June 10, 2004

Finalmente!

In case you missed it, there was a great article in the May 31st issue of Advertising Age about THE trend in Hispanic marketing – doing it in English.

We’ve analyzed , written , blogged , and otherwise pontificated on this subject ad nauseum, so in case you haven’t heard, we’re all for it. Who wouldn’t be? 56% of Hispanics were born in the U.S. And 85% of the under 18 crowd. It’s hard to believe that there are still those – one is mentioned in the article – that doubt that these folks speak, and even prefer English.

Here’s a sample.

    “In this new generation, Hispanics overwhelmingly prefer English. They are Americans, and they’re watching everything else that Americans are watching,” says Fernando Espuelas, chairman of Voy Network, a new Hispanic-focused, English language channel scheduled to debut in July.

    Mr. Espuelas hopes Hispanic-targeted, English-language programming might also have crossover appeal to general viewers. Non-Hispanics already identify with Latino culture and music, and he anticipates those consumers will be attracted to English-language Latino TV as well. This is similar to how consumers take in the culture, music and apparel of African-Americans, Mr. Espuelas says.

    Says Jeff Valdez, chairman and co-founder of Si TV, an English-language Hispanic network that debuted in February, “In many markets, the Anglo is the niche… there’s a tremendous opportunity there for the crossover audience. We’re just following the trend of the new general market.”

    Although it’s starting small and may struggle to gain a foothold, bilingual and English-language programming will eventually have its place amid the fast-growing Hispanic audience, says Yolanda Foster, VP-programming and promotions with Mun2 , the bilingual cable sibling of NBC’s Spanish language Telemundo.

    The latest research from Simmons National Consumer Study shows 76% of Hispanic adults born in the U.S. watch English-language TV, while only 29% of that group watch Spanish-language TV.

And let’s not forget LATV and Urban Latino. Danny Crowe, President of LATV, was recently quoted as saying “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.”

Messieurs Crowe, Espuelas, Valdez and Foster, we couldn’t agree with you more.

Posted by dmorse at June 10, 2004 07:15 PM