HispanicTrending

October 30, 2006    
By Gary Bonilla

My job as a planner is not to defend Spanish. Instead I seek to understand intimately the Latino consumer’s psyche and build strategies to connect them with my clients. A recent event in a New York court of law typified this line of thinking. A translator of the court system told one of my planners at Winglatino that during a recent trial he realized that language is but one of many components of equal importance for connecting with Latinos living in U.S. We were all ears. After all, this is one of the premises for the Latino Identity Project recently presented by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA), a project I have been a part of for the past year.

The story, as the court translator told us, had to do with a Latino witness who only "spoke Spanish". "Kindly tell us what you do for a living." The lawyer asked. "Por favor díganos a que se dedica." The translator continued. "Yo soy un güiguaqueador," said the witness. The translator thought hard but could not come up with anything. He explained to the court that he did not know the translation to this last word. The judge asked if anyone in the room had an idea, while the translator looked through dictionaries. Then he asked in Spanish "how do you do this?" "Yo güiguaqueo en la casas." The witness replied. The translator continued. "What do you use to ‘güiguaquear’ at people’s houses?" "El güiguaquer." As it turns out "güiguaqueador " is the job description for people who use a weed whacker to cut grass and trim bushes. But this was not an incident about learning new vocabulary or making up new words in Spanish, English, Calo or in this instance Northeast Spanglish. This was about the need to understand the context of the witness’ life in order to communicate clearly with him in his language of choice.

The context of Latino life in the U.S. is unique and distinct. It is a melding together of three main elements: (1) the culture from our countries of origin or families, (2) our needs and motivations in this country and (3) the cultural and societal rules we have to play by here. Somewhere inside that mélange languages play a role. So do many other components like time, space, spirituality and gender perception to mention a few. This is what the Latino Identity Project is attempting to study: What are the dimensions and the interconnectedness between them that can help us understand the lives of Latino consumers in U.S?

As we move forward with the Latino Identity Project, the story from the translator launched me in search to answer a question that has been lingering since AHAA’s Chairman Carl Kravetz presented the project in Miami. So let me start with a simple statement: The Latino Identity Project is not about languages. Please note that I wrote "languages". Nor is it about the death of the Spanish-language or the desire to assimilate. Instead it is about understanding the elements that give context to the fast evolving Latino life in the U.S. If we understand this, we can connect better with our consumers and double the size of the market Hispanic agencies are hired to reach. If our clients understand this, they can seize a greater opportunity. It is very simple. Understanding calls for a common language. I don’t mean a tongue, but a way of expressing our understanding of consumers. And that is what the project will try to achieve. You probably have heard this already. But it seems to be worth repeating, given that I continue to read stories about how the project can be a threat to Spanish-language advertising.

The Latino Identity Project began almost a year ago. It was not an initiative to criticize or reinvent account planning in our agencies. Planning is a relatively young discipline in the U.S. Hispanic Ad world that has been growing and getting better at a much faster pace than other markets. This is partly due to the aggressive drive by planners and agencies to understand the uniqueness of Latino consumers as they grow in number and expenditure. This was not either an initiative to rehash existing hypotheses or segmentation models but rather it was about taking a deep look at the state of Latinos TODAY in the U.S. Ten planners, three professors, three research partners, four cities, and 40 years of data mined and analyzed by two PhD candidates at Florida State University helped put forth an unified idea that has been floating disjointedly around the hallways of our agencies with different names and levels of support for many years..

We all know that there are recent-arrival Latinos, Spanish dominant Latinos, bi-cultural Hispanics and so on. To some degree everyone knows that each segment and sub segment is not only defined by language preference. More and more we see how the question of language is situational. According to an article printed this year in the News-Democrat of Belleville, Illinois Consumers can bank, talk to the IRS or speak to credit counselors in Spanish. But the three major credit bureaus buck the bilingual trend by not offering credit reports in Spanish, despite the fact that identity theft affects Latinos more than any other ethnic group. According to the Pew Hispanic Center 44% of Latinos obtain their news in both languages, 31% in English only. Just 24% prefer only Spanish media sources. However, a national survey conducted jointly by the New California Media, the Center for American Progress, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, 87% of Hispanics living in the U.S. prefer to watch Spanish-language TV networks. Furthermore, despite the growing interest in English-language publications aimed at U.S. Latinos, Spanish-language print still dominates. As of year-end 2005, 79% of the content in Hispanic magazines was in Spanish, according to Carlsbad, Calif.-based Latino Print Network, which tracks some 477 magazines. And I think it’s safe to say that Univision is not going first.

But before we select what language or media will best reach Latinos (a tactic), we first need to understand the situations and the insights about our consumers to communicate with them effectively (a strategy)

Our sheer weight in this country allows Latinos to hold on strong to our cultural components; we are also aware of what it takes to move forward. It also means that anyone who thinks that the Latino Identity Project tries to undermine Spanish language initiatives can relax. My language, el Español, is not going anywhere. Understanding the dimensions of our lives in the U.S. can represent even bigger opportunities for such initiatives. It gives our clients and us the clear advantage when it comes to communicating and connecting deeply with Latino consumers. It poises us for continued growth and success as we Latinos grow in numbers, influence and contributions to this country. I like what my fellow country man Tego Calderón said recently. "Latinos are a large minority in the United States, and many know the English language. But in reggaetón, we mostly sing in Spanish, and it is appealing to the Latinos who do not speak English to identify with us."

The team of planners that initiated the Latino Identity Project has expanded and will continue to work on quantifying and qualifying the hypothesis put forth by the original group. In the process we will listen to Reggaeton and Corridos. After all they tell stories chock full of insights about our lives. But above and beyond qualitative observation we will work on industry-wide quantitative research designed to study the Latino Identity hypothesis, refine it and build a model. Simultaneously, we will work on the implications and applications of the project as it relates to research and media. Our thinking is clear: our consumer is as complex as it has to be and can’t be limited to a country of origin and a language. The opportunity is a large as the market itself. I am sure the makers of weed whackers will appreciate that.

Source: HispanicAd.com

Many were once reluctant to get involved with local issues. A coalition is now helping them find a voice in their new communities.

October 27, 2006
By Sam Quinones

For years, Santa Ana resident Guadalupe Gomez, an immigrant from Zacatecas, Mexico, and now a U.S. citizen, has been urging immigrant groups from his home state to get more involved in issues affecting their lives in Southern California.

But many thought they would eventually return to Mexico, he said. They didn’t buy homes here and lived in enclaves that kept them apart from the larger population. Hometown clubs raised money for public-works projects in their villages.

"I said, ‘What about here? We have all kinds of issues here: education, drugs, children in gangs, health,’ " said Gomez, an accountant who later served as president of the Southern California Federation of Zacatecan Clubs from 2001 to 2004. "They seemed to think I was crazy."

But things are different now.

Mexico hasn’t made the economic changes necessary to keep people from leaving or persuade those living abroad to return. Many immigrants have become U.S. citizens or legal residents and have families here. And a growing number have bought houses for the first time.

"We all may think we’re going to return, but time shows us that we’re not," said Salvador Garcia, a former president of the federation from the state of Jalisco.

Now the federation that Gomez and Garcia helped establish hopes to start positioning itself this week as a new kind of Latino political force, one with broad immigrant membership and an agenda on both sides of the border.

The Council of Mexican Federations of North America — made up of hundreds of hometown clubs — will hold its first national conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center today and Saturday with the primary goal of educating immigrants about civic participation.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is among several U.S. dignitaries scheduled to attend. Mexican officials — including governors, congressmen and a representative of President-elect Felipe Calderon — also are expected to participate.

The event underscores a change in how Mexican immigrants view their place in American society, organizers said.

Gomez exemplifies that change. After he arrived in 1973, he also thought he would return to Mexico one day.

But as he married and had children, that idea began to fade.

"You set roots here and establish yourself," Gomez said. "You go back to Mexico and there’s no money when you work. It took a long time for me to find myself. But I’ve come to realize that I’m from both places."

Garcia, Gomez and some others formed the federation in 2002 as an umbrella organization for the growing number of hometown clubs. The federation now includes about 450 Mexican clubs from 14 Mexican states.

The Mexican federations council conducted a series of polls among immigrants and found that many were going through a similar recognition, though slowly, leaders said.

When Mexican immigrants joined mass marches across the U.S. last spring to push for comprehensive immigration reform, officials decided to tap into this new wave of activism.

They were convinced that immigrant communities provided "the foundation to develop a national network," said Arturo Carmona, the federation’s executive director.

With that in mind, the federation has sought to broaden its members’ focus beyond the needs of their Mexican villages to more pressing issues that legal and illegal immigrants face here, such as healthcare, education, financial planning, small business development and legal residency.

In August, federation leaders made their first lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., to talk to legislators about immigration reform and binational economic development.

The federation also has professionalized its operations, courting — and being courted by — large corporations such as Anheuser Busch and Bancomer, a Mexican bank, which offers its members discounts and special services.

The federation has learned to petition U.S. foundations for funds. Its sponsors now include the James Irvine, Margaret E. Casey and Johnson & Johnson foundations.

The group is ensconced in gleaming new offices in downtown Los Angeles owned by the California Endowment. It has a paid executive director — Carmona — and a staff of four.

The group has also eased the petty jealousies that are notorious for dividing villages in Mexico and clubs and federations in the U.S.

When competing federations emerged here from the state of Puebla, for example, the Mexican federations council conducted some shuttle diplomacy between the leaders of the two groups until they settled their differences and merged this summer.

Still, the federations council runs a risk that too much sophistication and reliance on foundation grants may distance it from its grass-roots base, its leaders say.

They point to the Latino advocacy organizations born of the 1960s: the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and League of United Latin American Citizens.

Through the years, those groups learned to use foundation grants, the courts and lobbying to work within the Democratic Party. But their membership is slim, Carmona said, and their leaders, who often speak spotty Spanish, don’t have much in common with Mexican immigrants.

They "played a very important role in Latino advancement," he said. "But there’s a definite disconnect with them and the immigrant community, which is the great majority of the Latino community in the United States."

Many Mexican federations’ council leaders were miffed when these groups held a National Latino Congreso in downtown Los Angeles last month without the participation of Mexican immigrant clubs from Southern California.

"That just goes to show how disconnected these organizations are" from common immigrants, Gomez said.

On the eve of its convention, the federation faces another tricky task, its leaders say. It must find a way of involving its members in U.S. political issues while remaining nonpartisan. Most of its members come from Mexico’s ranching states — Jalisco, Zacatecas, Michoacan, Guanajuato, Sinaloa — and are famously independent, bridling at political control.

Beyond that, though, lies the federation’s even larger job: helping Mexican immigrants move beyond the enclave that has isolated them from their adopted country.

"Our challenge is getting these members who are not connected [to the U.S.] to be fully integrated," Carmona said. "We have a lot of work to be done in that area."

Source: Los Angeles Times

October 26, 2006
By Melissa Campanelli

Hispanics pay their bills better than most, though they may pay a little later.

That was a message from Peter Tardif, director of the U.S. Hispanic market for Direct Holdings Americas. He spoke on "The Dynamic Hispanic Market" panel at the Direct Marketing Club of New York luncheon this month at the Yale Club.

"It seems there is some concern in the industry that [Hispanic] customers don’t pay bills or they don’t pay on time," said Mr. Tardif, whose Fairfax, VA, company is a leading seller of music and video products in direct response television under the Time-Life brand. "We found the complete opposite. These customers pay their bills at a much higher rate than the general market does. They do take a long time to pay their bills, but the performance is much better than in the general market."

Flexibility is needed in payment options for Hispanics, he said, because many lack credit cards.

"We are working on (cash on delivery), but it is very foreign to post offices these days and they don’t really know how to do it, and we still accept bill later," he said. "You have to be flexible if you want to reach this market."

Other panelists were Julian Baim, executive vice president and chief research officer of Mediamark Research, New York; Pam Kimmerling-Hoveling, partner at RK Hispanica Direct, New York; and John Nicholson, director of marketing for Doubleday Entertainment, New York.

Chris Ragusa, president of Estee Marketing Group, New Rochelle, NY, moderated. The luncheon was sponsored by Ethnic Technologies, South Hackensack, NJ.

The panel also discussed the best mediums to reach Hispanics.

"We have found success in doing some things that are somewhat unorthodox," said Ms. Kimmerling-Hoveling, whose bicultural agency specializes in direct response advertising. "It’s not just direct mail. It’s Hispanic TV, Hispanic radio and events such as Latina expos. Events, in particular, are excellent ways to get your product or service in front of the Hispanic segment you are trying to market to. You can really talk to these people and see what they’d like."

She also cited out-of-home ad programs with bodegas that worked well.

Mr. Tardif said that outbound telemarketing had worked for his company, though it is cross-selling to customers, not targeting prospects. The firm uses Spanish-speaking call center reps because customers are responding to Spanish-language ads on television.

Unlike traditional U.S. consumers, he said, Hispanics are engaged on the phone.

"They listen a lot more intently than many of our general-market customers do," he said.

Hispanic-oriented search is in its infancy, Mr. Tardif said, and his company has had little success with it.

Mr. Baim said Mediamark has found that Hispanics are not really using the Web.

"Particularly, usage is quite low for Spanish-dominant Hispanics," he said, though that may change as more Hispanics use the Internet at work.

Though slicing and dicing data to target the right Hispanic group for your product is important, commonalities exist, Mr. Nicholson said.

"There are certain emotional commonalities or hooks, such as a respect for the family and a vision for a better future for your children, that are shared among most Hispanic groups," he said.

As for targeting in English or Spanish, Ms. Kimmelring-Hoveling said it depends upon the product being sold and the group being targeted.

"Younger Hispanics are being marketed to with a combination of English, Spanish and even Spanglish," she said.

Marketing to Hispanic women also has nuances. In many Hispanic households, all mail is directed to men, but women open it.

"I have worked with mailers that are marketing a female-oriented product, so the natural thing to do is select female Hispanic names from a list," she said. "I always suggest starting out that way, but to also try to select Hispanic male head-of-household names, and sometimes that works even better."

Source: DM News

October 25, 2006
By Araceli Esparza

Are Latinos being priced out of higher education?

Authors of a new report say so, claiming that one-third of the median household income of Latino families is being gobbled up by the costs of college.

The report, published by the Campaign for America’s Future, a social justice reform group, details how rising costs, stagnant incomes and cuts in federal grant programs are making college too expensive for Latinos.

"For most Latino students, college affordability and financial aid are the determining factors when making decisions about their college education," said Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, who spoke at a news conference announcing the study. "We need to work harder to make higher education more affordable and maintain programs that help students pay for college.

"There is a need overall, not just for Latinos, but for all under-represented students."

Solis said Congress has cut $12 billion out of the student loan program, hiked interest rates on student and parent loans, and kept federal Pell Grants frozen for a fifth year in a row.

Pell Grants have stagnated for four years, and President Bush’s current proposal puts the maximum Pell Grant at $800 less than it was 30 years ago, officials at Campaign for America’s Future reported.

"That’s what many in our community rely on," Solis said. "Grants are something that you don’t have to pay back and that’s something we always consider in our families."

Also, the cost of attending a public four-year college has increased 42 percent nationwide since 2000. Over the same period, recent census data showed, the median family income has fallen 4 percent for Latinos and 2 percent overall, officials said.

Paul Browning, a spokesman for the California State University Chancellor’s Office, agreed that federal budget cuts have led college students into more debt. Sixty-two percent of Cal State students borrow about $5,650 a year to pay for college, Browning said.

But Cal State officials said undergraduate fees have not changed drastically in recent years. Obtaining a bachelor’s degree is financially possible for Latinos, officials said.

"It’s probably getting a little tougher, but Cal State universities are still the affordable way to go," Browning said.

Cal State students pay about $15,500 a year in fees, textbooks, transportation costs and housing expenses for college, he added.

University of California students pay an average of $20,000 per year for similar expenses, depending on whether they live on campus, officials said.

According to Phil Hampton, a UCLA spokesman, 40 percent of undergraduates at UC schools receive need-based financial aid like federal Pell Grants, the most of any major American research university and more than all Ivy League universities combined.

"UCLA is proud of the major role it plays in providing an education to students from lower- and middle-income families, including many who are the first in their family to go to college," Hampton said.

Paula Selleck, spokeswoman for Cal State Fullerton, said the growing population of Latino students at her campus refutes claims that fewer Latinos can afford to attend four-year universities. She said roughly 15percent – or 4,000 – of UCLA’s 26,000 students are of Latino descent.

About 9,600 – or 27 percent – of the 28,900 students at Cal State Fullerton are Latino, Selleck said. In fact, she added, Cal State Fullerton is ranked No. 1 in California and No. 4 in the nation among colleges awarding bachelor’s degrees to Latinos.

Solis urged federal lawmakers to increase assistance to make college more affordable.

"Latino families have less money to send their kids to college. What we’re asking for is that we will expand the Pell Grant program and provide more loan forgiveness and receive better financial aid packets for students," Solis said.

Source: Pasadena Star-News

October 25, 2006
Via: St. Paul Pioneer Press

Seven in 10 Hispanic adults have saved less than $5,000 toward retirement, according to a study released Tuesday. The study was conducted for the Latino Coalition, a nonprofit group that looks at policy issues related to Hispanics in the United States, and Americans for Secure Retirement, a coalition of ethnic and insurance groups that encourage the use of annuities to fund retirement. Both are based in Washington, D.C. It found that just 26 percent of Hispanics have saved $5,000 or more. The report did not compare the savings rate of Hispanics with that of the general population. But the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual retirement readiness survey released earlier this year found that while 40 percent of Americans had saved less than $10,000, some 35 percent had put aside $50,000 and up.