Communicating with Ethnicities – More Than Just Translating
Often when trying to reach a new market in a foreign country, businesses tend to think all they need to do is simply translate their marketing materials into the native language. However, it is not enough to only translate marketing materials – especially when the target audience are consumers.
It is imperative that businesses understand the culture of the target audience they are trying to reach – this is critical to the success of an international marketing campaign. I recently attended a conference via Businesswire entitled “Communicating with Minorities” in which understanding the culture of your target audience was a key focus from one of the most engaging speakers – Blaire Borthayre – of Hispanic Marketing Resources. While language is a huge component of culture – it is only one part of our culture. Culture encompasses holidays, customs, slang, manners, greetings, gestures, popular figures, etc. More »
Where Does the Dinero Come From?
In an earlier post, we mentioned that Hispanics’ buying power is about to outstrip that of every other minority in the country.
(A projected $1 trillion by 2010 — a 457% increase over 1990 compared to a 176% increase in non-Hispanic buying power.)
So, where’s all that money coming from?
Well, you’ll find Latinos working in almost any job category you can think of.
Cowboys and cannery workers.
Disk jockeys and doctors.
Biologists and business executives.
Teachers and telecommunications engineers.
Secretaries and sales managers.
Hospitality workers and healthcare providers.
And, yes, gardeners and domestics and construction workers.
But here’s the part that might surprise you.
Turns out a lot of Hispanics own businesses.
Yep.
Three million of them.
That generate some $450 billion in annual sales.*
Which means Hispanic businesses need —
Banking and telecommunications services.
Computers and office supplies.
Office furniture and vehicles.
Janitorial and sanitation equipment.
And a host of other products and services.
So again the question is this.
Are they buying any of these things from you?
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Next time we’ll talk about what makes Latinos tick.
And about why understanding their values is important.
Stay tuned.
*Source: Selig Center for Economic Growth, 2006.
Mucho Buying Power
So, what should you know about the U.S. Hispanic market?
Well, two things, to begin with.
We’re the fastest-growing minority group in the country.
(50 million — and counting.)
And our buying power is about to outstrip that of every other minority group in the country.
(A projected $1 trillion by 2010 — up from close to $800 billion since just 2006.)
Interesting data point, yes?
Here’s another.
The number of Hispanic households with incomes over $100,000 a year is also growing.
More than twice as fast as the general population.
(And it was already up to 1.3 million households in 2005 — almost 10% of the 13.4 million Hispanic households in the nation at that time.)
What about the U.S. non-Hispanic white and African-American populations?
Well, their growth has leveled off.
And the members of both groups are aging.
As the Baby Boomers trek towards retirement, guess who’s filling in behind them.
Right.
Young Latinos.
Who are entering their highest earning years.
And that means opportunity.
For advertisers willing to seize it.
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Next time we’ll talk about how Latinos spend their money.
And about why you should be looking to serve that market.
Stay tuned.
*U.S. Census Current Population Survey 2006.
