Driver Wanted

There is an excellent post on Advertising Age’s site today about the seemingly random use of Spanish in some promotional materials for major brands.  Rochelle Newman-Carrasco describes her experience receiving mailers and door hangers for Domino’s and Kotex, among others.  The use of Spanish is mixed in with English- sometimes a direct translation, sometimes only a tagline or warning label is translated, but inconsistency is the constant factor.  The provided door hanger for Domino’s is not only partially translated, but poorly translated. The message is clear: we put this together at the last minute.  Someone told us we should do something, anything, in Spanish.  This is our lame attempt to reach you people.

The line that Newman-Carrasco ends her piece with sums it all up well: Whether a consumer speaks Spanish or Swahili, he wants you to talk to him — not translate to him.  Many agencies would do well to heed these words.

American and Latinos

People often ask me if they should be marketing to Latinos in English or in Spanish. We definitely see higher CTRs with Spanish language creative, but I want to suggest the following: my experience in the US is a decidedly bicultural and bilingual one – I speak and am spoken to in both English and Spanish. I read content in both languages, and watch or listen to both Spanish and English language TV and radio. I respond to advertising in either language, but what catches my eye is advertising showing Latin people or highlighting Latin culture.

Beyond translating a general market ad to Spanish (which should always be done carefully), there are ads that are targeted to Latinos specifically. When I see those in Spanish, I am happy that the advertiser recognizes the Latin market and has taken the time (and spent the money) to create something meant to appeal to me/

When I see those in both Spanish and English, I feel something more – like the advertiser understands something about me and my experience in this country. I don’t know if you can quantify the effect of that feeling, but it goes in the mix when I decide what product or service I am going to buy.

Mark

As we wade through the flotsam and jetsam of economic recovery, I’m reminded of my experiences as a young person growing up on the Texas Gulf Coast, weathering real storms – hurricanes. If you live in areas frequented by storms born of the sea, you get pretty good at preparing for the worst. You board up your homes, secure your livestock and your boats, planes and automobiles, stock up on emergency supplies and hunker down. As it turns out, that is usually the easy part. After the winds die down and the waters recede the true test begins: rebuilding your life and those of you family and friends who make up your community. Unlike the clear-cut action that is required to prepare physically for a life challenging and unsettling event, the aftermath is strewn with emotional debris and danger that is hard to anticipate, much less prepare for. The same, it seems, is true of managing your way back to your “real” life in the wake of economic downturn.

The economy is showing signs of growth. For those involved in marketing, it will continue to be uncertain but more than ever market segments such as the Hispanic market and new and different thinking and approaches to reaching such obvious reservoirs of potential. It may take some hard thinking and it may take a lot of work. Most of all, it will definitely take change. Things have changed. They will continue to change. Go with it. Grow with it. It is what we humans are all about. And it is just as true in Spanish as it is in English.