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Latino Stereotypes

A recent article from MediaPost showed new data concluding that 90% of Hispanic media budgets are reaching only about 20% of the Latino population, and therefore marketers are missing the opportunity to “drive significant business value among 80% of the Hispanic market.”

Based on the results of a study by Carat USA about the Hispanic consumer segment, the results essentially show that marketers are highly inefficient in their spending habits. This may be shocking to some, while others may discount it (those who have bought into the assumption that by advertising exclusively with Univision they are reaching the Hispanic market). For those who are knowledgeable about the Hispanic market, however, these results are probably less of a surprise.

Some companies of course have the focus and budget to utilize many media outlets, and in many cases incorporate all categories: TV, Radio, Out of Home, Mobile, Digital, Video, Social. Others are more limited in their media reach (i.e. budget), and then there is a third category, those who are generally misinformed. This latter group think it is reaching the market through general market efforts, or they subscribe to many commonly-held misconceptions about the Hispanic consumer (“Hispanics don’t use the Internet”). One finding in the study showed that nearly 40% of Hispanic households now make purchasing decisions based on whether they believe a product is environmentally-friendly, which may be surprising to many.

Obviously budgets play a very important role in what each marketer can do; however, with relatively small investments, openness to the information available about the Hispanic market, and some experimentation, marketers will be pleasantly surprised at the results of reaching the Hispanic market. Those that have been dedicated to the market have been rewarded, and in most cases Hispanic has become a focus of their broader multicultural efforts.