Hispanic digital media spend will surpass print and radio, as in the general market. Digital media spend in the Hispanic market will continue to remain far behind TV, radio and print (approximately 5% in 2011). With all the talk about increased spending on Hispanic digital by agencies and marketers alike, we will look back on 2012 and see digital spend stayed well below double digit territory and is nowhere near surpassing radio or print (as we saw in the general market in 2011).

Hispanic ad spend will stay flat in 2012. If there is one prediction you can take to the bank, it’s this one – Hispanic media ad spend will grow in 2012 (compared to 2011). While there is still concern over a double-dip recession in 2012 (particularly as things unravel in Europe), the 2012 elections and the juggernaut that is Univision will assure growth in the market. Portada recently released a report projecting 4-5% media growth in the Hispanic market based on a survey of Hispanic marketing professionals. I think this is conservative.

Marketers will increase their budget allocations to the Hispanic market. Although the previous prediction would logically lead most to believe that marketers will increase their Hispanic budget allocations (the percentage of their overall marketing budgets directed at the U.S. Hispanic market), the sad reality is that things will remain status quo when it comes to the approach most marketers take to allocating budgets to the Hispanic market. Most of the growth in Hispanic ad spend in 2012 will be driven by new entrants into the space – led by political advertising (not just candidates – but the also super PACs – all of whom are finally paying attention to Hispanic voters). Existing Hispanic advertisers will continue to maintain their Hispanic spend in the same range as in 2010.

Mainstream digital publishers will stop launching English-language “Latino” Websites. The last 2 years have seen major media companies jump into the Hispanic digital space – targeting the oft discussed bicultural and English dominant Latino, including FoxNewsLatino.com. NBCLatino.com, and The Huffington Post Latino Voices. Some might assume the space is now crowded, or that competing with media powerhouses like News Corp, AOL and NBC Universal is futile. Well, I see more of these “Latino” extensions coming in 2012. Why? The barrier to entry is so low. With digital, unlike the offline world of broadcast or print, there is very little capital costs (if any) associated with launching a new publication. Sure, a good Website infrastructure is not cheap, and producing quality content is not easy (or inexpensive), but compared to the printing and infrastructure costs of launching a new Spanish-language daily or the licensing fees associated with launching a new Spanish-language radio station, the costs are marginal and worth the risk. One interesting ramification of this new media growth will be that there will be many more options to reach English-speaking Latinos than ever before.

Mobile will finally become a key part of the Hispanic marketing mix for most advertisers. “2012 will be the year of Hispanic mobile marketing.” I’m sure you’ve heard or read this somewhere. With all the data on Hispanics’ heavy use of mobile and major growth in general market mobile marketing, it stands to reason that Hispanic mobile will come of age in 2012. Unfortunately, this is a major case of all bark and no bite. I see a couple of problems with these naïve predictions. # 1: Where will the money come from? With most mobile media programs funded out of digital media buckets, and Hispanic digital media spending in the 5-6% range, mobile marketing programs will be hard pressed to find funding in an already dry well. #2 With so much of the growth in mobile activity being driven by mobile Web browsing and tablet use, I do not anticipate significant investment on the part of marketers into Hispanic mobile- and tablet-optimized sites (when most hardly keep up their browser-based Hispanic Web and microsites) #3 Hispanic mobile and social media are inextricably intertwined, and Hispanic social media is still in its infancy (see below).

Clients will continue moving their Hispanic advertising to general market shops. As the economy slowly starts improving in 2012 (I’m an optimist), I expect there will be less pressure on marketers to consolidate their general market and Hispanic advertising programs in one ad shop. Equally important, many veteran Hispanic marketers who consolidated will likely miss the attention to detail and specialized resources they got from Hispanic ad agencies compared to the Hispanic divisions of general market shops. Finally, I think general market shops are less excited about investing in Hispanic capabilities and divisions after experiencing how little budget is actually allocated to these programs. 5% of a client’s marketing budget is not too exciting when you already have 95% of it.

Hispanic social media will become a major force in the industry. Again – lots of buzz, but very little substance to back it up. While 2010 and 2011 have seen a lot attention placed on engaging Hispanics in social media, with the establishment of two rival Hispanic social media organizations and countless blog networks touting thousands of influential Hispanic bloggers, the space is still in its infancy and will take a while to catch up to the general market in scale and sophistication. While I applaud the efforts of organizations like LATISM, Hispanicize, and Latina Bloggers Connect among others, large reach and national marketer scale is still missing from the space. Specifically, as more and more Latinos start blogging and building large networks on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, there is a key missing ingredient –an audience of millions of Latinos consuming their content. Until that happens, Hispanic social media will be a niche within a niche.

We won’t see any new Hispanic advertising agencies open their doors in 2012. No matter how challenging or competitive the Hispanic ad industry gets, it always amazes me that new Hispanic ad agencies, PR shops, and other marketing agencies are launched every year. I don’t have an official count, but I know of at least a dozen or so shops launched between 2009 and 2011 (in arguably the most challenging 3 years the industry has faced). It’s quite a testament to the resilience and constant innovation within the industry that optimistic entrepreneurs see opportunities to make a better mousetrap in our business.

I think 2012 will be a good year for our industry – filled it’s fair share of challenges, but more importantly, opportunities to grow and prosper, as Hispanics become a bigger and more integral element of the American corporate and cultural life.

(an edited version of this article originally ran on MediaPost’s Engage Hispanic blog on January 5, 2012)

Obviously this is a philosophy I have embraced for years, so it’s nice to hear a smart colleague join the growing chorus of voices calling for a sea change in how Hispanic advertising is executed.

While I support David’s thesis, implementing it in practice opens up a whole can of worms that need to be thought through. Among them are:
– If Hispanic advertising moves beyond language, how does that further complicate the dynamic between Hispanic ad agencies and their increasingly antagonistic general market pals?
– Even if agencies started pushing this philosophy (as we have at Sensis), it doesn’t mean that clients are going to buy-in (as we have experienced)
– If Spanish language advertising is wrong, how do we reconcile that with the huge ratings of the Spanish-language broadcast and radio?

One interesting question I’ve thought a lot about is whether this type of philosophy, if implemented, would evolve Hispanic advertising to look a lot more like African American advertising?

Lot’s to think about and much change to come…

While the official company line from Univision has been that building such an in-house consulting and marketing services group will allow them to expand their client base to marketers and brands that have not yet invested in Hispanic marketing and therefore not hired specialist agency partners, I have definitely heard grumbling within the industry about their strategy.

The question that immediately comes to my mind is whether this is a good thing for the Hispanic advertising industry? You can look at this a couple of different ways.

Some will say this is a good thing, as Univision’s in-house agency will facilitate it’s ability to bring more companies into the Hispanic market. These companies will get their toes wet, and assuming they experience positive results, will increase their investment in the Hispanic market. They will “mature” and eventually hire Hispanic ad agencies and expand their media spend outside of the Univision portfolio of broadcast, radio, digital and out of home. The net result will be more advertising, more dollars, and more competitive and vibrant Hispanic marketing industry.

Other say this is bad for the industry, as companies that are lured in by Univision’s “one-stop shop” solution will not get a holistic view of the Hispanic market, but will instead only have access to Univision’s large, albeit specific slice of the Hispanic universe. For brands that have a bigger opportunity with Hispanic segments that Univision is not as strong at reaching – for example young Hispanics (see my last post on what to call them), acculturated Hispanics, B2B or professional – they may not be served well. And we all know how first impressions go. Other arguments also include that Univision offering agency services is a conflict of interest and breaks an unwritten rule in advertising that agencies and media be separate.

What do you think?

Hispanic social media continues to be one of the hottest topics in the business of Hispanic marketing. More and more data comes out every week about Hispanics and how they use social media. A steady flow of conferences, panel discussions, and interest on the part of marketers and their agencies has kept the subject top of mind for the last 18 months. I wonder if all this excitement is missing the mark because we’re still looking at the opportunity from the lens of Hispanic marketing circa 1990?

It’s helpful to take a step back and think about why the Hispanic marketing industry exists. Hispanic marketing exists primarily for 3 reasons: Language, Population size, and Culture.

The Spanish language was the original nexus for this industry, and even today, most Hispanic advertising is in Spanish and runs in Spanish language media. The size of the Hispanic population has elevated it above other ethnic groups in a country of immigrants – its population growth continues unabated into 2011. Cultural (behavior and beliefs) differences between Hispanics and mainstream Americans have created challenges for all series of organizations looking to tap into the opportunity of this perpetually emerging market.

However, when we look at social media, do these distinctions between Hispanics and the rest of the U.S. apply? Starting with population size, the market opportunity in social media does appear to be as compelling as in the analog world. Large percentages of Hispanics are online and using social media – so there is scale to justify the attention. And there is a lot of data pointing to the fact that Hispanics tend to have more friends, followers, connections, etc. – a direct translation of their larger offline social networks. But size alone does not make a market – a large group of people with Latin surnames using Facebook, Twitter or YouTube is not in itself a marketing opportunity

So we turn to language. Most online Hispanics are comfortable reading and writing in English. We know half of all U.S. Hispanics were born in the U.S., and with a large youth population, we can infer that more and more Hispanics will be able to navigate their digital lives in English. Moreover, since social media is in essence an amalgamation of content created by consumers, there are no Spanish-language versions of social networks, micromedia, or video sharing sites. There is no channel 34 of social media.

Lastly, are there cultural – behavioral and belief – differences between Hispanics and the mainstream market that result in different social behavior? Can we say that large swaths of 20-30 million Hispanic who are online exhibit some distinct social media behavior that would create an opportunity to connect with them? Do they update their status differently on Facebook or create different tweets? Do they join different groups on LinkedIn or not enjoy watching kitten videos on YouTube as much as everybody else? Do Hispanics view social media differently- Do they read or write blogs for different reasons?

I wonder if these mostly demographic distinctions, which were the basis for the modern Hispanic marketing industry that started in the 1960s, are the right way to approach Hispanic social media? In an environment that empowers consumers to create content and connect with others who share common interests, passions, and experiences – maybe we need to reframe the discussion?

Are we missing the boat by focusing on Hispanic demographic and behavioral distinctions? Is Hispanic social media really all about psychographics – and tapping into digital psychographic communities?

Let’s look at what is distinct about Hispanics in social media? An easy one is that Hispanics are organically part of Hispanic communities online. Stated another way, if you’re Hispanic and using social media, you’re more likely to have friends, connections, followers, etc. that are Hispanic. So what? Well, there is a network and amplifier effect – reaching a Hispanic in this environment has the potential to virally reach other Hispanics who are connected to each other.

Digging deeper, there is something even more distinct and powerful about Hispanic social media use – the ability to connect with others who share similar life experiences and interests. What is the quintessential shared experience among all Hispanics? I would argue that it’s the fact that we live in two worlds – our ethnic world defined by either our or our parents/grandparents’ home country and our mainstream, American world. This cuts across the Hispanic acculturation spectrum. If you believe that we are the sum of our life experiences, then there is a potentially powerful connection among tens of millions of Hispanics living in the U.S. that social media has the potential to tap into.

Lastly, social media has provided Hispanics with the ability to find and create content that matters to them – highly niche content beyond the cookie-cutter “Hispanic” content created by Hispanic TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers that was designed to be all things for all Hispanics. Remember, Hispanics are a highly diverse group in the U.S., from 22 different nationalities, who now live across this varied country, who speak differently, eat different foods, and have very different passions. The long-tail world of social media content has created a conduit for these hundreds of Hispanic sub-groups to connect with each other digitally.

So how can marketers and brands successfully utilize social media to reach Hispanics? I will delve into that subject through new research on our Hispanic Personas project. I am going to be unveiling this groundbreaking Hispanic Persona project that will delve into the psychographics of social Hispanics at the Hispanicize 2011 Conference in Los Angeles on April 7.

My next MediaPost article will introduce some toplines of that research, but the full research will only be available at Hispanicize 2011.

As digital continues to turn the advertising world on its head, you’ve no doubt heard digital marketing evangelists talk about the need to “lead with digital.” What they are typically referring to is 180 degree change away from the common marketing approach of starting with traditional marketing programs and then extending them to digital channels. The argument being that as digital media (including Web, social and mobile) takes a larger piece of consumers’ media consumption pie and fundamentally changes how they interact with advertising that advertisers must fundamentally change their marketing strategies to align with new digital realities.

There are countless and growing examples of marketers embracing this philosophy – including extreme cases where marketers have completely forgone traditional channels in favor of digital or brands have hired digital agencies as their lead (or only) agency of record. Less extreme examples can be seen in trend towards traditional creative (TV and out-of-home for example) that looks and feels increasingly like online banner / rich media ads or the trend towards driving to the Web or mobile as the primary call-to-action on direct response offline campaigns.

What if a rebellious brand led their Hispanic marketing efforts with digital? The prevailing wisdom in the Hispanic marketing world has always been that digital is important, but not that important, what with a majority of Hispanics still digitally divided or lacking tech sophistication. What would be the fate of such an anti-establishment brand? What would “leading with digital” even look like in the Hispanic market? Let’s deconstruct a Hispanic ad campaign and see some examples of what a digital-driven approach might look like:

Campaign Planning

Campaign Objectives – During the “Mad Men” era of advertising (which I would argue continues to this day in Hispanic advertising), campaign objectives were always a “one-way street” – with objectives like increasing awareness or same-store sales. Digital made advertising a two-way game, and as such, effective advertising has to do so much more. Yet most Hispanic advertising objectives are still about being the loudest megaphone. If a Hispanic campaign started with digital, objectives such as interactivity, engagement, utility and word of mouth would inevitably take center stage (this is not the case for most Hispanic advertising today.) This new set of digitally-relevant marketing objectives lends themselves well to marketing frameworks, such as marketing funnels or consumer journeys, with corresponding metrics and the ability to establish pre-launch campaign projections.

Research – Every good ad campaign, regardless of target audience, starts with sound research. Yet most Hispanic ad campaigns start with analog research (traditional focus groups, consumer research panels, etc). Are their purely digital alternatives? I would argue that there is an incredibly powerful insight “fountain” currently available using social monitoring tools like Radian6 to listen to Hispanic consumers online. Think of it as the world’s largest focus group, except completely organic. With Hispanics heavily engaging in social media, there is a real opportunity to uncover powerful and actionable Hispanic insights. Unfortunately, it’s more work that just hiring a research firm to recruit participants for 4 focus groups or subscribing to a research tool. Taking it one step further, if you can build an online community of Hispanics tied to your brand that you nurture over time, you have the potential to continually tap into a new kind of focus group indefinitely (at a much lower cost)

Concept & Copy Testing – One of the biggest benefits of leading with digital is the ability to make quick and inexpensive mistakes. This is particularly important for brands or companies that are new to or have been out of the Hispanic market for some time (and will need to fine-tune their initial Hispanic programs). While copy testing is anything but new, utilizing text-based ads targeted to Hispanics (by market if appropriate) on Google, Bing and Facebook can provide quick and cheap feedback on concepts, copy and keywords that will resonate with Hispanics. Taking this approach further, creative testing using multiple iterations of banners can provide art direction feedback from a real-life “lab” of online Hispanics. If focus groups are a must, online versions provide valuable qualitative results at a fraction of the time and expense.

Campaign Development

Content Development – A sound digitally-driven Hispanic marketing campaign with objectives such as engagement, utility or word of mouth activity requires a different approach to creative development. A perfectly executed .30 second TV spot combined with a series of radio, print, and out-of-home ads will not be enough to achieve such interactive goals. Instead, creative production must be replaced with content development – a different approach that emphasizes multi-form creative that can live in various formats and lengths that tells a longer story. The content development approach emphasizes producing all forms of content (video, imagery, textual) that can deepen Website experiences, drive social engagements and spur viral communication – all while still providing for TV, radio and print ads. This nuanced, by significant change in approach, is akin to brands thinking like publishers and media companies.

Campaign Launch

Changes in how brands and companies launch and manage Hispanic ad campaigns represent the biggest opportunities in this digitally-led approach.

Digital Pre-launches – Most Hispanic advertising starts offline and then migrates online. Why not do the opposite? Digital creative typically takes less time to produce and digital media can be quickly planned, bought and trafficked, so why not launch pilot campaigns online before extending offline to more expensive, time-consuming and inflexible channels like TV, radio and out-of-home?

Digital pre-launching not only provides an opportunity to test concepts and copy as noted above (including all important questions of language – Spanish, English or both?), but can also provide invaluable data that can inform Hispanic campaign objectives, market selection, and media plans, both offline and online! Pre-launches can be run from a few weeks to a few months, but the benefits can be significant.

Digital Measurement – Most Hispanic marketing programs are evaluated post-mortem: “that network TV buy performed well in Phoenix” or “that print ad failed to drive call-center activity.” Taking a digital-driven approach means prioritizing real-time measurement tools such as third-party ad serving, Web analytics, and social media tracking tools to impact and influence campaign decisions mid-stream. This approach yields info on which top performing digital creative that can influence creative placements and rotations. Web analytics data on campaign microsites and landing pages can provide important geo-market results that can impact media weighting offline.

Hopefully you can see from this quick analysis that leading with digital in the Hispanic market is not about irrationally abandoning traditional media channels. Instead, it’s about drastically changing how Hispanic campaigns are planned, developed and managed. Keeping in mind that a large number of Hispanics are still not online, a thoughtfully executed digitally-driven approach to Hispanic advertising can bear significant fruit and take our industry to the next level.

For those who work in the trenches of Hispanic advertising, you know most Hispanic communications programs are direct response in nature. The biggest ad spenders in the U.S. Hispanic market (auto, retail, telecom and food / beverage) confirm this, as I discussed in greater detail earlier. However, it’s important to keep in mind that while the “goal” of most of Hispanic advertising is direct response in nature, most Hispanic media spending does not go into performance media platforms like Direct Response TV (DRTV), direct mail and telemarketing.

As fellow Engage:Hispanics columnist Marcelino Miyares mentions, while it has been growing substantially, only approximately $50 million was spent on Hispanic DRTV in 2009. Even when Hispanic DRTV spending is combined with the amount spent on other forms of traditional Hispanic direct response media (direct response radio, direct mail, telemarketing, door hangers, etc.), it represents a relatively small percentage of the $4 billion spent in Hispanic media in 2008 (TNS Media).

This will all change because of Hispanic online performance marketing.

First, a little introduction and background in online performance marketing. Online performance marketing, or online lead generation, refers to the creation or generation of prospective consumer inquiry, interest or purchase of products or services online. There are two types of leads in the lead generation market: sales leads and marketing leads. Sales leads are generic leads generated on the basis of demographic criteria such as zip code, FICO score, income, age, HHI, etc. Marketing leads are brand-specific leads generated for a unique advertiser offer.

There are three prevalent pricing models in the online performance industry: cost per click (CPC), cost per lead (CPL) and cost per acquisition (CPA). There are, however, a variety of other performance pricing models, such as cost per call and cost per interaction, that are starting to gain traction. Online performance marketing has had a big impact on online marketing and the traditional advertising industry, providing advertisers with the opportunity to purchase media with guaranteed results. The ripple effect has spread throughout the entire marketing and advertising industry.

During the last three years, online performance marketing has expanded into the U.S. Hispanic market. Starting with a few pioneering lead gen companies in late 2006 / early 2007, Hispanic online performance marketing has expanded to include just about every publisher and media company working in the Hispanic digital market. It will only grow in viability and capabilities with the rapid growth in Hispanic consumer Internet penetration.

The emergence of Hispanic online performance marketing will change and grow Hispanic direct response for three reasons:

1) The availability of Hispanic online performance marketing will allow advertisers that have been hesitant or slow to enter Hispanic direct response to do so by getting their “toes wet” online. Starting a direct response campaign online is quicker and less expensive than testing out TV, radio or direct mail. Creative assets are relatively less expensive and allow for testing of multiple offers, payouts, etc., to more quickly optimize plans.

2) Starting a Hispanic direct response program online provides valuable metrics, particularly highly valuable CPAs and CPLs, that can guide offline direct response plans and negotiations. For instance, advertisers can use online CPLs to negotiate TV and radio per inquiry (PI – the offline equivalent of CPL) programs. If an offer does not perform in the television or radio PI space, it is almost impossible to get the stations to take the commercial again without changing the payout. Being armed with CPL figures gleaned from online performance campaigns can save advertisers a lot of money when extending offline.

3) There are significant benefits of combined online and offline Hispanic performance marketing. As we see with search engine advertising vis-à-vis broad reach media, using mass media outlets like TV and radio will drive a lift in lead generation across all media channels, particularly online. Integrating online and offline lead generation will also provide a nice one-two punch: online will drive volume while offline will drive awareness and quality. As a bonus, CPL and CPA online media buys can generate lots of ad impressions, resulting in branding benefits.

The pump is already primed for Hispanic direct response based on who spends in the Hispanic market and what their goals are. With powerful new online tools, the sky will be the limit.

Most lists that come out this time of year take a stab at prognosticating what will happen in various industries during the next 12 months. I’m sure you thought that the title of this article was a typo – why would anyone be writing about trends in Hispanic marketing 12-24 months out?

Well, frankly, while I no doubt realize that 2010 will bring numerous evolutionary changes to the Hispanic advertising and media world, I feel that 2011 will result in far more disruptive and revolutionary change. Why?

First, Hispanic marketing trends usually follow trends in the general market. While these changes historically lag by 3-5 years, media and marketing technology has shortened that gap to 1-3 years, so that the transformational changes that have affected mainstream advertising and media will bear their full brunt on our industry by 2011. In addition, by the end of 2010, U.S. Hispanic Internet penetration is on pace to reach almost 70%, once and for all ending the debate over whether the Internet is a Hispanic mass marketing medium. Finally, the 2010 Census results will be out in early 2011, and will no doubt bring increased attention to the Hispanic market because the numbers will be big. This attention will not all be good, as I addressed in a blog a few months back, because in addition to more advertiser activity, it will translate into more competition from general market agencies attempting to service the market.

Before I jump into my list, it’s important to note and take into consideration some fundamental differences that exist between the Hispanic and mainstream marketing industries:
1. The continued pre-eminence and market power of the Spanish language broadcast duopoly of Univision and Telemundo, that control a vast majority of the almost 63% of Hispanic media spending that goes towards TV
2. The continued, albeit potentially slowing, trend of Latin American immigrants (mostly from Mexico and Central America) moving into the U.S.
3. The existence of roughly 80 specialist Hispanic ad agencies that are key agents to any change that occurs in this industry (among which there are only a handful of interactive agencies, the remainder of which have been slow to adopt digital, hampered partially by the fact that media-only shops like Tapestry and MV42 purchase most of the Hispanic digital media)

Trends

Erosion of Spanish TV’s Prominence – Although Spanish-language TV has managed to avoid the fate of their general market counterparts, trends such as online video (note the popularity of novelas on YouTube), the trend towards “on-demand” and DVR time-adjusted consumption will eventually impact Spanish TV. More importantly, the value of the big two’s content will begin to be “crowded out” by competition from Cable options, mobile and Internet video options, and cheaper access to home country content on all three of the aforementioned platforms.

Polarization of the Hispanic Acculturation Model – Most Hispanic marketing strategies are built on the foundation of the familiar 3-part Hispanic acculturation model (Unacculturated, Partially Acculturated, Acculturated). While this model will continue to be valid, it will become increasingly polarized as the difference between the 3 segments increases, particularly in relation to demographics and media preference. The coming “tsunami” of U.S.-born young Hispanics (in 10 years 62% of all teens will be Hispanic) will only exacerbate the differences that will exist between the various segments.

Shift in Emphasis from Traditional to Digital Channels – Ultimately clients make the decision as to where budgets will be spent, and their increasing preference to go digital in the general market will also carry-over to their Hispanic advertising efforts. I’m already starting to see Hispanic digital reviews, especially as clients focus on targeting specific Hispanic segments, trading reach for deeper engagement. Hispanic Direct Response activity will also migrate to the Web, particularly as Hispanic digital performance channels eat away at traditional options (DRTV, Direct Mail, etc.)

Mobile Marketing – Although mobile marketing’s arrival has been prematurely announced for the last 5 years, its undeniable growth in 2010 will finally reveal the full potential for using mobile to reach Hispanics in 2011. In fact, mobile will likely start to replace local print media consumption (newspaper readership), and opportunities with couponing, QR codes, and apps will make Hispanic mobile marketing the fastest growing segment in Hispanic media by the end of 2011.

The “Second Offensive” of the General Market Agencies – As mentioned above, the 2010 Census results will help to drive a new wave of interest in Hispanic advertising, both among marketers and general market ad ad agencies looking to continue to grow. Just like the lines between traditional and digital agencies were beginning to blur in 2009, by 2011, the lines between general market and multicultural marketing will become hazy, much to the dismay of specialist Hispanic shops.

Social Media Takes Center Stage – to borrow a phrase from AdWeek, social media will “be like air,” or everywhere and a part of all things advertising. This will be the case in Hispanic advertising, as the over-indexing of Hispanics on social media should provide the “writing on the wall.” However, like in the general market, clients will start to take social media programs “in-house,” especially those focused on creating and managing communities, including Hispanic communities.

Other Hispanic Media Will Experience Differing Fates – While Hispanic TV and print (newspapers and magazines) will suffer as a result of trends towards digital, Radio and OOH have an opportunity to emerge stronger than ever and evolve with changes in technology.

Arrival of New Media Platforms – Once gaming companies (gaming networks, online games, game developers, etc.) adopt more sophisticated demographic tracking capabilities, they will introduce a promising new media channel to reach Hispanic gamers of all ages and types. GPS enabled marketing, which should also come of age in mainstream marketing in 2010, and will be poised to open new doors to reaching Hispanics in 2011.

People will Talk about the “Good Old Days” of 2008 and before – As with the general market advertising industry, overall ad spending will take a long time to return to its pre-recession peaks. In the case of Hispanic media spending, those 2008 numbers won’t be seen again for a long time.

The Winners and Losers

As with any big disruptive changes, there are always winners and losers. I actually think there will be more winners than losers, assuming key player adapt to this big changes.

The Winners:
• New (and existing) mobile players that take on the Hispanic market
• General market traditional and digital agencies who will get more business opening multicultural or Hispanic practices
• Hispanic digital media companies
• Gaming companies that take on the Hispanic market
• Hispanic marketing professional who’ll be more in demand than ever before
• The Hispanic consumer that will begin to enjoy the same media and technology options of the general market

The Losers
• Hispanic ad agencies, as there will be fewer of them
• Spanish TV networks and their 60%+ market share duopoly

I encourage to read the article by clicking here. The article includes some interesting statistics that I am sure will surprise you!

What kind of radio ad doesn’t give their web address at the end of the ad?

The kind that finishes by saying “You can Google ‘Brandweek’s Superbrands’ for more information.”

I guess if you’re dead solid sure that you’ll be the top search result on Google, you don’t need a URL anymore. Just tell people to Google it.

I did. It worked.

Let’s start with the advertisers and their brands at the top of the food chain. Here are two resolutions for brand managers, directors of multicultural marketing, and their colleagues that manage the Hispanic marketing efforts of corporate America:

Advertiser Resolution 1 – Re-Invest in Research
In times of great change, it will be critical to re-evaluate some of the key assumptions and insights that have driven your past Hispanic marketing efforts. The most basic questions should be re-evaluated, because you might be surprised at the answer. How large is the Hispanic market for my product or service? What does my target Hispanic consumer look like? Where are the largest concentrations of our target Hispanic consumers? Commission Focus Groups to understand perceptions of your brand and competitors. Work with research partners to answer some of the aforementioned questions. If it has been more than a year since you did significant research on the Hispanic market, you might be surprised at the results.

Advertiser Resolution 2 – Take a Fresh Look at Your Approach to Hispanic Marketing
If you and your agency partners don’t do what the military calls “after action reviews” or “post-mortems” on your past Hispanic marketing effort, resolve to do one for your 2008 efforts. Identify what worked – and what didn’t. Establish best practices. Every marketer typically has a “sweet spot” where they always perform well – be it that annual sponsorship of the Fiesta Broadway or local radio. Most importantly, rethink your media mix. Although the Hispanic media landscape has evolved slower than its general market counterparts, there is no denying that things have changed drastically. Changing demographics in the U.S. Hispanic market have been accompanied by distinct changes in media habits – including the adoption of new media (Internet, mobile, etc.), continued proliferation of cable TV, and a shift to digital platforms (digital TV, digital out-of-home, etc.) to name a few.

Jumping over to the Hispanic agencies that develop and steward many of the Hispanic marketing programs, I would like to suggest 2 resolutions:

Agency Resolution 1 – Find and Focus on Your Core Competency
As we move into the 2009, there is no doubt that Hispanic advertising agencies will be challenged like never before to defend their position vis-à-vis increasing competition from general market ad agencies and make a clear value proposition to clients facing budget constraints. As expert marketers, we all preach to our clients the folly of trying to be everything to everyone. The same applies to Hispanic ad agencies. As so elegantly articulated in Tim Williams’ book “Take a Stand for Your Brand,” Hispanic advertising agencies need to identify their core purpose and value proposition. Whether that is Hispanic youth marketing, or grass-roots marketing, an agency without a differentiated core competency will have a hard time in 2009 and beyond. Conversely, Hispanic ad agencies that commit themselves to core competencies and clear, differentiated purpose will thrive.

Agency Resolution 2 – Think about How Digital Will Change How You Do What You Do
It would be a contradiction of Agency Resolution 1 to recommend that every Hispanic advertising agency embrace digital advertising as a core competency. I’m not suggesting you become a digital agency. However, that does not mean that Hispanic agencies can ignore the deep and systemic effect that digital advertising has had on advertising in general. In the general market, digital advertising has ushered in a new paradigm in accountability and measurement that is affecting all aspects of advertising, from broadcast TV to “below-the-line” tactics such as event marketing. With the aforementioned pressure on advertising budgets, direct response programs will only increase in favor vs. their branding brethren. Most importantly, digital platforms have redefined the media discussion from concepts like reach and frequency to engagement and immersion. Any Hispanic agency that plans on thriving, let alone surviving, needs to rethink and retool their approach to align with this new reality.

Finally, as we look at the Hispanic media industry, I offer one broad resolution:

Media Resolution 1 – Invest in Digital
As I’ve pointed out for brands and agencies, digital is changing the advertising game. If you haven’t put serious resources behind digital platforms, now is “do or die” time. Hispanic media companies, from TV broadcasters, to radio stations, to newspapers, have had the luxury of advance notice and the lessons of their general market counterparts. If you think you can put your head in the sand and ignore broad shifts in consumer media habits towards digital and personalized “on-demand” media platforms like the Internet, TIVOs, and iPods, ask the Tribune Company what will happen. Although the Hispanic consumer market traditional lags behind the general market in technology and new media adoption, this only gives you time.

To borrow a tagline from a very successful marketer in 2008, “change is coming.” For those of us in Hispanic marketing, resolve to embrace that change and thrive!