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Exellence in US Hispanic Communications - A Master Thesis by Marcelo Harfuch
This document summarizes research on communications with Hispanic audiences in the United States. It finds that the Hispanic population has grown significantly and will continue growing, making Hispanics an important demographic. However, communications with Hispanics often fail because they do not respect Hispanic culture, language preferences, and values. Effective Hispanic communications require understanding acculturation levels, tailoring messages to Hispanic subgroups, and using emotional and culturally relevant messaging in Spanish to connect with audiences at a heart level.
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Exellence in US Hispanic Communications - A Master Thesis by Marcelo Harfuch
- 1. Excellence in U.S.Hispanic Communications Professional Project By Marcelo Harfuch, 1998 Class January 6, 2001 NYC
- 2. Who is Hispanicin 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 Definition Any person living in the U.S. that speaks and understands Spanish
- 3. Brazilians are notHispanics 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
- 4. 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
- 5. Hispanic Public Relationsis 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
- 6. Population Size 30Million U.S. Hispanics represent 11% of the total U.S. population. Hispanic 11% (30 Million) Non-Hispanic 89% Source: DRI/McGraw-Hill (268.5 Million)
- 7. 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
- 8. 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
- 9. Two-Thirds of U.S.Hispanics are of Mexican Origin Puerto Rico 11% Cuba 5% Other Hispanic 6% Mexican 64% Central/South America 14% Source: SRC 1998
- 10. U.S. Hispanic Population Continues to Grow Population up +99% since 1980. 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 14,603 30,000 40,611 Source: SRC 19199880 1998 2010 (000)
- 11. Population Comparisons In1998 U.S. Hispanic population was the 5th largest of any Spanish speaking country in the world. Country Pop. (Millions) Mexico 99.1 Spain 40.5 Colombia 36.7 Argentina 35.8 United States 30.5
- 12. 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
- 13. Acculturation Upon arrivalto 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.
- 14. Acculturation(cont’d) To beeffective, 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
- 15. Hispanic Acculturation 87%of all Hispanics remain Relatively/Partially Unacculturated. Partially acculturated 59% Highly Acculturated 13% Relatively Unacculturated 28% Source: SRC 1998
- 16. Emotions are keyfor Hispanics Despite 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.
- 17. Ad Effectiveness 1.RoslowResearch Group, 1995. 2. Document relative effectiveness of Spanish vs. English commercials among Hispanics. Advertising Recall Persuasiveness Communication
- 18. 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. +
- 19. Language Usage SpanishOnly 21% 87% of Hispanic Adults 18+ speak Spanish. English Only 13% English Mostly 22% Bilingual 16% Spanish Mostly 28% Source: A.C. Nielsen, 1997
- 20. 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”
- 21. Five Communications Elementsto Gain Hispanic Share of Heart 1. Cultural relevance 2. Emotional involvement 3. The benefit 4. The product or message personality 5. Compatibility with mainstream
- 22. A Big Mistakeis… 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
- 23. Value Orientation Differences Children Americans Hispanics Independence Egalitarian Dependence Authoritarian Family Role Diffusion, “Democracy”, Younger men have a say Defined Roles, Hierarchy, Old men know more than young men Source: Hispanic Market Connections, Inc.
- 24. Value Orientation Differences How do we relate to people? Americans Hispanics Minimize differences, everybody is the same What do we stress in relations? Symmetrical interpersonal relationships, informality, competition Respect, cooperation, formality Source: Hispanic Market Connections, Inc. Stress differences, show respect
- 25. Value Orientation Differences How do we see ourselves? Americans Hispanics Within ourselves as individuals As part of a family, clan or group On whom do we rely on for help? Ourselves and institutions Family, friends, community (“our social security”) What do we value in people? What a person can achieve through special skills Source: Hispanic Market Connections, Inc. A person’s background
- 26. Lots of HispanicMedia 2 National Television Networks 8 Major Cable Networks 75+ Television Stations 400+ Radio Stations 155+ Newspapers 50+ Magazines Outdoor New Media: Internet Sites & Search Engines
- 27. New Entrants intothe Hispanic Media Arena CNN en Español Canal Sur MTV Latino Telenoticias HBO en Español EcoStar Independent TV/LA, NY, Miami, SF
- 28. New Entrants intothe Hispanic Media Arena Latina/ Essence People en Español/Time Warner Telemundo/Sony Gems Galavision Direct TV Liberty Cable Fox Sports America Luna Television
- 29. Walt Disney’s MarketingPlanning Model-1950 "Other" 1% Whites 50+ 20% "Ethnic" 10% White Adults 18-49 39% Whites 0-17 30% Source: U.S. Census
- 30. Walt Disney’s MarketingPlanning Model-2000 African- American 13% Hispanic 11% White Adults 18-49 36% Gay & Lesbian Teens 8% Asian 5% Seniors 15% Other 7% 5% Source: U.S. Census
- 31. Hispanic Cultural Contributionsand Influences on the American Society Arts Pablo 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
- 32. Political Arena TheLATINO 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
- 33. Other Influences ofHispanics Ads & Movie Slogans “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 Antonio Miami
- 34. Hispanic Buying Power Hispanic buying power will more than double by the year 2010 Year $Billions 1998 $380 2000 $443 2005 $641 2010 $938 Source: Hispanic Consumer Market Report, DRI/McGraw-Hill, 1995
- 35. Finally… Following arethe 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.
- 36. Finally…(cont’d) 4) Havea 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
- 37. 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
- 38. 11) Communications budgetsassigned 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
- 39. “…deal with changesthat have already irreversibly happened.” -Peter F. Drucker Claremont Graduate School