HispanicTrending

April 30, 2007
Source: CRM Today

HP today announced two additions to its HP Pavilion product line specifically for U.S. Hispanic consumers.

Designed in response to increasing demand from the Hispanic community, the two additions to the HP Pavilion product line are:

— HP Pavilion a6005y Desktop enables consumers to customize their PC with the Spanish versions of Windows Vista(TM) Home Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium. The PC also features a Spanish keyboard and optional Spanish versions of popular software including Norton Internet Security, Microsoft(R) Office and Roxio Creator. Consumers also will receive Spanish-language documentation including Easy Set-Up instructions and software manuals. The HP Pavilion a6005y starts at $329 directly through HP at www.hpshopping.com and at HP configure-to-order kiosk retail partners: CompUSA, Costco, Office Depot and Office Max.(1)

— HP Pavilion a1726x Desktop with Windows Vista Home Premium enables customers to choose English or Spanish at the initial set-up phase and includes multimedia keyboards for both Spanish and English-language users. This PC features a 320 gigabyte (GB) hard drive that can hold up to 134,000 photos, 1,024 megabyte (MB) memory, Intel(R) Pentium(R) D processor and SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe technology enabling users to burn custom, silkscreen-quality text and images onto LightScribe-enabled CDs and DVDs. The HP Pavilion a1726x starts at $599 and is available now at CompUSA stores throughout the United States.(1)

"With this expansion of our PC portfolio, we are delivering products our Hispanic customers have told us matter most to them," said Mark Sanchez, vice president and general manager, Consumer Computing – North America, HP. "This community is the fastest growing segment in the United States, and HP is committed to providing them with ready access to technology to work, play and connect with others."

According to recent projections, in just three years the U.S. Hispanic population promises to be the ninth largest economy in the world as measured by gross domestic product, exceeding Canada and Mexico.(2) Based on recent Forrester data, this population has a strong affinity toward technology and is increasingly using the Internet for connecting with family, sharing photos and educational purposes.(3)

"This product introduction demonstrates HP’s belief in the critical importance of the Hispanic community and its commitment to that community," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst, Enderle Group. "The need for Spanish-language options in the United States has never been greater, and HP is clearly stepping up to address this need."

Documentation is available in both English and Spanish for these new offerings, and, as always, HP customers have ready access to Spanish-speaking customer support representatives.

April 27, 2007
By Jake Beniflah

For the last 40 years, U.S. Hispanic marketers have preached to corporations that the most effective way to reach the Hispanic segment is by using Spanish, and by leveraging the cultural nuances that make Hispanic consumers different from the Anglo population.

Just a few months ago, the Hispanic marketing industry announced that language alone — English or Spanish — would no longer define Hispanic marketing. Instead, it proposed a new conceptual (not empirical) model based on the "Latino identity," centering on a set of complex, interrelated and changing cultural values. Surprisingly, it also claimed that language and acculturation would play a supporting role as opposed to a defining role in Hispanic marketing. But is this correct?

The central question in this month’s In Perspective is what role should language and acculturation play in Hispanic marketing? The fact that the industry has proposed a new framework centering on cultural values and has explicitly said that, "language and acculturation will not longer define Hispanic marketing" requires a closer look. The implications on marketing strategy are huge.

Language: a Defining Factor for Hispanic Marketing

Undoubtedly, the role of language in culture has been a source of great debate — and controversy — for decades. Two researchers who have had a significant impact on this subject are Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, who brought attention to the relationship between language, thought, and culture back in the 1930s.

Although neither of them wrote what researchers have termed "the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis," researchers, however, agree that culture is shaped by language, which in turn shapes the way that humans categorize their thoughts about the world and their experiences. As initially expressed in "The Status of Linguistics as a Science" (1929) by Edward Sapir, himself:

". . . the real world is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached …"

Language is central to the understanding of human thought and behavior. Ironically, Hispanic marketing has grown into a billion-dollar industry not by minimizing the importance of language, but rather by getting corporate America to believe that there were linguistic differences between U.S. Hispanics and Anglos.

These differences were not minor, but significant, as the Hispanic marketing industry has strongly advocated for years that clients develop separate marketing efforts with incremental funding, capitalize on the unique (Hispanic) cultural insights, and do it all in the so-called language of preference (Spanish) if they were to succeed.

Moving the discussion away from language doesn’t really make sense, particularly when this strategy has worked so well. So, why the sudden change?

Changing the language in Hispanic marketing was not done by mistake, but rather by necessity. Statistical data has shown that the U.S. Hispanic market is not only Spanish-speaking, but English-speaking as well. Much of the Hispanic segment today speaks English in addition to Spanish, and the traditional way of conceptualizing the Hispanic segment no longer is congruent with the changes in the demographic landscape.

Language — whether it’s English or Spanish—should not be the only variable that is used to define Hispanic marketing, but language should continue to be a defining one. After all, language will continue to shape the reality of all Hispanics in this country, whether they speak Spanish, English, or both.

Acculturation: Measuring Change in the Hispanic Market

Acculturation deals with the social and psychological changes in which there is continuous contact and interaction between individuals from different cultures.

The acculturation framework that most academics favor today proposes that acculturation is comprised of two independent dimensions: (1) the maintenance of the culture of origin and (2) the adherence to the dominant or host culture. Cultural maintenance is defined as the extent to which individuals value and adhere to their culture of origin.

Central to this construct is the strength with which individuals value the maintenance of their cultural identity and culture of origin. This second dimension intends to capture the level to which individuals become involved and value the culture of the host country. This dimension theoretically ranges from full participation to complete rejection of the dominant culture’s values, attitudes and behaviors. These two dimensions create a theoretical framework that allows individuals to live in two worlds.

Acculturation affects the majority of U.S. Hispanics, whether they are immigrants or third generation Hispanics. Stanford University professor, Amado Padilla, examined the cultural orientation across three-generations of Hispanic adolescents. This study found that the Hispanic cultural orientation decreases across three generations, while orientation to the American cultural orientation increases linearly.

What this means is that as Hispanics acculturate, they tend to lose some of their Hispanic cultural values (but not entirely), while gaining cultural values that traditionally define the host country (e.g., the United States). This study supports the bidimensional conceptualization of acculturation, mentioned above. More importantly, however, this study supports the notion that the adherence to cultural values changes with time, and that one’s cultural orientation is rooted in two cultures, not one.

Acculturation is useful in measuring the changes that take place in the lives of U.S. Hispanics.

Acculturation can help define the ‘Hispanic experience’ in the United States accurately, and minimizing its role in marketing can only help create a false sense of reality. Acculturation can help measure a market that is changing—a market that is, in fact, heterogeneous.

At the same time, bidimensional acculturation poses a threat to the current business model for Hispanic marketers because this construct helps dispel the view that Hispanics are homogeneous in language and culture. Bidimensional acculturation measures the extent to which an individual adheres to the host (Anglo) culture and the culture of origin. Changing the language in Hispanic marketing is about changing a Spanish-centric business model that no longer fits the changing cultural landscape.

Does the shift in rhetoric signal a change in marketing strategy?

Absolutely not. Much of the industry’s growth has been based on the popular, but over-simplistic monolinguistic and monocultural view of the U.S. Hispanic market.

Significant growth can only happen when the diversity within the U.S. Hispanic market is openly discussed, prompting marketers to broaden its strategy in targeting all U.S. Hispanics. This approach will move beyond the ‘in-language, in-culture’ approach the industry has used for so many years.

Changing the conversation in Hispanic marketing is badly needed; most of us would agree. But Spanish language is a defining factor in Hispanic marketing. English will inevitably play a larger role in the future, but it has not significantly changed the marketing landscape, thus far.

Creating a new model based on the "Latino identity" has not solved anything. It changes the conversation, but does very little to address the changing multicultural landscape. As Yogi Bera once said, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." At this point, the Hispanic marketing industry is on the same path it was on. Different rhetoric. Same language.

This is Jake Beniflah, for another issue, In Perspective.

Source: HispanicBusiness.com

Meriden paper switches tack, and language

April 29, 2007
By Laura Schreier

Hundreds of foreign-language newspapers have flourished — and died—with immigrant enclaves in the U.S. The languages were different, but their fates were mostly the same: immigrants assimilate, the paper falls.

Today’s Spanish papers are springing up as more Latinos immigrate, but the new magazine-style newspaper Fusión is following the Latinos who are dispersing into the U.S. mainstream, said Brian Monroe, an advertising director for Meriden-based Record-Journal Publishing Co.

Fusión is an English-language publication aimed at Latinos – often the children of immigrants or those who came to the U.S. at a young age – who primarily speak English but feel strong ties to the Latino community. The first issue hit newsstands on April 13 in 34 Connecticut towns strung between Hartford and New Haven, and Monroe said the paper carves a new niche for itself.

“We are the only English-language paper for Latinos in the state,” he said.

Fusión is the reincarnation of Tiempo, a Spanish-language paper that got its start in 1992, Monroe said. Tiempo was one of the first Spanish-language papers in the area, serving five communities.

But new Spanish papers have popped up, crowding the market. And while Connecticut still has strong clusters of Spanish-speaking Latinos to read those papers, a whole other demographic was being overlooked, Monroe said: Namely, the more affluent, suburban Latinos in their 20s and 30s who primarily speak English.

After conducting its own market research, the Record-Journal staff decided to make the switch in January. With a bilingual Tiempo staff already in place, the transition didn’t require any major personnel overhaul.

Big Picture

Fusión’s content is a mix of local news featuring Latinos, but a large chunk of the paper is devoted to national news, Monroe said – updates on J-Lo or commentary on Geraldo Rivera, for example.

Delizabeth Duran, Fusión’s managing editor, said she is an example of their target audience. Born in the Dominican Republic, she was raised in the U.S. from a young age and considers English her primary language.

But Latino music, food and culture are still a strong part of her life. “We may speak English,” she wrote in the first issue of Fusión, “but generally our blood bubbles with Latin.”

Orlando Rodriguez, manager of the Connecticut State Data Center at the University of Connecticut, said UConn doesn’t have ready access to hard numbers on how many Latinos like Duran live in the state.

But 2000 Census data shows the Hartford-area Latinos keep a tenacious hold on their Hispanic identity.

For the Census question on race, many Latino respondents in other cities mark, “white,” while Latinos in the Hartford area put “other.”

It shows that for Hartford-area Latinos, being Latino comes first, Rodriguez said.

Still, it’s no surprise that English has a stronger grip on that population. Rodriguez himself could qualify as a Fusión target reader. A native of Cuba, Rodriguez was raised in the U.S. He sees Spanish take a back seat — or no seat at all — in new generations of Latinos.

“It’s tough to keep the language when everything around you is English.”

Source: Hartford Business Journal