latino lingo

... Rakata, rakata ...

Those of you who listen older folks might say tolerate Reggaeton will recognize this lyric from the Wisin and Yandel song on their Mas Flow album whom coincidently will be on the bill of the Victor Mannuelle and Andy Andy concert I'm going to next Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

The power and growth of Reggaeton is well documented. Some equate the movement and influence to the rock n roll movement of the 1950s. In my "Dale mas gasolina" post I mentioned the flipping of radio stations to formats that play this music popular with the youth.

Companies are jumping head first into using Reggaeton in their marketing to Hispanic youth. For instance, Verizon recently announced it joined forces with Univsion Verizon to exclusively sponsor "Estrellas del Futuro/Reggaeton," a weekly talent competition that will air on Sabado Gigante.

There's an article on Reggaeton in this week's edition of Newsweek. And, while Daddy Yankee isn't among the finalists for Time's Person of the Year, the influence he's had on culture, youth and purchasing decisions can not be underestimated.

So, put on those dancing shoes and get up to speed on Reggaeton and consider it in your marketing mix for products and services aimed at youth.

The December issue of Hispanic Business Magazine has a few articles on the growth of Hispanic advertising, both on and off-line.

In the article, "Corner Office: The Future Clicks for Hispanic Media," Jesus Chavarria writes about the Hispanic market simultaneously confronting two profound shifts: Hispanic consumers moving from Spanish to English, and at the same time from traditional media to the Internet. He writes, "Hispanics' progress in education, income, English-language usage, and product sophistication makes the conventional Spanish-only media strategy of the past 30 years seem inadequate.

The article, "Surfing in two Worlds," examines the importance of the Hispanic online market further. A good measure is that, writer Joel Russel says, is that Hispanic advertisement reached $100 million in 2005, according to estimates by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), up 33 percent from 2004.

Other articles discuss outdoor advertising, the top 50 advertisers, and one on the publishing industry. Definitely a recommended read.

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) sent out a release announcing that Hispanic advertising spending in 2004 grew 4.7 percent from 2003, according to the 2004 Hispanic Media Spend study.

However, according to the release, despite this growth in Hispanic media spend, 1/3 of the top 250 national advertisers still do not appear among the top 250 Hispanic advertisers. Que pasa?

The release says that despite the fact the U.S. Hispanic population growth outpace overall growth in every age demographic, many industry sectors like technology, pharmaceuticals and travel and entertainment aren’t keeping pace. They also mention recognized brands such as Hallmark, Bose, Philips, as lagging far behind.

I like the fact that in the release AHAA didn't hold back on those who they say are lagging behind. Consider this quote in the release from Carl Kravetz:

“Our new study confirms what AHAA agencies have known for years, Hispanic marketing is flourishing. Yet still more than 100 of the top 250 television and print advertisers are allocating less than one percent of their total budgets in these media to reaching the influential U.S. Hispanic consumer. Some of America ’s most iconic brands -- like Apple, Maytag and Nike -- are missing in action. Others are doing the barest minimum: Mattel, for example, showed 0.1% spending in the Hispanic market in 2004 according to study findings. Considering that nearly a quarter of all children in America are Latino, it just doesn’t make good business sense.”

Way to call them out on the alfombra, Carl!

Mexicana de Aviacion, the first airline of Mexico and who are celebrating their 84th birthday this year, announced it is launching a new service this week with daily, nonstop service between Mexico City International Airport and Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport, according to the Associated Press.

Each flight will seat 12 in executive class and 88 in the main cabin.

The article had an interesting quote from Emilio Romano, chief executive office of Mexicana, who said, "We believe this route will be popular with both business and leisure travelers alike. It is an enormous timesaver to business travelers who would rather fly nonstop than connect in a southern U.S. city ... At the same time, we will attract substantial leisure travel, particularly from the fast-growing Hispanic community residing in the East Coast."

Certainly, Romano recognizes the growing business market traveling to/from our Nation's Capital and La Ciudad de Esperanza.

Previously passengers could not get a nonstop flight to Mexico and they would have to go through a commercial airline, said Cheryl Stewart, a BWI spokeswoman, in the article.

It will be interesting to see how the airline will market and promote this route.

President Bush is on the road this week to border towns to pitch his immigration strategy, which combines a guest worker program for foreigners with border security enforcement. An article on MSNBC.com describes this approach as an attempt to satisfy both his business supporters, who believe illegals boost the economy, and conservatives, who take a hard line on illegal immigration.

From a marketing perspective, businesses also have to tread a thin line when marketing themselves to illegals. On one end, they don't want backlash by overtly offering services to those who are here illegally, and on the other they want to appear "inclusive" and "sensitive" to the unique needs of the illegal population.

There is no doubt businesses want a piece of the illegal immigrant market. Here are some brief statistics on the illegal immigrant population:

-- Estimated at 11 million, mainly Latinos from Central and South America (U.S. Census)
-- Add 700,000 consumers a year, mainly ages 18-44, to the work force (Pew Hispanic Center)
-- Conventional mortgages could hit $60 billion in the next half decade (National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals)

Banks, for example, tread this line by communicating the "alternative" identification they will accept to open an account. In 2001, the U.S. Treasury allowed banks to use the matricula consular card, a piece of identification issued by Mexican consulates, as a basis for the undocumented to open accounts, according to an article in the New Haven Register.

Smart banks recognize they have to first get them in the puerta before they can start advertising their rates on mortgages, CDs, business loans, etc.