The research shows that 72% of second-generation Hispanics prefer English, while only 6% prefer Spanish. Among third-generation Hispanics, this changes to 93% and 1%. Since these two groups comprise the significantly-growing majority of Hispanics in the U.S., it appears that that the preferred language of U.S. born Hispanics is English.

Additionally, a red herring in the report is the finding that “75 percent said they would like to see more Hispanics in commercials and television.” Really? What else could they say, “no?” How do Hispanics know how many Hispanics are on TV? Bottom-line, they don’t, and that’s one of the great things about assimilation.

Thus, the question becomes, “Where are the most promising opportunities to make a connection with U.S. born Hispanics?,” with Spanish language and Hispanic actors and presenters not germane to the equation.

I believe the most promising opportunity to market to U.S. born Hispanics is to approach them as intelligent, important, beneficial members of society – just like we’d approach anyone else.

Last night in my mail, I received a brochure for the sixth annual Winter Yiddish Intensive at LA’s Skirball Center. This is a week’s worth of events, classes, lectures, etc. all devoted to what is known as a “dying” language. There is a renewed interest in this language among young people who never learned it, but for whom it symbolizes culture and connection. There are only about 9 million Jews in the US. There are 40 plus million Latinos. And of those 40 plus million, the adult majority are foreign born (remember, I said adult majority) and they came at a time in this country when language retention was being supported by a different civil rights climate than earlier immigrants. Plus, there is the whole issue of the American Continent making language retention easier than for other immigrants. Factors like these and many more make it fairly easy to understand the continued use of Spanish or connection to Spanish even when language use is limited. The reality of the youth market is that it is… Read more »

The multicultural youth market lives in two different worlds – one foot is firmly planted in their Latin, Asian or Afro American heritage and the other strives for acceptance in urban youth culture and society as a whole. I like to say that these are “hybrid” consumers and that it is necessary to acknowledge them as a multi-dimensional generation – one that shares mainstream values relevant to their age group, but who also feel strongly connected to and is proud of their heritage – how they self-identify and what they associate with is situationally driven based on their need for acceptance and how they want to be perceived and treated. Among this generation, behavior, attitudes and values adapt as necessary. On the one hand, it is true that they speak English, share much of Mainstream’s youth attitudes and beliefs and want to be treated like anyone else – on the other; there are strong indications that they want recognition, acceptance and appreciation not only as a generation, but as Hispanics. When selling to them in… Read more »

The most frequent comment I have been getting on our study is “of course.” Of course Hispanics are assimilating, of course those born in the United States prefer English. Yet amazingly, there are many, many people in the Hispanic marketing establishment that insist Hispanics are not assimilating; that in their heart of hearts they prefer Spanish; that they connect to Spanish on a more emotional level. The author of one study I wrote about a few months ago in RW insists that Hispanics (all implied) prefer to make love in Spanish. I personally think this point of view is bunk. So much ado has been made about Hispanics “acculturating” (holding on to their own culture, while still adopting U.S. culture), compared to the melting pot assimilation of the early twentieth century when shameful immigrants supposedly discarded their ethnic identities as quickly as they could learn to whistle Yankee Doodle Dandy. Of course immigrants today do not look like the immigrants of 1905. But that doesn’t mean they are not on the path to becoming full-fledged… Read more »

Based on this study’s results, I’d be hiring Latino actors to sell my product in Spanglish on The Simpsons.

As might have been predicted, our poll results to this point show that half believe the most popular English language show with Latinos is George Lopez. In fact, as the previous entry points out, it is The Simpsons.

Michael has a good point with “what else do you say?” when asked if you’d like to see more Hispanic actors. Not the best question in the world.

We did ask one I think is better and more revealing — “Who do you identify with more: Hispanic actors speaking Spanish, Hispanic actors speaking English or non-Hispanic actors?”

The result: 65% said Hispanic actors speaking English, 22% said Hispanic actors speaking Spanish and only 13% said non-Hispanic actors.

I think it reinforces the fact that they are looking for cultural relevance, something or someone that recognizes their uniqueness as Hispanics, but in their language — English (or Spanglish).

There are 2 kinds of marketing campaigns: measured and unmeasured. Smart marketers can test and measure their costs versus the results. Other marketers know their budget but can’t measure the results versus any scientific test of alternatives. Marketing to Hispanic people can be tested and the results measured against other test alternatives. A previous RetailWire story detailed Marlboro’s marketing success. Some of that success was based on testing the effectiveness of many alternatives, instead of sticking to the “same old same old” way of advertising. How many retailers and consumer product manufacturers test alternatives constantly? I believe it is a small minority. (Sounds like a weak joke: how many firms test minority advertising? A minority.)

Good comments from David Morse. But, I still wonder how Hispanics can identify other Hispanics in the media. It can’t be by name or accent. Are there visual clues that the rest of us are missing? I really don’t think Hispanics can tell who’s Hispanic on TV with any degree of accuracy.

Michael is absolutely right. Targeting Hispanics in Spanish is easy. Doing it in English is a whole other story. My company co-sponsored with Tu Ciudad magazine an entire conference last week devoted to that very theme.

As Michael points out, casting is tough. At last week’s conference, Carl Kravitz, CEO of Cruz/Kravitz: Ideas quipped that as he watched a television commercial from Mexico he wondered what Scandinavian country he was in. I’ve seen the converse happen as well — focus group respondents commenting on liking the “Hispanic” actors when, in reality, they were non-Hispanics with dark hair.

So if you can’t do it with language and you can’t do it with casting, you need to find some other way to let people know that you’re talking to them. I think the answer is “culture.” But it’s easier said than done.

It is all about connecting with the consumer.

Find an insight that falls within the brand’s platform.
Build communication that bonds the two.

English or Spanish – it all depends on the product and target.