Excellence in U.S. Hispanic Communications

Professional Project

By Marcelo Harfuch, 1998 ClassJanuary 6, 2001 NYC

Who is Hispanic in the United States?

(For the purpose of this project Hispanics and Latinos can be used interchangeably)

“Any person that has come from Latin America, Spain, or have born here in the U.S. and has Hispanic roots”

Other DefinitionAny person living in the U.S. that speaks and

understands Spanish

Brazilians are not Hispanics

Although Brazil is the biggest and richest

country in Latin America, Brazilians ARE

NOT considered Hispanics, since their roots came from Portugal, NOT from Spain and they have a different language and culture

Research Problem

U.S. Hispanic Communications is a new field

I found during my research that not a great deal of information regarding Excellence in Hispanic Communications is available, nor has been previously published

On the other hand, most of the studies in the Hispanic Communications field was conducted only by internal use of a few Hispanic advertising agencies or marketing companies

Hispanic Public Relations is a Totally New Area of Knowledge in the U.S.

That is why for my project I basically conducted primary research to get new information from top Hispanic Communicators in the U.S. and Latin America

Hispanic11%

(30 Million)

Non-Hispanic89%

(268.5 Million)Source: DRI/McGraw-Hill

30 Million U.S. Hispanics represent 11% of the total U.S. population.

Population Size

Population Comparisons

U.S. Hispanics represent over 11% of the entire population...

A population as large as that of Canada

U.S. Hispanics 30 million

Canada’s Total Population 30 million

U.S Hispanics Sub-Segments

The Hispanic market is not a unit in the U.S.

They are many sub-segments and the communication message must be different if (for example) we are targeting Hispanics in Miami or in Los Angeles

“We can’t use Mariachi music for an event in Miami or Salsa to tap Mexicans in Los Angeles”

So, different messages must be tailored according to each Hispanic sub-segment

Two-Thirds of U.S. Hispanics are of Mexican Origin

Puerto Rico 11%

Mexican 64%

Cuba 5%Other Hispanic 6%

Central/SouthAmerica 14%

Source: SRC 1998

U.S. Hispanic PopulationContinues to Grow

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

1980 1998 2010Source: SRC 1998

Population up +99% since 1980.

14,603

30,000

40,611

(000)

Population Comparisons

In 1998 U.S. Hispanic population was the 5th largest of any Spanish speaking country in the world.

Country Pop. (Millions)

Mexico 99.1Spain 40.5Colombia 36.7Argentina 35.8

United States 30.5

Largest Minority

U.S. Hispanics will be the single largest minority group by 2005

Hispanics 13%African-Americans12%

Asian-Americans 4%

Native Americans 1%

Source: U.S. Census

Acculturation

Upon arrival to the U.S., Hispanics come in contact with a different culture. Almost immediately they begin to realize that the life-style process, customs aspirations and values found in the new society, are different from their own

As they become familiar with the traditions of the U.S., Hispanics develop new approaches to interact, living and understand the world around them. Slowly but steadily the acculturation process carries on.

Acculturation(cont’d)

To be effective, communication campaigns for Hispanics, must respect the Hispanic culture at all message levels: symbolic, explicit, visual and subliminal

There is a new generation composed by young Hispanics in their 20s and 30s that have born in the U.S. called the “The Generation Ñ” (this letter is the extra flavor unit in the Spanish alphabet)

This group, as different from their ancestors, is totally acculturated, fully bilingual and bicultural, and interacts perfectly well in both the General and the U.S. Hispanic market

Hispanic Acculturation

Partially acculturated 59%

Highly Acculturated 13%

RelativelyUnacculturated 28%

Source: SRC 1998

87% of all Hispanics remain Relatively/PartiallyUnacculturated.

Emotions are key for HispanicsDespite their degree of acculturation, a distinctive characteristic of all Hispanics is that they are very emotional and have their own symbols and traditions they inherited from their ancestors. This fact must be taken into account when designing any communications campaign targeting Hispanics.

So, regardless the degree of acculturation any communication message targeting U.S. Hispanics must BE SENT IN SPANISH, respecting the language usage according to the different U.S. Hispanic sub-segments.

Ad Effectiveness

1.Roslow Research Group, 1995.

2. Document relative effectiveness of Spanish vs. English commercials

among Hispanics.Advertising Recall

Persuasiveness

Communication

Ad Effectiveness - Findings

Commercials in Spanish are:

• 40% more effective at increasing awareness.

• 5.2 times more persuasive.

• 56% more effective in terms of message comprehension.

Source: Roslow Research Group.+

Language Usage

Spanish Only21%

English Only13%

English Mostly22%

Bilingual16%

Spanish Mostly28%

Source: A.C. Nielsen, 1997

87% of Hispanic Adults 18+ speak Spanish.

Share of Heart

Although many of them are totally acculturated, Hispanic people’s hearts remain with a Latino structure.

So in order to EFFECTIVELY communicate with Hispanics first we have to win their hearts, then their minds…. and then their pockets…

A key element to tap into the U.S. Hispanics “Building Share of Publics by Gaining

Share of Heart”

Five Communications Elements to Gain Hispanic

Share of Heart

1. Cultural relevance

2. Emotional involvement

3. The benefit

4. The product or message personality

5. Compatibility with mainstream

A Big Mistake is…To apply the same communications messages or strategies used for the General Market to reach US Hispanic Audiences Or to think that if we have some member of our staff that speaks Spanish is enough. WRONG! This is just the beginning…

Corporate America has begun to realize of the boom of the U.S. Hispanic Market and some companies have both, a general market public relations agency AND a Hispanic Public Relations agencies to specifically address Hispanics. For Example Mc Donald’s, Allstate, American Honda, etc., just to cite some examples

Value Orientation Differences

Children

Americans Hispanics

IndependenceEgalitarian

DependenceAuthoritarian

Family Role Diffusion,“Democracy”,Younger men have a say

Defined Roles,Hierarchy,Old men know more than young men

Source: Hispanic Market Connections, Inc.

Value Orientation Differences

How do we relate topeople?

Americans Hispanics

Minimize differences,everybody is thesame

What do westress inrelations?

Symmetricalinterpersonalrelationships,informality,competition

Respect,cooperation,formality

Source: Hispanic Market Connections, Inc.

Stress differences,show respect

Value Orientation Differences

How do we seeourselves?

Americans Hispanics

Within ourselvesas individuals

As part of a family,clan or group

On whom dowe rely onfor help?

Ourselves andinstitutions

Family, friends,community (“oursocial security”)

Source: Hispanic Market Connections, Inc.

What do we value inpeople?

What a personcan achieve through specialskills

A person’s background

Lots of Hispanic Media2 National Television Networks

8 Major Cable Networks

75+ Television Stations

400+ Radio Stations

155+ Newspapers

50+ Magazines

Outdoor

New Media: Internet Sites & Search Engines

New Entrants into the Hispanic Media Arena

CNN en Español

Canal Sur

MTV Latino

Telenoticias

HBO en Español

EcoStar

Independent TV/LA, NY, Miami, SF

New Entrants into the Hispanic Media Arena

Latina/ Essence

People en Español/Time Warner

Telemundo/Sony

Gems

Galavision

Direct TV

Liberty Cable

Fox Sports America

Luna Television

Walt Disney’sMarketing Planning Model-1950

"Other"1%

Whites 50+20%

"Ethnic"10%

White Adults 18-4939%

Whites 0-1730%

Source: U.S. Census

Walt Disney’sMarketing Planning Model-2000

African-American

13%

Hispanic11%

White Adults 18-4936%

Other7%

Seniors15%

Asian5%

Teens8%

Gay & Lesbian5%

Source: U.S. Census

Hispanic Cultural Contributions and Influences on the American Society

ArtsPablo Picasso

Diego Rivera

Frida Kahlo

Entertainers

Rita Moreno Ricky Martin

Selena Gloria Estefan

Jennifer Lopez Andy Garcia

Anthony Quinn Jimmy Smiths

Antonio Banderas Salma Hayek

Political Arena

The LATINO VOTE at one moment was crucial in the 2000 presidential election’s results.

For Example, Bush did a big part of his campaign SPEAKING IN SPANISH

Other Influences of Hispanics

“Yo quiero Taco Bell” “Hasta la vista baby”

Two big national players in the U.S. Hispanic Media

Telemundo & Univision

Social & Demographic Influences

There is a big influence of Latino Population in Major U.S. cities such as:

New York Los Angeles Chicago

San AntonioMiami

Ads & Movie Slogans

Hispanic Buying Power

Hispanic buying power will more than double by the year 2010

Year $Billions

1998 $380

2000 $443

2005 $641

2010 $938Source: Hispanic Consumer Market Report, DRI/McGraw-Hill, 1995

Finally…Following are the 11 Key Elements to Design

Excellent U.S. Hispanic Communications Plans

1) Experience and academic knowledge of special publics

2) Knowledge of the U.S. Hispanic Market and audiences acquired by special first hand research

3) Knowledge of the two-way symmetrical communications practices. Hispanics more than others need to feel a personal touch and be also a part when we design the overall communication strategy. This model is key to obtain mutually and beneficial outcomes with this public.

Finally…(cont’d)4) Have a bilingual and BICULTURAL staff in your agency or in your company. Especially now in the globalization era

5) A strong degree of sensitivity of the Hispanic Community and Latino Issues

6) Involvement with the community activities and participation in Latino Institutions

7) Becoming aware of the fact that a predominant goal to be achieved in any Hispanic public relations campaign is the benefit and education of the Hispanic Community rather that only promoting an organization’s activities

Finally (cont’d)8) Create communication plans that FIRST impact the heart of the Hispanic Audience, and then you can communicate with them more efficiently

9) Since U.S. Hispanic Communications is a new field of knowledge, more research is needed to discover more key communications success factors to effectively target this audience

10) Take advantage of this almost UNTAPPED market, U.S. Hispanics, a growing market that will become the first minority in the U.S. and this will imply a profound social change in the next years to come

11) Communications budgets assigned to the U.S. Hispanic market are NOT proportional to the size of this public. They are far bellow compared to budgets assigned to the general market

“…deal with changes that have already irreversibly happened.”

-Peter F. Drucker

Claremont Graduate School