The Adam R Jacobson Consultancy, in association with HispanicAd.com, is proud to announce the release of the annual Hispanic Market Overview state-of-the-industry report.
The Hispanic marketing and advertising industry’s annual State of the Industry report, Hispanic Market Overview includes insight and observations from such key players as:
- Alex López Negrete, López Negrete Communications
- Isaac Mizrahi, Culture Marketing Council (CMC) and ALMA
- Gaby Alcántara-Diaz, Semilla
- Larissa Acosta, Wells Fargo Bank
- Fernando Fernández, D’Expósito & Partners
- Stacie deArmas, Nielsen
Thanks to our partners, this report is available via free download:
http://reports.hispanicad.com/reports/HMO-2018/mobile/index.html
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
PRESENTING SPONSOR
López Negrete Communcations
ADVERTISING PARTNERS
Pandora
Infusion by Castells
d expósito & partners
Telemundo
GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD?
By Adam R Jacobson
A decade ago, there was an attempt by an editor at a now-defunct trade publication focused on Hispanic marketing and advertising to start a tough conversation about the industry’s next 10-20 years.
Always the futurist, trends and observations were gathered. Pen was put to paper, and then fingers to keyboard. From 2010 through today, nine Hispanic Market Overview reports have been produced – each with a unique and informative encapsulation of where the U.S. Hispanic market is heading. At the same time, the Hispanic Market Overview reports have served as a “primer” for what was once termed the “Hispanic Chief Marketing Officer.”
Yet, no one wanted to address the changes we long saw coming. In 2010, there was concern that the U.S. Hispanic marketing and advertising universe was ripe for contraction. We even suggested that, come 2030, the U.S. Hispanic market would be very similar to the African American marketplace of 2010 — fully integrated and “total market” in scope, with a handful of media brands specifically targeting this consumer group.
We were assailed for such a suggestion. Hispanics are different, we were told again and again. They continue to embrace their culture.
BINGO. That statement, more than any other statement we’ve heard from Hispanic marketing pioneers to today’s most active agency leaders, speaks volumes of the rapid change taking place in Hispanic marketing and advertising.
Of course, there are major changes taking place for all advertising shops – not just those that have identified themselves as “Hispanic agencies” or specialists until now. Programmatic is, for better or for worse, a reality brand managers and Hispanic shops must work with, not against. Data-driven analytics are driving more campaigns than ever before. Efficiencies are a budget must, but as demonstrated by Wells Fargo Bank in a newly launched campaign we discuss in this year’s edition, don’t have to be simple transcreations.
Why? Because, it is all about cultural relevancy.
But … to what extent? The release of the 2018 Hispanic Market Overview comes concurrent to the first-ever Culture Marketing Council annual conference, taking place June 4-6 in Los Angeles.
For those who aren’t in the know, it’s not the first-ever conference for this group, but the first-ever conference for a group that just changed its name from ahaa, founded as the “Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.”
The name-change is a case study in how the U.S. Hispanic market is an amoeba, shifting shapes in an ever-evolving manner that requires intelligence from experts. That’s where CMC members, and others that have been highly active “Hispanic” marketing and advertising pros, come in.
Alex López Negrete has carved his teeth on highly successful Hispanic market efforts for some of the world’s biggest brands. Yet, the biggest news coming out of his Houston-based agency involves a campaign created for the Middle East, with spots in Arabic.
Is this indicative of where the U.S. Hispanic advertising and marketing industry needs to go?
Maybe for some, maybe not for others. Gaby Alcántara-Diaz has become the go-to expert on how to reach the upscale Latino consumer. Heritage shops such as D Expósito & Partners and longtime industry leaders including Liz Castells and Isaac Mizrahi continue to focus nearly all of their efforts on Hispanic ROI solutions for their clients.
And, it’s not like brands who have been actively targeting Hispanic consumers are suddenly ceasing that activity. Instead, it’s the same old song: Categories ripe for growth that have been ripe for growth for nearly a decade, combined with “total market” challenges that have led to lower returns resulting from taking the Cheap Channel, rather than the ROI River.
There are many idea generators when it comes time to produce this annual report. But, we never thought one of those would be the classic Elton John album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
The four-side opus, released in 1973, opens with a two-song medley titled “Love Lies Bleeding/Funeral For A Friend.” The lyrics include the following line:
Oh it doesn’t seem a year ago
To this very day
You said I’m sorry honey
If I don’t change the pace
I can’t face another day
While playing this album, on the record player, those lyrics struck us. One year ago we fretted that the death of Hispanic marketing and advertising was upon us. Ernest Bromley is retired; his shop shuttered. Great voices of the past, such as Carl Kravetz, have been dimmed. The Smithsonian Institution has a museum exhibit now dedicated to what was, what had been just outstanding – and now a part of the American past.
Yes, we’re holding a funeral for ahaa, and we’re still very concerned about the future of “Hispanic” marketing and advertising. But, we’re not mourning the death of the U.S. Hispanic market in any way, shape or form.
Rather, we are rededicating our passion and commitment to telling marketers and advertisers why the U.S. Hispanic consumer is – and will continue to be – an integral part of the diversity and culture-minded efforts that are now reshaping the ways companies communicate with consumers.
From Target EVP/CMO Rick Gomez to Comcast VP/Multicultural Communications José Velez-Silva, the embrace of culture marketing will do much to guarantee the continued importance of Hispanic-specific outreach.
Until mid-May, we at Hispanic Market Overview weren’t convinced. We asked Mizrahi and Mr. López-Negrete what they thought of the rebranding of ahaa to CMC, because we weren’t so sure removing “Hispanic” from the name of an organization focused on the U.S. Hispanic market was such a smart idea.
On Memorial Day, a visit to Pearl Harbor was made, with the afternoon spend enjoying the famous Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head State Monument. It was a great lesson in culture marketing. Everywhere we looked, there were Japanese tourists and residents rubbing elbows; signage and ads included Japanese messaging, while Hawaiian Airlines offers an in-flight magazine all in Japanese. There are also Filipinos, and native Hawaiians that are increasingly using the Hawaiian language. All converged that evening for a 20th annual Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremony to remember relatives, friends and fallen service members. More than 30,000 people attended the event, televised live on Raycom-owned broadcast stations serving the Hawaiian islands. It was a truly multiethnic event that, while somber, demonstrated the power of inclusion, creativity and community.
Creativity, community, and culture are the focal points of the 2018 CMC Annual Conference.
Hispanic Market Overview takes it one step further, by showing how evolving, imagining and inspiring can yield continued growth and extend the life of an industry that’s changing every day. But, these metamorphoses are welcomed and far from a harbinger of death.
That 45-year-old Elton John album concludes with a masterpiece of a song called “Harmony.” After mourning the loss of Marilyn Monroe and pounding the way through “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” John sings:
Harmony and me, we’re pretty good company
Looking for an island in our boat upon the sea
It was a great image to put into perspective where we’re collectively heading. The yellow brick road extends far for the U.S. Hispanic marketer and advertiser, and involves a journey that may include some not-so-smooth navigation. But, with the perfect harmony of cultural wisdom and resonant messaging, the future looks to be a bright one.
HMO
José (Gonzo) Otero was national Hispanic brand manager and PD of WZTU. He was born in San Diego, and started his radio career in 1998 in Tijuana, on air and in the creative department. He joined Univision Radio in 2004 and later worked at MVS Radio and Grupo Uniradio. He came to iHeartMedia in 2009 and has served as an air personality, PD, digital brand coordinator, operations manager, and national Hispanic brand manager, as well as supervised and developed multiple brands in Chicago, Fresno, and most recently Miami.
