Those of us that manage business units or retail operations in Texas have to agree that Spanish language marketing efforts need to be evaluated on a city by city basis. This is a basic best practice when approaching this state. San Antonio is different from Houston which is different Dallas which is a polar opposite to Austin. And then there’s that mad Mexican money that crosses the border to buy Hummers in El Paso.

From my days of managing General Motors’ Hispanic marketing efforts in the US and leveraging specific brands efforts in TX; I recall the endless dealer meetings where the white folks argued with the brown folks about what was “the right thing to do” (as far as marketing). Many dealer owners said that Spanish language marketing would not reach their target market. I also heard often, that people who responded to Spanish language marketing or advertising were, most likely looking for a used car. When we were planning direct mail campaigns for GM and other brands, we would launch them in Spanish and English so that no one could get offended…but there was always someone upset with us. With the unreliable amount of direct mail lists in our market, you can never assume. So what is the right answer?

Regretfully, there is no magical right answer. There are many Latinos in TX that speak English and some that don’t. Some are very vocal, and some are here without a trace. But they all have money as well as needs, wants and dreams. There are also many Latinos that do not consider themselves Latinos for many reasons. Mostly because there was a very different mindset towards Latinos 50 - 60 years ago when many came to this country. Blending in was the motto back then.

A Texan friend always tells a story of his Mexican grandmother that would not allow him to speak Spanish and chastised him by telling him that she did not come all the way from Mexico for him speak Spanish. That story always makes me sad because my experience growing up Cuban-American, in 1980’s Miami was entirely different. Being Hispanic was the norm for me. I went to a Catholic school with hundreds of other Cuban-American kids just like me. Many of which are now in this business alarmingly enough. (You know who you are!) Hiding that we were Hispanic was the last thing on our mind. Lesson learned? Our immigration experience is a HUGE factor in the way we want to be communicated to.

This new “cool to be Hispanic/Latino” wave that we enjoy today has not always been the case. Remember, when many of our people came to this country, it was not fashionable to be Hispanic. There was no Mr. and Mrs. Solis living in the very upscale Wisteria Lane, no little white girls shaking their hips to Shakira (funny white girl video included below) or no J.Lo wearing GLOW perfume in every major magazine in this country. Only now has being Hispanic come of age.

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In speaking to the majority of my friends in the business, most of their Clients face the same problem. No matter what sensitivities they take into account when forming the communication, they can’t seem to make both sides of the language debate, happy. This, I believe, has prompted AHAA (Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies) to fund research and spearhead the language debate which culminated in a study titled “The Latino Identity Project.

I like to think that the “Latino Identity Project” is more than just an attempt at protecting our (Hispanic agencies) core Spanish language business. Or an attempt to strike back at general market agencies by inventing “English language creative with Hispanic insights” and making a dent in their production/development budgets (LOL). I do believe, as does AHAA, that communicating to the heart of the Latino, no matter the idiom, is key to success in marketing. Especially in the branding arena where people develop emotional connections to brands. Do Hispanics get the message in English when presented to them?…most do. That’s not the real issue here. However, they do develop a deeper connection with the brand when you present it to them in the “language” that they speak, eat, dance and make love in….you bet! And that’s beyond English or Spanish.

This echos true for the rest for the US Hispanic market. Most Hispanics are bilingual and there is an ever increasing amount of English preferred Hispanics (myself included). But talk to me in English, with creative that speaks to me culturally and I guarantee that I will not forget your brand. It doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive…just on target and on strategy. Below is a TV that we created during my time at Accentmarketing for the General Motors brand that was originally a English spot that was re-edited with new music and supers for the Hispanic market. Had GM decided to run this very spot with its new music bed and English supers and in the right markets; no one (not even Anglos) would have forgotten that spot. Cheap but effective.

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We also “shook things up” (at Accentmarketing) for the Chevy brand during their sponsorship of the World Series of Baseball in 2005. Given the Hispanic level of interest in the sport, we ran a Hispanic spot with English subtitles during the game on English network TV. The amount of free press coverage that we received was far more valuable than the cost to run the actual spot. We also received equal amounts of letters from Americans calling GM “un-American” for having done that.

Out of this debate, what makes me chuckle is the amount of great Hispanic agencies and creative coming out of TX…greats like Dieste, Bromlely, The Cartel Group and Lopez-Negrette just to name a few. I also find it interesting the amount of ratings success that Univision and many of the other Spanish media outlets have in TX. If people in TX don’t speak Spanish or can’t afford goods than why do the TX markets continue to proliferate? You might have to ask yourself, “Should I be changing my strategy to engage this consumer in-culture rather than in-language?

- Written by Miamiadguy