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HISPANIC MARKET OVERVIEW, presented by López Negrete Communications 2017 Edition
THE UNDERSTANDING PARTNER
“Life is bare. Gloom and misery everywhere. Stormy weather.” If one were to associate the lyrics to a pop song to the state of the U.S. Hispanic marketing and advertising world, many may choose the Lena Horne classic. A better choice of lyrics may be from the rock band Genesis: “There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake.”
Understanding today’s U.S. Hispanic consumer is critical to any brand’s success. Yet, it seems there is a lot of misunderstanding being seen from coast to coast. There’s the continued discussion about “total market” strategies and implementation. There’s concern that efficiencies will, err, trump insights as CMOs look to get what they believe is the biggest bang for the buck.
From June 12-14, the nation’s top experts in the multicultural marketing and advertising field were set to gather at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago for the 2017 ahaa Annual Conference. This year’s event bears the theme “Next Generation Marketing.”
Next-Gen thought, and next-gen technology, have brought the top Latino thought leaders front and center. With ATSC 3.0, the next-generation broadcast TV standard set to arrive in the coming months, Univision Communications has taken a lead role in its rollout (along with Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group).
Taking the lead on next-generation advertising practices are the presenters and speakers at the ahaa conference. It’s the belief of ahaa that Hispanic marketers “are uniquely positioned to address how brands can connect with an ever-increasingly multicultural market.”
Linda Lane Gonzalez, Chairman of ahaa and president of Miami-based multicultural shop Viva Partnership, firmly believes this. The challenge is getting clients—and those controlling the purse strings—to unequivocally agree.
In an interview with Hispanic Market Overview, Gonzalez was asked for her view on the state of the U.S. Hispanic market, and what its growth prospects are.
“It’s been an interesting few months,” she says with a laugh, alluding to the change in presidential administrations seen in January. “If you just look at the numbers and you look at the
sectors like CPG, and telecom, and automotive, and beauty, where are they seeing their growth? It is in the Hispanic market, because it is so much younger than the total market.”
It’s such obvious facts, yet facts that need constant repeating, that will help the U.S. Hispanic marketing and advertising sector to continue to grow. A better sense of what has been labeled “the new American mainstream” by Geoscape is also a key reason why Hispanic shops have a bright future ahead, Gonzalez believes.