of Life. But within each of these segments, there are also three acculturation segments: Hispanic Dominant, Bicultural Hispanics and Assimilated Hispanics. It's doing this type of segmentation, but in a manner that's specific to your category, that provides insights into your target(s) and how to best communicate with them. The Pew Hispanic Center cites a trend that demands to be watched and further researched: the rise in the number of second generation Latinos. In short, by the year 2020, it's estimated that second generation Latinos (born in U.S.) will outnumber first generation Latinos (born outside U.S.). The second generation segment, however, skews young, with a median age of 13 that's estimated to increase to 17 by 2020.

Their cultural identity will most likely be anamalgamation of their parents' experiences, and influences from their environment in the U.S. While an equal number of first and second generation Latinos use Latino/Hispanic to self-identify, it will be interesting to follow how thispopulation segment growth trend, and their preferences, will influenceHispanic communications strategiesin the future.

So what kind of programming are Hispanics watching today and in what language?

The Nielsen Media Research Company conducts an annual enumeration study to determine language spoken by Hispanic households. The ratings data that Nielsen provides is available for the Total Hispanic Market (regardless of language preference) and Spanish-dominant Hispanics. If you were to review a recent national ranker of the TV programs watched by Total Hispanic A18-49, a group that includes English and Spanish speaking Hispanics, you would find that the top 53 programs are in Spanish. The first English-language program on this ranker, "American Idol", comes in at number 54. The next logical question is: what kind of English-language programs do Hispanics watch? In comparing ratings delivery for the top English-language programs against the Total A18-49 population vs. delivery against the Total Hispanic A18-49 population, we found that Reality and Sports programming have a particular appeal to this segment. These programs, while popular, still significantlyunder-deliver Hispanic A18-49.

It's important to note that according to Nielsen (Jan '04), the incidence of Spanish-dominant Hispanics varies geographically, from highs of 67% in Miami and 52% in Chicago to lows of 20% in Albuquerque and 16% in Corpus Christi. If your target includes Hispanics across language stratas, then English-language media or programming that delivers Hispanic households, especially in markets like Albuquerque or Corpus Christi, would be needed. An important part of this mix should also be programming that has an inherent Hispanic appeal: like "Dora The Explorer" or "The Brothers Garcia." If your target demo is a 12-34 Hispanic with an urban mindset, mun2 on cable and Urban Latino, among others, offer up relevant programming. This year alone will see the launch of two new cable networks targeting English and bilingual Hispanics: Sí TV, which launched in February, and coming this summer, Voy. In some cases, simply dropping a general market commercial in these programming environments would be inappropriate and ineffective. The messaging needs to be relevant to the target. On the Spanish-language front, in addition to broadcast options, there are more than 30 cable networks that serve Spanish-speaking Hispanics. While reach is critical, understanding the effectiveness of commercials in Spanish and English when targeting Hispanics is key. Clearly, many Hispanics watch Spanish and English-language TV. But how effectively are they being reached in these languages? A research study conducted by Roslow Research in 1994 and then again in 2000, sought to answer this question. This study exposed groups of Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanics to English and Spanish ads in a cluttered program environment – which is precisely how a viewer would be exposed to a commercial message. The findings:

The commercials in Spanish were:

• 57% more effective in message communication than English
• Significantly stronger against bilinguals, with 36% more able to correctly playback message vs. English commercials
• 4-times more persuasive than ads received in English

Clearly, marketing to Hispanics in Spanish and English is the smart thing to do. But knowing your target is the critical first step toward truly understanding whom you are marketing to, and the basis for developing a communications strategy that will effectively deliver that audience.

HISPANIC SHOPPING CART
U.S.Average Annual Expenditures and Item Share For Hispanic Consumers and All Consumers
	Hispanic Consumers		All Consumers
Avg # Persons per C.U. 3.4 # of HHs 9,261	Average Spending Per Consumer Unit (dollars)	Share of Total (percent)	Average Spending Per Consumer Unit (dollars)	Share of Total (percent)
Housing	$11,747	34.2%	$19,011	32.9%
Transportation	$57,083	20.6%	$7,633	19.3%
Personal Insurance & Pensions	$2,814	8.2%	$3,737	9.5%
Food at Home	$3,551	10.3%	$3,086	7.8%
Food Away from Home	$2,097	6.1%	$2,235	5.7%
Health Care	$1,343	3.9%	$2,182	5.5%
Enterntainment	$1,246	3.6%	$1,953	4.9%
Apparel & Services	$1,857	5.4%	$1,743	4.4%
Cash Contributions	$727	2.1%	$1,258	3.2%
Miscellaneous	$457	1.3%	$750	1.9%
Education	$428	1.2%	$648	1.6%
Personal Care Products & Services	$467	1.4%	$485	1.2%
Alcoholic Beverages	$308	0.9%	$349	0.9%
Tobacco Products & Smoking Supplies	$177	0.5%	$308	0.8%
Reading	$59	0.2%	$141	0.4%

Source: UGA Selig Center, The Multicultural Economy - U.S. Govt. Consumer Expenditure Survey

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