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Musings on the Intersection of Culture, Marketing, and Research

"What's A Blog?"

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

David Morse Gets Into Blogging!

My esteemed colleague, David Morse, President of this party-on-wheels, has finally caught the blogger bug! Here's his very first entry. Drum roll...

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There is a great article from the New York Times that talks about how marketing to Mexican folks has changed on both sides of the border. Thanks, Seth Ginsberg. Here's an excerpt:

Mexican brands now compete side by side with products like Gatorade, Hershey bars and Dove soap. Colonia Condesa has changed as well. It and other urban neighborhoods have become magnets for affluent people working in service industries, many of them tied to international companies.

Along with economic changes have come cultural ones. By the mid-90's, it was O.K. to admit that you spoke English. Bookstores, coffee shops and movie theaters reflect a cornucopia of international influences. Amsterdam Avenue, an odd elliptical street at the heart of Condesa, is now described as one of the trendiest spots in town (at least according to last September's Vanity Fair).

Nafta's first decade has not only changed Mexican supermarkets, it has transformed American ones. "Made in Mexico" labels have popped up on products on the shelves of states as unlikely as Iowa, as our exports to the United States more than tripled.

I used to sell razor blades for Gillette in the Colonia Condesa, and was amazed during my last visit to see how it has changed in the last few years. Maybe the best indicator of its trendiness was the large number of new gay and gay friendly establishments. Incidentally, it is also well known to Kennedy conspiracy buffs as the home of the Russian Embassy in Mexico, the place that Oswald visited about a month before the assasination in a bid to obtain a Russian visa.

Posted by David Morse, 5:51 pm

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Word. It looks like we'll have to start up a new page for this fledgling blogger...

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 5:53 pm

A Caste Apart

Missed this on Monday. The Wall Street Journal's editorial from Tamar Jacoby on Bush's immigration proposal. The best part:

The Bush plan is marred by one critical flaw, one provision that does not live up to conservative values. As the president calculated, any plan that looks like an amnesty will never win the support of a majority of Republicans. But in bowing to those politics, he sacrificed two far more important imperatives: immigrant assimilation and the American ideal of a caste-free society. Temporary workers who cannot become citizens are by definition a caste apart, people whose very legal status means they can never be fully integrated into American life. The president's plan doesn't bar temporary workers from getting on the normal path toward citizenship--in fact, it removes legal barriers that would prevent them from doing so. But his package does not create enough of a bridge from one class to the other--from disposable hired help to full-fledged member of the American body politic.

Hurry and read the full piece before they take it down.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Jacoby several years back when she interviewed me for a piece she was writing on Asian Americans for Commentary. I'm glad to see her stuff again -- and looking forward to reading her new book.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 1:58 am

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Arab American Retro-Acculturation

A noteworthy article in this week's New York Times about the newly-found cultural identity now being asserted among younger generations of Arab Americans -- many who are themselves the product of intermarriages. The story follows the Coury family from Cleveland, OH, who trace their Lebanese ancestry back four generations. Some highlights:

"I could easily conceal it," Mr. Coury, 20, said. "No one would know I was Arab American if I didn't bring it up. But it's a whole identity thing. I have different ethnicities in me, but this is the one that feels tangible. It's important to me, and it's something I want people to know and understand about me."
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Like Mr. Coury, 28 percent of those who listed Arab ancestry on the long form also listed a non-Arab ethnicity.

The Census Bureau report also showed a 62 percent increase from 1990 in the number of people who identified themselves as Arab or Arabic, rather than by national origin, an indicator that a pan-ethnic identity may be taking shape.
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And Mr. Coury was not alone in expressing his Arab identity. His cousins Mike and Bashir Faddoul, 18, whose father is a recent immigrant from Lebanon, joined the Middle Eastern Students Association this year as freshmen at Loyola University Chicago. Another cousin, Rebecca Abou-Chedid, 25, the daughter of another Lebanese newcomer, took a job with the Arab American Institute after graduating from Cornell in 2002.

"This is an incredible moment in history, where there is a real crystallization of Arab American identity," said Ms. Abou-Chedid, who jokes that she has become the "professional Arab American" in the family. "It's a critical moment to define how we're seen and heard in the world."

We ethnic marketers love to talk about retro-acculturation, particularly how younger generations of immigrant children (and their offspring) -- growing up in an era more accepting and tolerant of cultural diversity and differences -- eventually go back to re-learn (and re-adopt, the assumption goes) their native roots and ancestry. While this certainly happens to some extent, there are clearly limits to how far this re-immersion process extends. As the article suggests:

Over generations, through assimilation and intermarriage, the family's ties to its Lebanese ancestry have faded. Few people in the large Midwestern clan speak Arabic. Many no longer remember the meanings behind the Lebanese landscapes and Aramaic script painted in the ornately decorated sanctuary of the family's Maronite church. Some family members now identify generically as white.

Mr. Coury is among those in the younger generation of his family who are reasserting the family's ethnic identity.

You can look at this in two ways: as the continuing ethnic balkanization of America splintered into further tribal factions, as the anti-multiculturalists decry. Or, simply as the growing recognition among today's young Americans that their cultural history (however distant) does indeed matter and enriches their present lives as they come of age. This generation is discovering value in mining their personal family roots and ethnic influences that have, directly or indirectly, molded their identity in combination with contemporary influences. This exploration and re-assertion of ethnic identity has, in many ways, become a new rite of passage for younger Americans. In fact, I would argue that it has always been important (nation of immigrants and all that). It's as American as apple pie.

The Times article is definitely worth a read -- peep the whole thing here. (hat tip to A Mixed Blog)

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 7:56 pm

Monday, January 12, 2004

Going National: LATV

When you're hot, you're hot. From this week's Hispanic Market Weekly (sorry, subscription required):

LATV, the broadcast, cable, satellite and internet channel that airs a daily slate of MTV-like bilingual programming on KJLA-TV in Los Angeles, is now available for national distribution with round-the-clock programming seven days a week. The channel is currently airing on Galaxy 11 satellite and is available for satellite and cable distribution nationwide, explains president Daniel Crowe.

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"We try to reflect the daily reality of the people that watch us," says Crowe. Launched in January 2001, LATV seeks to fill the void left by broadcast and cable networks when targeting Hispanics aged 12 to 34, notes Crowe. There are roughly 16 million Hispanics in the U.S. in that age range, representing half of the total Hispanic market, he adds.

"Univision doesn't address the acculturated Hispanic because that's not its target audience. And English-language primetime network television doesn't reach out to them either," says Crowe. "We chose to talk to those people and program for those people."

The rapid ascent and success of LATV lays waste the claim that Spanish-language programming is the best vehicle to reaching the U.S. Latino youth market. At the same time, it also debunks the lame assumption held by many general market broadcasters who claim they don't need to directly target this segment because their programming appeals to everyone.

Keep your eyes on Mun2 and SíTV this year too.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:25 am

Friday, January 9, 2004

New Immigrants Drive Majority of Labor Force Growth Since '00

Here's a study tangentially connected to my previous post:

BOSTON, Mass. – Despite the recession, lackluster job growth, and the nation’s increasingly strict rules governing immigration post 9-11, America’s burgeoning population of foreign-born generated the bulk of the nation’s labor market growth since 2000, amplifying a trend identified in the 1990s, according to a new report from Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies and researchers Andrew Sum, Paul Harrington and Ishwar Khatiwada.

Their findings show that nationally, between 50 and 58 percent of the growth in the labor force was due to new foreign immigrants who came to the U.S. between 2000 and 2003, an all-time historical high for the country. During that three-year period, between 1.7 and 2 million immigrants came to the U.S., many from Mexico and Central America.

More here.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 5:25 pm

"A Mix of Hope and Suspicion"

The President's newly-unveiled immigration proposal is being billed as the most significant piece of immigration reform since Reagan's amnesty policy in 1986. But since so many of its details are uncertain -- it's hard to know exactly what to make of it right now. For one, it may be a completely different animal once Congress gets through with it. Secondly, it strongly favors temporary workers but leaves doubtful the legal status of those who wish to stay after their employer-sponsored stint is over. Not exactly a reassuring incentive for the undocumented to come forward (esp. those who aspire to become U.S. citizens or permanent residents themselves).

Politically, the impetus behind this legislation is motivated by Bush's desire to shore up his Hispanic support during an election year. If that's the case, the tactic may end up flopping. The Los Angeles Times is spot on in yesterday's news commentary:

But both parties may be overestimating the impact of such proposals on Latino voters: Latinos are not a monolithic voting bloc, and not all necessarily identify their interests with the plight of illegal immigrants. On the other hand, some Latino activists are put off by Bush's plan because it does not go as far as they wanted to put immigrants on the path to U.S. citizenship. (Emphasis mine)

As a strategic course, Bush can probably learn a thing or two from ousted-former California governor Gray Davis, who desperately tried to save his own political hide by enacting a law granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Davis merely split the Latino vote and was totally recalled. So was his legislation.

Furthermore, judging from their skeptical reaction to Bush's announcement, the ethnic media may prove to be the biggest barrier in winning over that segment of the pivotal Latino voting bloc whom the measure is intended for:

The headline of an editorial published in the Ft. Worth, Texas Spanish-language daily El Diario La Estrella read, "Bush's Dangerous Immigration Gift." In the commentary, Rafael Férnandez de Castro warns that the immigration proposal poses a double danger to Mexico.

Although many of their readers and viewers would stand to gain from the reforms, opinions in immigrant media were not unanimously in favor of the new plan. If the guarded reaction from some media is any indication, President Bush may have more trouble attracting immigrant voters with his proposed reforms than many expect. Or, it may be that the real debate will only come as the plan's details are hashed out in Congress.

Now, if the primary Spanish-language media channels that Latino immigrants read, watch, listen to, and depend on are themselves generating suspicion about this immigration plan, how will that translate when it comes time for undocumented workers -- who can't even vote themselves -- to come forward and enlist in the program?

To be continued...

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 3:15 pm

Wednesday, January 7, 2004

Devil's in the Details

And this proposal definitely lacks in details. From today's New York Times on the White House's proposed immigration reform announcement:

Under Mr. Bush's proposal, which effectively amounts to an amnesty program for illegal immigrants with jobs in the United States, an undocumented worker could apply for temporary worker status here for an unspecified number of years, with all the employee benefits, like minimum wage and due process, accorded to those legally employed.

Workers who are approved would be permitted to travel freely between the United States and their home countries, the officials said, and would also be permitted to apply for a green card granting permanent residency in the United States.

Administration officials said that Mr. Bush would also propose increasing the number of green cards issued each year, which is now about 140,000, but they did not provide a specific number. The administration officials, who briefed reporters in a conference call on Tuesday night, said only that Mr. Bush would ask for a "reasonable increase."

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Administration officials acknowledge that the wait for a green card could take up to six years or longer, meaning that some guest workers who apply for green cards but do not receive them before their guest worker status expires would face the prospect of being forced to leave the United States. In that case, critics of the proposal said Tuesday night, workers would be better off remaining illegal and staying indefinitely in the United States, rather than revealing themselves to immigration officials when they sign up for a program that may, these critics assert, lead to their deportation.

"They're asking people to sign up for a program that is more likely to ensure their departure than ensure their permanent residency," said Cecilia Muñoz, a vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy organization.

Administration officials declined to say how long people could remain in the guest worker program. But Ms. Muñoz said congressional officials briefed on the program told her they were led to believe that it could be no longer than six years.

You can read the entire press conference transcripts from yesterday's "announcement-before-the-announcement" here. More later.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 5:45 am

Monday, January 5, 2004

Transnational Brand Loyalty

Still shaking off the cobwebs from the holiday break, I am. In the process, I found this fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal about the phenomenon of Payless Shoes in Latin America (subscription only):

As unintended consequences go, the spectacular rise of Payless in Latin America must be counted among the least foreseen: As inner-city U.S. barrios swelled with Latin American refugees throughout the 1980s and 1990s, a no-frills retailer based in Topeka, Kan., quickly blossomed into a household brand for these new Americans. When they started going back, they took Payless shoes with them.

In 2000, Payless opened five stores in Costa Rica, its Central American staging area; then in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Just three years later, Payless has almost 200 stores in the tropics, adding Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, Chile and Peru to its roster.

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Nor is Payless unique. U.S. chains, from rival footwear vendor Stride Rite Corp. to Home Depot Inc. to hoteliers like Marriott Corp. and Hilton Corp., are discovering that Latinos, as well as being great customers in the U.S., are among the leading disseminators of brand loyalty to countrymen back home.

Home Depot has grown quickly in Mexico, deploying Spanish-speaking veterans of its U.S. stores to recruit and train a local staff. Stride Rite entered eight countries ringing the Caribbean basin -- including the hemisphere's poorest, Haiti -- by leveraging its strong brand recognition with status-conscious expatriates in U.S. cities.

The article appeared on Christmas Eve '03. (Wha? What kind of blogger are you? - ed. On Christmas eve, I was a happy drunk one.)

What makes this story so interesting is that most brand loyalty studies focus on the retention of familiar brands when migrants move from their country of origin to the U.S. In this case, the story demonstrates that the reverse is true as well: immigrants also act as ambassadors of U.S. brands when they move back home. In the process, they open previously untapped market opportunities. Of course, as a researcher I would say this phenomenon merits further study to validate just how deep and wide this brand loyalty extends.

But it certainly is worth looking at.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 6:47 pm

Saturday, January 3, 2004

Immigration 2004

Happy New Years everyone!

One of my new years resolutions -- a top priority -- is to make sure I get a good blogroll up on this page in the next several weeks. In addition, we may actually initiate some kind of redesign for this blog -- maybe adopt some kind of actual blogging software like Movable Type. I've resisted this -- partly due to aesthetic reasons and the limits of using blogging software -- but if it ends up making sense and improving this site, we'll go for it. In any case, we're headed into some kind of face lift in the weeks ahead. Thanks to all of you who have emailed messages of encouragement about this blog in the short two months I've been doing this.

Now, onto the meaty content. For starters on what's in store ahead for U.S. immigration policies in 2004 (which considerably impacts future ethnic marketing endeavors), check out this New York Times editorial on the President's plan to finally articulate some kind of real immigration reform for this upcoming year. Look for it in his upcoming State of the Union speech. Here's the lede:

President Bush is said to be preparing a list of principles for overhauling the nation's unworkable immigration policy. That is an excellent way to begin the new year — Washington has not made any serious attempt at reform since the Reagan administration. But a presidential wish list announced during a campaign season is not enough. The president has to convince some of his fellow Republicans in Congress that the system isn't working. American officials cannot keep pretending that 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants do not exist.

No matter what side of the debate you fall into, it should be obvious to everyone that existing immigration policies simply do not make any sense. Among other things, the U.S. economy's dependency on immigrant labor has become far too great -- you cannot simply cut it off (even if you could) without any severe repercussions, esp. in sectors like the agriculture industry. What one bold prognosticator says for '04:

6. There is no way to stop immigration into the United States, or the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

Reasoning: Cutting-edge American firms go overseas because foreign educational institutions are increasingly on a par with American universities. In America's economy, immigrants are indispensable. Many have skills and accept lower wages. And the spread of a vast American empire based on military technology serves to make American concerns first about the empire and only secondly about the homeland.

Even in this new era of heightened security, more intensely scrutinized border controls have done nothing to dent the tide of growing immigration, nor has it yielded in the capture of any suspected terrorists. All in all, 2004 may prove to be a memorable year in the ongoing immigration debate -- and it will be worthwhile to see if these policies undergo a real, substantive overhaul. One based on reality rather than ideology.