Black In Latin America is a a four part series produced by PBS and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Professor of English and African American Studies, which was shown on the PBS public cable channel. In this highly educational and informational series, Dr. Gates goes on a journey to the Latin American countries of Mexico, Peru and Brazil as well as the Caribbean islands of Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic investigating the cultural history of Africans and the role they played in forming what is today Latin America and Latino culture. You can purchase the series on DVD at Amazon or watch it for free on the official website. What’s great about the official website is that it also offers a wealth of academic essays, timelines and photo galleries.
This is a video book review of Latin American Cyberculture and Cyberliterature, edited by Claire Taylor and Thea Pitman. I highly recommend this book for those who want to study how Latin America uses online media technology in film, literature, marketing and political movements.
The chapters are various research and case studies presented by new media theorists and professors covering the above topics. Please watch my Youtube video for a more detailed review of this book.
Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete and Miss Puerto Rico Mariana Vicente
Miss Universe 2010 introduced a diversity of beautiful women from all over the world but of course I was cheering for Miss Puerto Rico, Mariana Vicente. Even though Miss Mexico, Jimena Navarrete, won I was very happy that Mariana Vicente was in the top 10 but wait, was she really PuertoRican? Was she really a Latina? I’m sure some these questions were in some people’s minds because of her blue eyes, blonde hair and light complexion she would be considered a Caucasian but in fact she was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mariana Vicente is an example of breaking the stereotype that all Latinos are assumed to have dark skin, brown eyes and dark hair when in fact there is so much ethnic diversity within Latin America and the Caribbean. A brief history about Spanish colonization and ethnic intermingling can in an early post. (more…)
Four years has passed and now it’s time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup of soccer (or futbol as it is called in Latin American countries). You might think of it as the superbowl of soccer that pits 32 soccer teams from around the world against each other to be the world champion. I know for countries who are pure soccer fans, particulalry in Europe and all of Latin America, it will be an intense and emotional few weeks, as teams advance or get eliminated.
I’ve always been an admirer of the Latino arts. Since my first trip to the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, I was enamored by the eclectic collection of paintings and sculptures done by artists in the Caribbean, my fascination also expanded to dance and music from different Latin American regions. They are all so diverse and yet they all find the common love of culture and history. Film is no different. (more…)
In my previous post, I blogged about my research into the Hispanic market and the conclusion that came about from the gathered information and interviews that I did. I received a comment that became a very interesting discussion from a colleague of mine named Mari D. González. She is the founder, intercultural communications and market research consultant of IXMATI Communications. (more…)
It’s getting close to the end of my semester in my Intro to Latin Studies class and I have already decided to choose for my final report the study of Hispanic marketing through cultural and historical research. I have learned so much more about Latin culture and history through my class discussions and assigned books written by very notable Latino scholars, sociologists, historians and essayists. There was so much that I wasn’t aware of that helped me understand modern Latino culture and the diverse Latinos living here in the United States and Latin America.
From international policy, language, revolutions and racial classes to cultural metaphors and symbolism; Latino culture and society is still being studied to this day. One question that my class always brings up is “Do Latinos relate more with native Indians or the Spaniards that arrived here?.” Each book provides different perspectives of not only this issue of Latino identity but also the issue of our relationship with the United States.
This brings me to the point that companies, advertising agencies and marketers who wish to build campaigns to capture the Hispanic market; they really have to do the research. Sure there are focus groups, interviews and surveys but you have to know the culture, sociology, consumer behavior as well and that is what I propose to illustrate in my report. So far I gathered some resources for this report that I believe will help me establish a strong foundation for my proposal. Below is the list of books that I got from my university library as well as what I purchased from Amazon. Check them out, maybe you can use these books for your own Hispanic marketing research. If you recommend any other books feel free and post some. Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective by Felipe and Betty Ann Korzenny
Hispanic Marketing Grows Up by Juan Faura
Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective by Jorge J. E. Gracia
Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People by Arlene Daivila
Latin Americans: Contemporary Peoples and Their Cultural Traditions by Michael D. Olien
Latin American Popular Culture: An Introduction by William H. Beezley
Latin American Popular Culture by Arthur A. Natella, Jr.
Marketing to American Latinos: A Guide to the In-Culture Approach Part 1 by M. Isabel Valdès
Marketing to American Latinos: A Guide to the In-Culture Approach Part 2 by M. Isabel Valdès
Now is a great time for businesses to concentrate on reaching the Hispanic market online! So far there has been a positive increase of Hispanics here in the United States using the Internet. In a released report on the Hispanic Internet market here in the United States that was completed n April of 2009 by comScore, a leading company on measuring online audience activities and participation, the Hispanic online population reached a record 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, representing 11% of the total U.S. online market; this a tremendous increase of 6% from the year before. During the past year, the growth of the U.S Hispanic Internet audience overtook the total U.S. online population in terms of number of visitors, time spent and pages consumed, as Hispanic online adoption and engagement increased at a rapid level. Hispanic Internet users also exhibited a surge in online engagement, including strong increases in time spent and pages consumed. The total amount of time spent online by Hispanics increased 6.9% in 2009, while total pages consumed grew 6%. This is at least 3 to 4 times faster than the total U.S. population actively using the Internet.
According to the charts that I will post below, the high percentages of Internet activities by Hispanics are in communication, entertainment and product searching. Here we have three powerful niche markets that companies can enter into online if they want to tap into the Hispanic consumer power; a great marketing opportunity and a potential for niche growth. Of course, companies can’t just start spending money on media campaigns just based on general knowledge of Hispanics. You need to do deep research not only on consumer spending and online activities but also culture. Spend time on who you are trying to reach within the Hispanic market. Ask yourself: What sites do they get on the most? Should I market to only to Spanish speakers or bilingual speakers? Do I offer incentives and discounts? Will customer service be important? Should there be any multimedia applications designed for these particular online activities? the list goes on and on. The important thing is to plan before implementing any campaign. If you need more help, swallow your pride and hire an outside Hispanic based adverting agency whose main goal is to provide you with the best information on the Hispanic market.
U.S. Hispanic Internet Population vs. Total U.S. Internet Population
U.S. Hispanics’ Share of Total Time Spent in Online Site Categories
I also took the liberty of posting the latest charts from the newly updated 2009 Hispanic Fact Pack on the number of Hispanic visitors on certain sites. Judging from the stats below, both Google and Yahoo are top ranked when it comes to the most visited sites with Google being number one and Yahoo at number two. You should definitely take advantage of not only on these stats but also the Hispanic Fact Book and please study the culture. Trust me, you don’t want the reputation of insulting all Latino communities in the United States or Latin American countries if you plan on expanding internationally.
What I enjoy about blogging is that I can gather facts and data that supports my ideas of how Hispanic marketing can be successful. Some of the great sources are actually from professional marketers and advertisers that have been doing this for a good long time so I know that the information that they provide are factual and up to date and I am happy to share what they have on my blog as kind of social media archive. I happened to come across a blog while doing my research that supports my earlier post that marketers cannot generalize the Hispanic segment, thorough research has to be done to successfully achieve a marketing/advertising campaign. If it is not possible to do it in house maybe it would be best to hire an agency that specializes in Hispanic marketing, some I will post throughout my blogs. This blog post that I happened to find in Advertising & Marketing Review helps support my personal facts and that I am on the right path in blogging useful information about Hispanic marketing.
Some of the blogpost is actually posted below, I plan on dividing the post because the second half will lead me into traditional media and the best way to use it when marketing towards Hispanics. The blog post was blogged by Laura Sonderup, the Director of Heinrich Hispanidad, a division of Heinrich Marketing, Inc. that specializes in Hispanic marketing.
Hispanics – One Market or Más? “Latino” or “Hispanic”, as a description, refers to an origin or ethnicity, not a race. There is no one monolithic “Hispanic market.” What, if anything, unifies Hispanics? For the most part, the language. Spanish stands as a symbol of difference for U.S. Hispanics; wherever they’re from and regardless of their history, Spanish is a key to their individual and collective pasts.
Country of Origin The single most important segmentation factor among U.S. Hispanics may be their country of origin. The U.S. Hispanic market is comprised of subcultures from over 20 countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean and Spain, with the majority (63%) of Mexican heritage. The culture, beliefs, opinions and consumer behavior patterns of U.S. Hispanics are not identical, as a result of the influence of differences in their native countries’ geography, indigenous ancestry and colonial origins.
Acculturation vs. Assimilation U.S. Latinos tend to “adopt and adapt” to customs and habits in the U.S. without shedding traditions and value systems. Along that line, marketers, and those trying to tap into the Hispanic segment, cannot simply transfer directly to the U.S. Latino market the conceptualizations or marketing strategies that work with more traditional, general market consumers. Latinos are assimilating to prevalent U.S. culture, but they are not, and probably never will be, fully assimilated. Instead, theirs is a path of acculturation. It is a process of integration of native and traditional immigrant cultural values with dominant cultural ones.
¿Habla usted español? Language is one of the most obvious examples of this phenomenon. Spanish is likely to remain the language of preference among U.S. Latinos. In fact, Univision is now the #5 network in the United States, behind ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
When asked about advertising effectiveness, 38% of Hispanics surveyed found English language ads less effective than Spanish ads in terms of recall and 70% less effective than Spanish ads in terms of persuasion. Many younger and acculturated Latinos mix languages into a form of “Spanglish,” in which they speak English peppered with Spanish words. But when it comes to selling, 56% of Latino adults respond best to advertising when it is presented in Spanish.
Communication Channels for U.S. Hispanics Research shows that while Hispanics consume every type of media, they do seem to have a special attraction to television and radio. Nevertheless, the air-time used to identify a product or service at an in-depth level is typically too brief and too incomplete to be effective, thus the “sale” will not be closed. However, the combination of direct mail, broadcast and print makes it possible for the Hispanic consumer to obtain additional information and “close the sale” — with each medium contributing to the total communication story.
I find myself wanting to cook Puerto Rican food as one of my main goals in life. When cooking Latin dishes in my family, the recipes are very traditional and passed down from mother to daughter. I always enjoy my mom’s home cooked meals such as rice and beans, blood sausage, roast pork and fried plantains. When I go to Puerto Rico on vacation, I make sure I go to places that serve the best traditional dishes. Unfortunately, my sister is now a vegetarian and when it comes to Puerto Rican food we love to eat meat, so I feel it is up to me to continue the tradition that was passed down to my mom.
What I love about Latin cooking is that there is so much culture, history and diversity behind it. Every Latin American country has their own style of Latin dishes that greatly differ from other Latin countries, for example, Puerto Rican dishes are a mixture of Spanish, Taino (Ameri-Indian) and African origins. Mexican food differs from Puerto Rican as Puerto Rican food differs from Salvadoran food. The one common thing that goes behind cooking these wonderful Latin dishes is the warmth and comradery of friends and family coming together. I remember when I visited Puerto Rico for Christmas one time I was invited to a family member’s Christmas dinner. In Puerto Rican Christmas tradition, a pig is slowly roasted on a spit for about 8 hours and then it is served with other Puerto Rican dishes such as rice and beans, turkey, plantains just to name a few. I remember tasting the pernil (the roast pork) and I was in heaven, the meat was so tender and the skin, which is the best part was crispy. What I enjoyed most about the get together is that I was able to meet with family members that I haven’t seen in years and others I have never met at all. This encourages me to continue the traditional cooking of Puerto Rican food and I hope to pass it down to my son or daughter.
Whether you are Hispanic or not, anybody can successfully cook Latin style dishes from the comfort of their own home. There are so many books out there that will teach Latin dishes from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, just go with your preference. I myself enjoy a recipe book by Latin chef Daisy Martinez called Daisy Cooks! To me, she is a great chef to follow because cooks a variety of Latin dishes, particularly Puerto Rican. She does have her own website called Daisy Cooks! where it offers information on some of her recipes, products, and schedules of her TV show ( you have to check your local listings)
Below is the cover of her book and a video that I happened to find on Youtube. It is not from her show but it shows her cooking style, her great personality and teaching style. Buen Provecho!
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