MIAMI — Indie rocker Eric Monterrosa checks his ElHood.com Web site at least three times a day, answering fans, surfing for other new Latin artists and keeping in touch with friends from his native Colombia.
Elhood is sort of a bilingual MySpace page mixed with a the latest in Latin music, and for Monterrosa it has become a personal and professional lifeline. It is also the latest in a wave of Hispanic social networking sites building connections across the U.S., Latin America and Spain, all hoping that they can capture a slice of the millions of dollars in advertising being purchased.
“A lot of Latin artists are plugged in. So if you want to find them it’s easy. If you go to sites like MySpace, you have to go through all sorts of genres, types of music and languages,” Monterrosa said. “It’s cool that we can break the boundaries and reach out to other countries and have so many people sharing music and talking across international borders.”
About 56 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. use the Internet, compared to 71 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 60 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, according to study released last month by the D.C.-based Pew Internet and American Life Project. But the number of Hispanics online jumps to 67 percent for 18 to 27 year olds, who also happen to be the group most likely to visit social networking sites and a plum advertising demographic. Read the rest of this entry »
Good Call: Telemundo, Others Cater to Demo’s Penchant for Cellphones
By Laura Martinez Ruiz-Velasco
Text messaging is so passe. Starting this month, subscribers to AT&T Wireless’ Media Net Latino package can watch the best kisses, love scenes and action chases from “El Zorro,” the telenovela based on the Zorro legend that is co-produced by NBC Universal’s Telemundo and Sony Pictures.
Tuned Up: Mun2 pushes music.
The clips aren’t pulled from “El Zorro’s” TV content. They’re all original, produced specifically for the third screen.
Small but growing market
The market for Latino mobile video is small but growing dramatically. The reason is simple: U.S. Hispanics overindex in their use and adoption of mobile technologies and spend more money than general-market consumers on wireless services. A 2007 Forrester Research report shows Hispanic mobile-data users are three times more likely to download videos than non-Hispanics, and according to ITFacts, they spend an average of $67 per month on wireless services vs. $60 by the general market.
Latinos’ penchant for using mobile phones hasn’t escaped marketers, agencies and broadcasters. They’re finding ways to reach Latinos on the move via text messaging or image and video downloading.
“Our clients are increasingly asking [us] about mobile,” says Marla Skiko, director-digital innovations at SMG Multicultural, Chicago. Earlier this year, the Publicis Groupe multicultural media agency helped put together a multichannel marketing effort for Hennessy, driving bilingual urban users to a dedicated site where they could download ringtones, wallpaper, music and cocktail recipes directly onto their cellphones. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the biggest mistakes I find online is advertisers trying to make ad materials work from their traditional marketing campaigns “as is”. As traditional marketers, we tend to want to be synergistic and efficient and economical and many other adjectives. As Hispanic agencies Clients have accustomed us to working magic with the budgets that we get. I’ll never forget when a local Chicken Fast Food Restaurant here in Miami made my agency at the time produce 6 spots for $150k. Somehow, we did a nice job considering the time and budget we had (we called in a lot of favors).
Your OOH (billboard) creative should not become the header to your micro-site. Your TV spot should not become the exact video you use for the intro to your site. Your brochure copy does not become the body copy of your page. Rather, your site should be an extension of the marketing materials you have in the market. It should be a place where consumers can take the knowledge they’ve acquired, through exposure to your message via traditional means, to the next level. A place where they can get the rest of the information they need to make an informed purchase decision. A haven where you can continue your brand relationship with them…long far after the TV media budget has ended.
For this reason, it is a best practice to produce more materials than needed for your traditional marketing. Shoot more footage than needed, negotiate internet rights for photography and talent upfront and create added value for your consumers online. Much like the bonus footage on a new release DVD, it is usually a BIG incentive to buy the movie. The same concept applies to online. It is the reason consumers continue to log onto your page to continue your relationship together. So make it count!
Newcomer iTunes Latino is launching its first sponsorship, distributing to attendees a card with a code redeemable for downloads of 10 tracks by Billboard Latin Music Awards finalists. They recently announced their new “relationship” with Telemundo integrating their popular programming into the download giant’s library.
“We’re thrilled to be iTunes’ first Hispanic TV property,” said Don Browne, President, Telemundo. “Partnerships like these are all about our viewers and following their needs. We can offer our original content to our audience through innovative and hugely popular platforms such as iTunes, which is why we are pioneers in the Spanish-language television and digital media industries.”
“We’re delighted to work with Telemundo and mun2 to offer outstanding Latin programming on the iTunes Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “iTunes is the world’s most popular video download store selling over one million videos a week, and now offers over 250 TV shows from over 40 networks.”
Two of Telemundo’s most popular novelas to date, “Pasión de Gavilanes” and “El Cuerpo del Deseo” are stories about love, revenge and all the passion that comes in between, featuring stellar casts that include telenovela heartthrob, Mario Cimarro, among others. A hit since its premiere in May 2005, “Decisiones” is a nightly series featuring stories based on people’s life experiences and the decisions they make to pull through them. “mun2: The Immigration Special” introduces viewers to the life of an undocumented high school student from El Salvador who lobbies legislators to help secure a future for himself and others like him.
Apple launched their new service with the pretty cool spot below. Featuring “Pachuco” from the very popular Kumbia Kings.
Between the “official” merger of Telemundo.com and Yahoo! last week and this partnership with Apple, Telemundo stands poised to be the industry leader in new media and media integration. Univision…you are crazy for not doing your homework or are you too busy with the new acquisition? Where is your music service or partnership? Even Sony Connect has Latin music, but do not currently market it to Hispanics. I believe if Univision does not react soon, they will have a hard time catching up. Unvision.com is stale and entirely dependent on the broadcast giants monopoly of talent and the bullying of it’s partners and content suppliers. Could the playing fields finally be leveling out? We will soon see.
Approximately 120 participants took part in the 14th Annual DMA Directo Days Conference. Large Publishers like Meredith Corporation and, Time Inc (People en español) as well as list managers and brokers (Estee Marketing, 21st Century Marketing) were present at the show.
Agency personnel like Hewlett Packard, The Home Depot, Kraft and The Walt Disney Company, Hartford Life were present at the show. Some large Hispanic advertising agencies, including Zubi Advertising and The Vidal Partnership, also participated.
Stock Imagery Companies (Real Latino Images, Hispanic Shots) marketers told Portada that this year there is a particularly strong interest in the Telecommunications, Sports and Entertainment categories.
The Hispanic list market is still mostly a direct mail market. List managers and brokers told Portada that clients ask about e-mail lists but that most of the time they are not ready yet to buy Hispanic e-mail lists.
This week, Yahoo! Telemundo and Experian Simmons Research released findings that declare that Hispanics in the U.S. are “media mavens,” consuming and adopting media and technology at a higher rate than the general market. In my gut, I know this is true…to some degree. I mean, we do over-index in almost all categories imaginable, why not media consumption and media integration. However, I think as a group, we are slow to change and do not like change which makes me question the technology aspect of this study.
As I’m sure many of you will agree, this is quite a departure from the conflicting pieces of research out there including that Hispanics are not online; and those that are only speak English. Sound familiar? Working solely in the online industry for the last year has made me realize that this statement is simply not true. Another white paper from another general market agency will not change the fact that we are online and that we are responsive to Spanish messaging.
Finding
“The fact that TV viewership continues to grow among U.S. Hispanics while Internet penetration has almost doubled, combined with the high penetration of broadband access in this segment, presents a unique opportunity to offer this diverse audience more choices of meaningful and relevant content.”
We know the face of media in the US changes dramatically every year. We also know that the amount of print, OOH, cable channels, websites and mobile providers increases daily. The NAHJ (National Association of Hispanic Journalists) can confirm the obvious, however, we must watch for over-saturation. Remember, what goes up, must come down. However, what I believe we will see is much more integration of mediums.
A report released in March, 2007, entitled Latinos Online by PEW Research, finds that 56% of Latinos in the U.S. (comprising 14% of the U.S. adult population) use the internet. By comparison, 71% of non-Hispanic whites and 60% of non- Hispanic blacks use the internet. Lower levels of education and limited English ability largely explain the gap in internet use between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, concludes the report.
One in three Latinos who speak only Spanish go online.
78% of Latinos who are English-dominant and 76% of bilingual Latinos use the internet, compared with 32% of Spanish-dominant Hispanic adults.
76% of U.S.-born Latinos go online, compared with 43% of those born outside the U.S.
80% of second-generation Latinos go online, as do 71% of third-generation Latinos.
89% of Latinos who have a college degree, 70% of Latinos who completed high school, and 31% of Latinos who did not complete high school go online.
Mexicans are the largest national origin group in the U.S. Latino population but only 52% of Latinos of Mexican descent use the internet. Even when age, income, language, generation, or nativity is held constant, being Mexican is associated with a decreased likelihood of going online.
This blog was developed to discuss issues affecting Hispanic marketing today. It is also intended to offer a fresh perspective different from the scripted media coverage currently being offered in the industry.
Tuned Up: Mun2 pushes music.
