Think Multicultural

A few months ago I posted some interesting data on the commercial potential of the disabled market in the U.S. I think the next 2-3 years will bring a lot of change and attention to this market and the broader importance of other related segments as 3 major trends come together:

1. Section 508 and Universal Design initiatives expand beyond the Federal government
2. Increasing numbers of aging Baby Boomers going online
3. The 2010 Census

Since 2005, pretty much every Federal agency and all of their departments have made their Web sites Section 508 compliant. In case you’re not up on Section 508 compliance, it basically means that a Web site is built in such a way that it can be used just as easily by someone who is disabled (and their assistance technology like screen readers for the blind) as someone who is not. However, more and more non-Federal entities are embracing the basic tenets of universal design embodied in Section 508 requirements. The ITTATC defines universal design as the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. I know we are seeing more and more clients request accessibility as a requirement during Web site redesign projects.

Another big trend that is increasing the market for accessible Web sites is the increase in the aging Baby Boomer population that is going online. In 2006, the leading edge of the Baby Boom generation turns 60. Moreover, 60 million U.S. baby boomers that will use the Internet this year (eMarketer “Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two Generations Online,” Dec 2007) In fact, the over-60 online population will be a large and growing segment , going from 17.7 million Internet users in 2006 to 25.3 million in 2011. Considering that the 2000 U.S. Census found that 41.9% of adults 65 years and older identified themselves as having a disability, there is a growing mass market for accessible Web communications.

Finally, the 2010 Census will undoubtedly bring to the forefront fresh new data on both the disabled and aging populations, as well as their technology usage. What is now a niche area of communications and technology strategy will undoubtedly become a front-page story, with a mass of government and commercial organizations rushing to service this new “demographic” online.

These trends all point to need for organizations to take an integrated approach to their accessibility strategy now, that includes the disabled, the aging market, novice technology users and even non-English speaking audiences. Those organizations that start thinking and planning for this coming “wave” of information supporting the importance of universal design will be positioning to reap the benefits and expand their reach and/or customer-base.

To find out more about universal design and Section 508 compliance, check out a free Webinar by my agency making Web sites Accessible – http://webinar.sensisagency.com

***THIS IS A RESPONSE FROM HMW TO OUR RECENT POST It’s 2008 and we’re still talking about building branded Web sites?***

Thank you very much for your comments on the Special Report I researched, reported on and authored for Hispanic Market Weekly. I invite other industry leaders, movers and shakers to read the piece for themselves.

While I’m pleased to say that we are moving in the right direction in terms of our digital and internet coverage, I was saddened to read that you were “more than a little disappointed with the report.” I was even more disappointed that your note about our special report was not send via e-mail to our editorial team but was posted in a public Blog. The link was dutifully sent to my email address by an astute reader.

The truth of the matter is large brands embracing the internet by creating their own websites is still underreported by the mainstream media and, with all due respect to my editorial team, was the *first* time Hispanic Market Weekly devoted an entire report to the subject. Previous years’ internet special reports offered the same-old, same-old with respect to portals. So again, I think we are certainly moving in the right direction with our editorial coverage of Hispanic media initiatives.

Frankly, I see no other trade publication devoted to the Hispanic market (subtracting, of course, those that post press releases or simply offer links to other news organizations’ work) that has covered Hispanic internet development in a similarly detailed way.

“Is building a branded Web site considered news in 2008?” You ask.

Well, to any company that simply translates their site into Spanish without doing any research into making it relevant to Hispanics, I’d argue the answer is YES.

While you say our report is vanilla, I can tell you that there are still many, many categories that are behind the curve when it comes to online activity. Only some are catching up right now. And to call the piece “a disservice” is something I can’t quite understand - wouldn’t this send the message to a CMO at a company considering a jump into internet branding and advertising that maybe such an initiative makes sense?

Aside from the consumer-focused website and microsite, there are indeed initiatives with respect to social media, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing, and mobile. But that wasn’t the focus of this report. And with MySpace Español still ramping up, the traditional English-language MySpace a bit overambitious with its advertising goals and real results and such things as e-mail marketing and search engine marketing still on the periphery of our industry, the discussion will be there in the months and years to come.

In the case of this special report, we simply couldn’t devote focus on the subject we decided was indeed relevant … and not “inane.”

“Inane” is the small piece of the advertising pie that goes to Hispanic media and, of that, how many of the ad dollars go to the four Spanish-language broadcast networks. “Inane” is the fact that Hispanic internet gets a percentage of a percentage of ad dollars as it is.

So perhaps telling the CMOs, media buyers and ad planners to invest more money by starting big and going from there still is a relevant conversation.

It’s as simple as thinking multicultural.

Adam Jacobson
Associate CMO Editor
Hispanic Market Weekly

For those of you that do a lot of online advertising, you know how effective A-B testing can be.

Online Creative A/B testing is based on the classic model of testing against a control. For example, one basic element in a banner ad creative is changed to enable an apples-to-apples test. Alternate versions of the same creative with that one element changed are produced and tested to determine which performs best under normal circumstances. The most effective creative then becomes the control to insert back into the cycle.

While it is common to do A/B testing for refining online creative, I don’t think a lot of agencies or advertisers are using this methodology for testing overall campaign creative before going offline into more expensive media.

Online media, particularly SEM (Paid Search) and CPM display advertising, is very inexpensive. What better way to test creative before going out to more expensive traditional media such as TV, radio or OOH? You can test copy, art/visuals, and overall concepts without burning through a lot of media budget.