As a Hispanic immigrant who grew up in the U.S. since the age of eight, I am able to appreciate marketing to the Hispanic Market on the level of “Marketing” itself. In order to explain what I mean by this comment let me share something that occurs to me more and more each week. I am the Hispanic Liaison for Baltimore County, Maryland, and through this venue I am constantly involved in all things Hispanic (from outreach, to health care, employment, procurement & economic development, small business, and even juvenile counseling), and as a result I am always asked the following, “How do you reach out to the Hispanic population?”
Before I tell you how I answer, go ahead and share this post online with the help of SocialWick.
Recently, my answer to this question went a little bit deeper than the general market seems ready to deal with. As the co-founder of Advertise, LLC – a bilingual media group & advertising company, my answer was simply this, “Reaching the Hispanic population means adapting your message, which may not include using Spanish”. If you can imagine, the person who fielded this question was floored by my answer, “What?” “You wouldn’t do it in Spanish?” “How are they going to understand?” I followed by pointing out that she was communicating very effectively with me, and it wasn’t in Spanish. I went on to explain that the largest segment of the Hispanic Market is fully bilingual (which is why we are a “bilingual media group”). Consider the following, while visiting an apartment complex with a large Hispanic community, I addressed about 150 people, of which 60%-70% were Hispanic youth. All of them were bilingual to some extent and reported that they engage media channels (from TV, radio, magazines, and on-line) that are not Hispanic. They also reported that they are exposed to and on a lesser note engage Hispanic media who primarily communicate in Spanish. Although this was not scientific field research, it did mirror what current research indicates about the Hispanic Market and the mediums that they use most.
The rest of my conversation with this individual dealt with the part of my answer that focused on “adapting the message”. At Advertais, LLC we have gone through considerable research in order to offer something greater than “translation”, and that’s “intra-cultural adaptation”. Intra-cultural adaptation involves the shared knowledge and values of society, while recognizing the unique aspects of each culture individually. Most people have a problem wrapping their brains around this concept, and so they should. This is a concept that Advertais gave birth to and is one of the reasons why we are in business. Although, I can’t share all of our secrets here, I can say that what sets us apart from other Hispanic marketing companies is our willingness to “innovate” in ways that prove to be successful for our clients. As a bilingual media group & advertising company, Advertais, LLC (www.advertais.com) provides an insight into the complex world of Hispanic Marketing by stating that it isn’t always about marketing in Spanish!
Taking into account the above statement, let me say that the starting point still remains to be the use of Spanish (on the side of those who want to reach this market). Through our consulting services we find that we have to trump misguided perceptions that as long as a company or organization translates their materials, that they will automatically “reach” the Hispanic Market. Take this example, a well known car maker wanted to expand its reach in Latin America and marketed the Chevy Nova! All their materials were translated explaining the benefits of this car and what great piece of machinery it was. Well, these efforts were met with skepticism as the term “Nova” in Spanish – “no va” means “it doesn’t run”. Therefore, they were selling a car, whose name was opposite of the claims it was making about the prowess of their new model. Needless to say, sales were not what they were expecting!
So, finally the message here is that the reasons for paying attention to the Hispanic Market and communicating with them is a process that can benefit from seeking the appropriate assistance. Now, before you go and look up the first Hispanic Advertising company in the yellow pages, take a minute or two to compare what they are offering. Not all marketing companies that claim to be Hispanic concentrate on the latest research and how to apply that information to benefit the client. Having said that, as a Hispanic Media professional I understand the value of Hispanic Marketing agencies and companies. But, as a Liaison to the Hispanic market, it is important that how you reach and understand this market be done in a culturally sensitive manner.