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Latinminds.

As more and more consumers are born in the U.S. and becoming bicultural we need to shift how we market to them. We have been living under a very black and white/traditional model where advertising is either predominantly in Spanish or English where the media available to our consumers is either Spanish or English and a few who are in Spanglish.

What's important, differences or the similarities?
The answer, I believe, is neither.

The Hispanic marketing/communications guild has a challenge. With Hispanic communities in every single county in the nation, it is still behaving, and therefore being treated, like a minority opportunity.
The US Hispanic market continues to live a “dichotomy of thought”, what appears to be an unsolved issue of Client-Agency perspective. While one tends to focus on discovering and highlighting the differences (between the Hispanic and General market) to help define its space, the other focuses on the similarities, downplaying the differences to insure efficiencies. Both taking their eye off the primary objective; effectiveness and results.

Maybe there is something to be learnt from Europe, where the multicultural issue is a long standing one and a little more complex. It’s not that in Europe differences and similarities are less important. And the dilemma is the same; without investment, commitment and focus the opportunity is never fully maximized, without efficiencies the resources cannot be stretched to cover the opportunity.
What changes in Europe is the focus, it’s not on the differences or similarities, but on effectiveness, how to leverage both the similarities and the differences, searching for the highest common denominators, insuring there are efficiencies, but leaving room for local interpretation and activation. It sounds very similar, the variables might be the same, but the equation is not, nor is the outcome. It’s the difference between setting the challenge to be getting it to work for everyone from the start, vs. getting one to fit into the other (like when you would get the square to fit in the circle, yes it fit, but not quite like it should).

Our role as an agency is to be looking forward, thinking ahead, but that should include past experiences, transferring knowledge from other categories or markets that have already been where we want to go. Maybe we should dust what was coined in this country years ago to deal with the issue abroad; “Think global, act local”…still has a common sense, smart ring to it, doesn’t it?
The world of multiple market or target objectives with limited resources (as they always are) requires choices and compromises, and our job should be to insure as much as possible it is not at the cost of effectiveness. Maintaining the focus on the differences or similarities keeps us in many cases from finding the answers that will truly have an effect on how Brands perform in the Hispanic arena. Trying to find the balance between effectiveness and efficiencies, shifting the discussion from “what” to “how”, seems like a more promising way forward. By the way, it can also help revitalize the client and agency discussion and relationship, which can’t be bad.

So, what are important the differences or the similarities? Sorry, wrong question.

Jimmy Hernandez
VP/Strategic Planning Director
GlobalHue Latino

(download)

Click here to download:

Fact_Pack_Can_you_say_it_three.zip (85 KB)

Today, Ad Age released its annual Hispanic Fact Pack with interesting data about the Hispanic market.
 
These are the 3 things that jumped at us:

• GlobalHue Latino has grown the fastest out of the top 25 Hispanic agencies in the U.S.
• Population growth: The fusion of races and Latinos are at their highest.
• Bilingual/Bicultural is the future. 88% of Hispanic children are U.S. Born.

Have you downloaded it yet?
What are your thoughts?

Liliana Cerilo & Hazel Swayne
Latinminds @ GlobalHue Latino.

I was fascinated by an article that came out in the Economist “Latinos and Religion, Separated Brothers”, which makes reference to the fast growth of Evangelical Hispanics in the U.S.  According to the Hispanic Pew Center, a growing 15% of Hispanics have become born-again Evangelicals. The article references Pentecostal Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, a third generation Puerto Rican who claims Evangelical churches are more “experiential” in nature and provide followers a “direct access to Jesus”, while in the Catholic church, this relationship is “mediated through hierarchies and bureaucracies”. 
 
In a culture in which the church is the untouchable and unquestionable such as the Latino, what happens when this mindset gets transported to an environment that embraces self expression, participation and urges people to have a point of view?
 
Latinos embrace the freedoms that come from living in the United States, and for many, these freedoms are the reason many of them packed up and decided to move.  It is interesting to see how these new values and ways of looking at the world has had such a profound impact in Latinos that is now showing its face even in the most traditional spaces such as the church.
 
I couldn’t help to notice how this behavior in so many ways parallels the world of advertising, where passive audiences have become hyperactive, wanting to constantly participate, create dialogues, form points of view and have a two way dialogue with brands.
 
If Latinos are becoming active audiences even at church, why is it that many marketers still expect us to sit down, relax, and just enjoy the show?

Tamy Rofe
-a Latimind- @ GlobalHue Latino

Today, someone posed this interesting yet complex question on our Facebook page:
It would be great to know how the US Hispanic marketing is being affected by the current economic crisis!

While budgets are getting cut in this economic crisis we (as advertisers) need to get smarter to truly understand our consumers behaviors, attitudes and needs- as they are also changing.

For this reason we want to share with you a few facts:

On a pessimistic note…
Latino’s have suffered more job losses than most other workers. Not only that, their overall earnings remained lower than the general population (New York Times, March 24th 2009)

 According to Hispanic Pew, as of March 2009, the Hispanic unemployment rate rose to 11.4%, a quarter higher than the general population’s 8.5%.

On a borrowed optimistic note…
While economic slowdown is hitting Latinos the strongest, an optimistic mindset prevails and the idea of “land of opportunities” does not lose its emotionally charged meaning among Latinos, not even during one of America’s worse economic crises.
 
According to the Hispanic Pew, 77% of Hispanics believe their economic circumstances will be better in 10 years than they are now, compared to a lower 71% of whites. Also, only 29% of Hispanics believe the economy will worsen compared to 34% of Caucasians.
 
Because of Latino’s unquenchable optimism, we are beginning to see members of the community taking on jobs, which require a completely different set of skills. We are also seeing Latino immigration into the whitest counties in the United States.
 
It will be interesting to see what happens to these predominantly Caucasian areas and their reaction to this new Latino communities.

So to answer your question in terms of how this is affecting marketing… It definitely is, and it’s our job to make sure we continue to educate our clients on the importance of reaching a consumer who is still optimistic and paying attention/listening more than ever in the roughest of times.

Plus let's remember, ¡esto no es nada! As Latinos "lo vivido" (what we've been through) has taught us to adapt faster, react quicker and grab onto new opportunities (new jobs, new counties, etc) At the end of the day, they know crises don’t last forever.

Latinminds.

Last night's Sobremesa was a success.
¡Un Exito!

 Our panel, formed by Manolo Celi (Director featured on next week's NY Latino Film Festival), Pieta Maximova & Alvaro Ubeda (Ethnologists part of the Trances project at Ego Productions) and Gabriel Morales (Pastry Chef and Ole Bakery founder) was nothing less than dynamic and enlightening. The discussion was based on a simple yet almost “unanswerable” question: Are we born into culture or do we choose it along the way? This motivated the panelists and the audience to interact, share ideas and unique points of views, to learn and to explore polarizing thoughts.

These are some of last night's highlights (more were twitted live during the Sobremesa)

"If we can get beyond that comfort zone, we can really "disfrutar" diversity and life.
-Pieta Maximova.

"I think it's not Globalization, it's Americanization. Everyone wants to have a bit of it"
-Alvaro Ubeda.

"Culture shock breaks your established ideas and it makes you richer"
-Petia Maximova.

"Will culture ever become homogeneous?"
-The panel and GlobalHue Latino team.

"I want the message to speak to my humanity, not my culture. Once marketers do that, I'll believe in their brand"
-Manolo Celi.

"We get caught up sometimes in the "methology" of culture"
-Gabriel Morales.

"No matter how much one can embrace different cutlures, it will never prevent me from having culture shock"
- Petia Maximova.

"Why is it that culture shock when coming back home to Latin America is negative, while exploring different cultures gives you the good kind of cultural shock?" Question posted by Globalhue. Diego Yurkievich, GlobalHue Latino's Executive Creative Director answered: "Because you go back expecting to find the old you, but he's changed"

"You don't think about who you are until you leave the United States."
-Polo Acuna GlobalHue AE

"It's very human to need to belong to a particular culture"
-Manolo Celi.

We will have a video soon.
In the mean time, check out our first Sobremesa which revolved around "Latinos today and the community in the future."

 Enjoy!

(download)

Click here to download:

Are_you_born_into_culture_or_d.zip (6.64 MB)

The Hispanic market is no longer in diapers. Now it’s facing the most fascinating yet challenging stage of its lifecycle: Adolescence. Struggling to balance the body (or size) of an adult with some habits and mindset typical of a child. From being totally dependent and protected; it’s now proud of being bigger, acting on its own and thinking independently of what’s going within both the mainstream market and other multicultural segments.

We, the Hispanic agencies, have been responsible for nurturing that small child and letting him grow spoiled and protected. Based on differences, language barriers and the “that won’t work on the Hispanic market” syndrome, we contributed to building the wall: Hispanic versus General Market.

We can blame it on our youth or we could start growing up, because if we want the market to mature, we should be the first to move in that direction.

At GlobalHue Latino, we realize that we need to help drive our market to a new stage of maturity; a balance between dependence and independence: interdependence. Having the ability to combine both differences and similarities. At the end of the day, they are two sides of the same coin.

Moving forward toward a mature role implies rethinking the way we drive the conversation around the Hispanic consumer and culture. Let’s start with some tips.

1.    Let’s change the way we approach our target. Acculturation level, generation, language preference classifying the market into rigid segments without providing a clear understanding of our audience. A realistic up to date, more granular, face-to-face interaction with Latino consumers will help us move from stereotypes to deeper, realistic, thought provoking insights.

2.    Being culturally relevant is not enough. As agencies, we are paid to provide effective solutions not simply to connect with multicultural segments. We are to provide results amongst Latino consumers.

3.    Open the search beyond the Hispanic market. If the Latino segment interacts on a daily basis with the mainstream population why limit our conversation to simply Hispanic professionals. Let’s bring the best specialists in every field and let them interact with our experts and specialists.

4.    Understand the environment of our consumer in the multicultural arena. What role is Hispanic playing in the changing face of America? What kind of interaction are we having with other segments like African American, Asian, Indian, etc? How can we leverage learnings from working with other multicultural segments and apply them to the Latino segment.

5.    Let’s invite professionals and experts from other fields. Journalists, artists, psychologists, doctors, chefs. All of them interact with Latino at different levels and can provide eye opening insights and ideas. If we keep seeing the market through the same lens, we’ll continue seeing the same picture over and over.

6.    Hispanic market isn’t what it used to be. We need to start questioning our own paradigm. Are we born into culture or do we choose culture? What does being Latino mean? Does being Latino impact the way we see our world? Do Latino artists (or marketing) get inspiration from Latino culture? Or does their art inspire culture? What’s the new shape of a segment that blends without blending?

This project we call Latinminds is our contribution to igniting a more open and mature conversation around the DNA of culture, trends and ideas. Let’s meet at the intersection between curiosity and passion. Join us on this journey.

Gustavo Razzetti
President @ GlobalHue Latino