The more I look at the changing Hispanic media landscape, the more I feel that mobile will emerge as a central platform in the future of Hispanic advertising.

The data points tell the story:
– More people in the US (and globally) have a mobile phone than an Internet-connected PC (Limbo Mobile Advertising Report)
– 71% of U.S. consumers anticipate daily use of the mobile Internet within the next two years (Nielson)
– Mobile Internet is growing rapidly in Latin America (Telecom Mgmt Group)

Both the U.S. Hispanic consumer of today and tomorrow (new immigrants will already be mobile, and increasingly mobile Internet, users before leaving their home countries) are ready.

So who will take the lead in this relatively untapped sector of Hispanic marketing? The question is really who will take the lead in creating mobile content and functionality for the Hispanic market?

Some would argue that Hispanic media companies like Univision, SBS, Impremedia, and Terra are best equipped to take the lead, as they are already in the content business, and would just need to continue to evolve their distribution to include mobile channels (which many of them are already doing). However, there is a long way to go to offering the same level and breadth of content via mobile that these media companies offer over the traditional Web, let alone via TV, radio, and print.

Don’t count out ad agencies, with their clients, taking the lead. While agencies and their clients are not content creators in the traditional sense, the growing importance of social media is changing their business models and imperatives, as companies like General Mills with QueRicaVida.com and Kraft with ComidaKraft.com increasingly becoming content creators. Moreover, I would argue that agencies and the brands they represent have the edge in offering functionality via mobile. Think useful applications, like BestBuy and Chipotle mobile apps that extend their product / service experience to the mobile platform via useful and helpful applications.

Whoever does take the lead will benefit from a huge first mover advantage in a growing and increasingly mobile-connected Hispanic audience.

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