NASCAR fans and officials at Phoenix International Raceway learning about how the motor sport plans to expand its audience.

Latinos are the main source of growth for the grocery industry

In a time of economic hardship for many in the US, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is doing a good job educating their distributors about new trends, including publishing an article on their website: “Hispanic buying power will impact your bottom line”.

The article has many powerful statistics like, “the Hispanic population is the largest ethnic group in the United States and is growing three times faster than any other ethnic group,” and, “It is predicted that Hispanics will spend just over $1.2 trillion in 2012.” Stats like these are not just useful to people within the beef industry, but to anyone trying to reach the Hispanic Market.

The fact is, that “Hispanic customers spend 42% more on beef purchases than any other ethnic group,” and it behooves (pun intended) the NCBA to not only understand this diverse market, but also to educate their distributors. The article gives useful tips to retailers like preferred cuts by country of origin, bilingual signage ideas and Hispanic recipes. One of the most impressive resources the NCBA posts on this page is the “Beef Training Camp: Hispanic Marketing pamphlet.” Another article put out by the NCBA outlines the effectiveness of Hispanic POS Elements in four test areas.

The article also offers a link to LaCarnedeRes.com, which is a Spanish language offshoot of the NCBA’s main site, offering tips for recipes and events to the Latino community. In a time when companies are feeling their ribs after recent lean years, the NCBA is taking control of their future; they are finding new, creative ways to access consumer dollars.

All Hat and No Cattle?

Although a majority of U.S. businesses say that Hispanics are important to the growth of their companies, very few  are actually marketing to them.

Even though a sizable majority (80%) of US marketers say that the Hispanic market will have a major impact on their products and services in the coming five years, half of them are not marketing specifically to the demographic. This is according to a report earlier this year from legendary independent Hispanic agency Orci.

The agency survey was emailed to 9,300 senior marketers at Fortune 1,000 companies. When the results were tabulated, more than 80% of respondents also said they either do not plan to begin marketing to Hispanics or will not increase their efforts in the next 12 months. This takes into consideration all forms of media. And even though there is very clear evidence that social media and online are accelerating in their use amongst this powerful demographic, the report also found that despite 80% of the Hispanic population using social media, only 20% of marketers are targeting social networks with Hispanic-specific marketing messages. What’s up with that?

So where is the logical disconnect?  Are they really bullish on the Hispanic market or are they simply full of bull? Hard to say, but it clearly indicates a misalignment in strategic thinking if not plain old common sense. In 2008, 46 million U.S. Hispanics accounted for $980 billion in spending power, according to market research firm Packaged Facts. That number will increase to $1.3 billion by 2013. Seems like there are lot of companies that need to get their lassos out and start working the ranch before all of the cattle are out of the barn (and yes, there is probably a “brand” pun in there somewhere)!

Speaking in Tongues

I recently saw the documentary Speaking in Tongues, which promotes the benefits of bilingual education in public schools, communities and families.

Nowadays, being bilingual is “in”, and I am glad to be able to raise my son speaking Spanish and English. It will only make his life easier, I think.  We live in a city where immersion programs are offered in three elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. It is such a popular program that only a very small percentage of the applicants make it in.

Bilingual education has certainly changed. I’ve heard stories of how past generations of Spanish-speaking families wanted to raise their kids speaking English only. They believed it was the way children would blend easily in their community.  Could it be now the opposite? Are we realizing Spanish (and Chinese) are essential to a competitive professional life for our kids?

Bilingual education is not popular everywhere, and I agree it may not be for every family.  In my situation, I believe my son will benefit in so many ways- more than professionally, since I know my son will have a better understanding of English grammar by studying Spanish, and he will have a better understanding of his roots, his family and his community. He will happily respond: ¡Sí Hablo Español!

Ana Torroja on LaMusica.com

Spanish Broadcasting Systems recently launched Lamusica.com, which includes online radio, video and television along with entertainment news, blogs and links to all the SBS radio stations from the United States.

SBS is the largest Latin media and entertainment company (publicly owned) in the United States. They have been able to successfully operate more than 20 radio stations in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and in Puerto Rico.

I highly recommend visiting Lamusica.com because it is a well-organized and clean web site where you will find many options to choose from without getting lost in the pop-up windows or too many links. I personally like to be able to change radio stations from different parts of the nation and the world.

I’d like to point out that most of the ads in their sites were in English however, most of the content is written in Spanish. Hispanic online consumers can be divided in three groups: predominantly Spanish speaking, bilingual (English and Spanish) and predominately English speaking – who may feel more comfortable speaking English but they may have taste for Musica en Español! It doesn’t matter which group of listeners you fit, in any case I suggest tuning into Lamusica.com