NewsTaco

By Victor Landa

There was a time when the Nielsen Corporation didn’t see Latino consumers at all. This isn’t to pick a bone or re-live stale history, it’s merely a statement of fact, made to gain perspective. It wasn’t too long ago that Spanish language broadcasting was summarily ignored by the Nielsen big boys, regarded as second class broadcasting, not worth the effort to count as a viable market. That was as recently as the early 1980′s, before the days of the Univision boom, when sales people counted the UHF antennae on the rooftops of Latino neighborhoods to gauge their viewership – in those days only Spanish TV lived on the UHF end of the dial.

In those days the Spanish language broadcasting executives  longed to have their product counted along with the mainstream; they petitioned, cajoled and pestered Nielsen to include them in their regular count of television viewership.  But the mainstream (Nielsen was and is the arbiter of who and what is considered mainstream market) would have none of it.

Somewhere along the road a special “Hispanic” Nielsen count was invented – a kind of separate but not equal count, to appease the upstart Spanish people and poke around that market, to see what’s-what. The growth of the Latino market eventually blew that idea and we have what we have today.

Now, Nielsen can’t stop raving about the wonders of the Latino market. Some folks may say it’s about time, I’m wondering what took them so long. Market Watch touts Nielsen as “a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy,” and I’m sure that’s true in many market segments. But they’ve been late to the Latino market party. This week Nielsen released their latest report: The State of the Hispanic Consumer: The Hispanic Market Imperative (you have to admit, they came late but they made a dramatic entrance).

Here’s a line in the report summary that caught my attention:

It has become increasingly important to challenge commonly held misconceptions about the Latino market that undermine the importance of its size, uniqueness, and value.

So Nielsen, who once couldn’t see the Latino market, now defends against misconceptions and raises it to a market imperative? Someone should check the Mayan codexes, this may be a sign of the end of times. It’s a welcomed omen, nonetheless. Nielsen is as revered in the market as are stone tablets from mount Sinai. According to Market Watch;

“The Hispanic community in the United States is large and growing, and businesses must make strides to understand and engage these consumers,” said Susan Whiting, vice chair, Nielsen. “Due to the general youth of this segment, family focus, strong culture and prevalent Spanish-language use, Hispanic consumers are impacting all areas of work and play and helping to redefine American culture in the 21st century.”

Latinos have been saying that for years, but now that Nielsen has said it, it must be true. I guess we should be grateful for that. But a larger part of my brain asks why?

In the Latino market we’ve known we’re mainstream for a long time. Suddenly the emperor stands there, naked, and tells us what we already know. That doesn’t legitimize the Latino market, it only reinforces the short-shortsightedness of the leading global providers of information and insights. We already know we’re legitimate, we’ve know it for a long time.

[Photo by ChazWags]

At a retail conference in San Antonio, Texas this week more than 400 retailers from around the country are gathering to discuss, among other things, ways they can break into the growing Latino market. The Internal Council of Shopping Centers held its conference this week and The San Antonio Express-News noted:

According to recent Census data, Latinos accounted for more than half of the nation’s growth since 2000, and it is projected that by 2050 the Hispanic population will more than double. Lewis W. Stirling III, executive vice president of Louisiana-based Stirling Properties, said the average Hispanic consumer is about 28 years old, shops with family, and spends about 50 percent more time shopping than regular consumers.

The paper also reported that specialty stores, such as Latino markets La Michoacana and Fiesta, are concentrating on burgeoning populations in places like Texas and Oklahoma because they attract first and second generation Latinos. Then bigger chain stores reinvent themselves with a “Latino flavor” as H-E-B Mi Tienda, Supermercado de Walmart and Publix Sabor.

Interesting way to recruit customers. I know for my part my family definitely goes to commercial stores like Walmart for certain things, and then hope over to the mercado for other things — paletas, spices, produce, etc. I guess opening up an ethnic version of your store could help you recruit some more customers, but at the same time, those weekly family trips to the mercado are pretty hard to top.

Do you shop at mercados or big box stores? Would you go to the Latino version of a big box store?

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

A report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals found that Latinos, as first-time homebuyers, are set to be key to the housing recovery in this country. The report, ”The State of Hispanic Homeownership,” found among other things:

…minorities and immigrants will drive growth in housing demand due to their population size, age and greater propensity to be married with children. In particular, within the next 15 years, they are expected to drive demand for condominiums, smaller starter homes and first trade-up homes. They are also expected to represent a rapidly growing segment of the middle and middle-upper markets for housing…

Also:

• Hispanics are now the largest minority group in the nation and represent a growing portion of the age group 26 to 46 years of age that are involved in most home sales
• More than other population groups, Hispanics can pick up stakes and move to other parts of the country in search of better jobs and more affordable housing;
• Hispanics continue to attain steady gains in income, education and entrepreneurship and demonstrate a strong work ethic, desire to succeed and purchase power enabling more of them to achieve homeownership;
• The current environment of record low interest rates, government-backed loans and less predatory lending are making sustainable homeownership more affordable.

If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Latinos are a growing portion of the population, therefore the economy, so since real estate is such a big part of the economy, they’re bound to be essential to that slice of the economy as well. What do you think? Read the report here.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Image By Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com]

A recent study found that Latinos, along with African-Americans, purchase more bottled water on the mistaken assumption that it’s cleaner and healthier for them.

The Reuters story points out one huge problem with consuming only bottled water: there’s no fluoride in it. Fluoride, as we remember, is important to preventing tooth decay and it’s often found in tap water. That’s not even mentioning the tremendous waste created by bottling what’s essentially tap water, jacking up the price for people who tend to be low income anyway, and then disposing of these bottles in places that may not have recycling programs.

What the article doesn’t really examine is why these perceptions exist. We already know that 22% of Latinos live in poverty and tend to live in the most polluted areas. So you put two and two together and tell me why Latinos are buying bottled water. I found this to be actually the case when I lived in Mexico and along the border: people from there did not trust the water supply so bought bottled water.

This study, like many others, comes from people who are not Latino, looks at Latino families as objects, and then points out what they’re doing “wrong” instead of asking what brings people to do things in the first place. Reuters reported:

The poll showed that a quarter of blacks and Hispanics gave their children only bottled water, compared to eight percent of white parents.

The findings bolster earlier research and show that the greater thirst for bottled waters among minorities comes from a belief that it’s safer, cleaner, better-tasting and more convenient than tap water.

“Most bottled water is just purified tap water — there really aren’t any nutrients in it,” Gorelick said. ”There is no real advantage to bottled water, but there might be some disadvantages.”

What are your thoughts on this?

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Photo By Team Dalog]

Latinos and their $1 trillion-plus buying power are making companies across the U.S. salviate, we’ve reported it before, and now Kraft’s Kool-Aid brand and winemakers are getting in the mix. For Kool-Aid’s part, Kraft has spent a pitiful amount of money marketing to Latinos, and when it comes to winemakers, Latinos have been buying the stuff lots in the past few years. So, it would seem, these companies barely realized the potential of this market, and now that they have, don’t want to be left out.

The New York Times reported:

This year, Kraft says it will triple spending on Hispanic marketing over last year. Kraft declined to provide figures, but confirmed that the percentage of overall spending would be in the double digits.

Kool-Aid, in a first for any Kraft brand, has allocated the majority of its 2011 marketing budget to reach Hispanics. Television commercials that began running this week on networks including Univision and Telemundo feature families drinking the beverage at festive occasions.

As for the wine, Bloomberg Business reported that because Latinos have been buying wine more and more in recent years companies like Beringer Vinyards in Napa Valley, California are responding in kind:

It’s running Spanish-language television spots in Southern California. Beringer also has arranged sampling events and Spanish-language displays in Latino supermarkets and national chains with a large Hispanic customer base.

Company officials say the effort has been successful, and they’re planning to expand it in California, then in Texas and New York.

It’ll be interesting as an observer to see how these companies market to Latinos, as sometimes these efforts can appear condescending or quasi-racist, let’s hope Kool-Aid and winemakers can do better.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Photo By Ms. Phoenix]

Latino beer drinkers in the U.S. still haven’t placed their loyalties when it comes to beer brands, according to a new report from AdAge. The report notes that, while Latinos tend to drink about 75% domestic brands, the rest of the pie has yet to be fully divided.

It’s interesting to note that, while we’ve written about the coming of age for Latino youth as they become a formidable voting bloc, in the beer world this also means that Latinos will become a big market of beer consumers. AdAge notes:

The percentage of drinking-age adults who are Hispanic is expected to grow from 16% in 2010 to 23% in 2030 and 30% by 2050, according to Census data cited by Crown. And beer is by far the alcoholic beverage of choice of marketers. But beer is different. Unlike soft drinks, for instance, where American brands have mass international appeal, beer is still a local product in many places, with brands linked to cultures, traditions and even patriotism. (Consider that Coke has a 24.6% international market share, while Snow — the world’s biggest beer brand though sold solely in China — commands only 4.5% of the global market, according to Euromonitor International.)

In the States, American beer brands control roughly 75% of the Hispanic market, leveraging their size and massive ad spending, according to brewers. Still, imports overindex with the demographic, commanding about a 25% share, compared with 13% among non-Hispanics, according to Nielsen data…

The gist: Latinos mean big money. Check out what else AdAge reported about beer companies:

• Anheuser-Busch spent $56 million, 10% of its media, on Latino marketing last year
• MillerCoors spent $45 million, or 11.4% of its total media on the same

The upshot is that these companies want to gain the brand loyalty of the $1 trillion-plus Latino market in the U.S. as soon as possible to begin cashing in not only on the emerging youth, but to retain that brand loyalty for future generations.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Photo By DeusXFlorida]

Television networks and cable channels are seeing green and there’s only one thing they can do — get more Latinos on TV. As Latinos continue to grow as a population, that’s beginning to translate into economic power, and media companies do not want to be left behind. Consequently, The New York Times reports that these companies are beginning to diversity their programming and talent:

Media and marketers are demonstrating increased interest in Hispanic consumers because of the results of the 2010 census, which showed strong continued growth among the Spanish-speaking population…

“One out of every five sports fans is Hispanic,” Jorge Ramos, a host on the ESPN Deportes channel, said during the ESPN presentation.

Of the 28.5 million Hispanics who watch ESPN, he added, 5.4 million watch ESPN Deportes exclusively.

What’s more, several channels and networks have either Spanish language programming, new shows featuring Latino actors or revamped networks catering to a Latino audience. I would probably be more excited if I had a television set or cable, but the good news is that for those of us who do, it’s more probable that, the next time we switch on the tube, we might find a little bit of ourselves on TV.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Image Adapted From Stannered]