Hispanic Customers for Life

Over thirty years ago, when I began conducting Hispanic marketing research and consulting, our corporate and government agency clients’ most frequently asked question was “Should we bother to target the Hispanic market?” Based on the results of numerous studies conducted with U.S. Latinos nationwide by my former company, Hispanic Market Connections, Inc. (HMC) my colleagues and I replied “Yes! This is a growing and profitable market segment that responds very well to advertising and communications via Spanish language media!” By the 1990’s, clients’ questions had changed to, “How do we target Latinos more effectively?” Our research-based recommendation was to communicate and sell to them with a strategy that is in consonance with their culture. I called this the In-Culture approach, for lack of a better name. My first three books, (The Hispanic Market Handbook, (1995, out of print,) Marketing to American Latinos, A Guide to The In-Culture Approach, Part I, (2000) and Marketing to American Latinos, A Guide to the In-Culture Approach, Part II (2002) addressed these questions in detail, with case studies and hard data.

Now that Hispanic marketing is known to be crucial in the US marketplace, clients ask “How can we strengthen our relationship with our Latino customers and extend it to their families, friends and communities?” In this new book I attempt to respond to their ambitious goal: How to develop Hispanic customers for life. Over the decades, after poring over piles and piles of data, it became evident that developing an emotional bond, and engaging the target consumer delivered a long lasting, deeper relationship with the brand, the product, the service, with profitable and measurable results.

In this book I share what I have learned from enlightened colleagues, successful case studies and my own analysis of the socio-demographic and cultural shifts that have taken place since the emergence of the Hispanic market as a distinct U.S. market segment. For example, the power of deeply knowing the Latino - or any consumer for that matter - from a holistic standpoint to create insightful and lasting messages that speak to them on the precise emotional levels that move them to action (always with respect for their values, dreams and beliefs!) I refer to this as the “emotional marketing approach.” Since a holistic approach entails comprehensive insights into the consumer’s background and behavior, the book includes a review not only of demographic data, but also of social variables (educational level, etc.) that matter for a richer understanding of the identity and challenges of today’s Hispanic consumer market.

It is not easy to grasp, simplify and apply the many variables that play a role in the Hispanic market landscape. For example, U.S. born Latinos have surpassed foreign-born Hispanic consumers to become the largest segment in the Hispanic market. This is rapidly changing the dynamics of how we market to Latinos today and well into the future. The book provides a simplified generation-based segmentation model (The GenAge Segmentation) that shows how acculturation levels differ across age groups, country of origin and generation. These segmentation tools will help marketing and communication practitioners to manage the growing complexities of targeting the U.S. Hispanic market of the twenty-first century.

By 2016, we will see a different Hispanic market altogether; the vast majority of Hispanics aged 20 to 29 will have been born in the U.S., be well acquainted with the U.S. culture. However, commonly born to foreign-born parents, they will be straddling two cultures.

Lastly, the book provides a comprehensive list of Hispanic-business and cultures web sites that may be of use to those marketing to Latinos today. For more information I invite you to visit my website, www.isabelvaldes.com.

By M. Isabel Valdés