Reaching the U.S. Hispanic TV audience.

After years of existing under the radar of most advertisers, Spanish-speaking viewers in the U.S. have become some of the most sought after consumers. "The growth in this market is going to be incredible," said analyst Alissa Goldwasser of William Blair & Co. At 40 million, Hispanics are the largest minority in the U.S., spending over $675 billion a year and growing at a rate of 12 percent annually.

But the problem facing U.S. marketers is how to best reach an innately diverse group. Because many Hispanics are both bicultural and bilingual, targeting these consumers can be complicated. For example, the median age of U.S.-born Hispanics is 18 while the median age of Latin immigrants is 35. Even though only 40 percent U.S. Latinos are non-U.S. born, they comprise 80 percent of Spanish TV's audience.

In addition, statistics show that second and third generation Hispanics watch both English and Spanish language TV stations, even though they primarily speak Spanish at home.

Language is an important aspect marketers should be sensitive to, according to Loretta Adams, head of TNS Market Development, who said, "There's a lot of interest in holding on to language and tradition." Cultural anthropologist Alisse Waterston agreed. "Oftentimes, language has less to do with competency and more to do with the cultural meanings people attach to language. For Latinos in the U.S., Spanish is a key marker of personal, social and political identity," she said. As a result, Spanish-language TV remains important for even those who are fluent English speakers and who regularly watch English-language TV. "It's not an 'either/or' but a matter of carefully integrating both languages to best communicate with the Latino consumer in the U.S.," Waterston said.

There is also a different cultural perspective on how commercials are perceived, said Hector Orci, co-chairman of La Agencia de Orci, a Hispanic ad agency in Los Angeles. "Advertising to Hispanics is not about distracting them and inserting a brand image. It's very straightforward. It's not entertainment." Orci also said to reach Hispanics, content matters. "It's a good thing having Latin subject matter, but I don't think anyone should ever depend on that because if it is ,lot a good story, it's not going to do well, and it's just going to do everybody a disservice."

Earlier this year, Robert Rose, CEO of AIM, which produces Urban Latino Television for over 40 million TV viewers, said at a marketing panel that, "You can slice and dice very narrow, but as marketers you want to hit as broad a niche as possible while still keeping your message relevant. You have to start with the differentiation of U.S. born and non-U.S, born, by doing that, you will know certain facts about them that will help you market to them, as opposed to language which has traditionally been used when it shouldn't have been used."

Over the next several years, industry analysts predict advertiser spending in broadcast and cable TV will be significantly tied to increases in the Hispanic market. With agencies now targeting both Spanish and English speaking Hispanic viewers, the fastest growing demographic, it is estimated that ads directed at the Latin community will grow over fifty percent to $1.5 billion by 2007.

As a result of the new push by advertisers to capitalize on the blossoming Hispanic market, broadcast will remain the dominant media. Stefanie Kane, a partner in the entertainment and media practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers said, "Advertisers are looking to put their dollars in the areas that work best for them, and that would be the medium with the largest reach."

Some experts see this push as merely an attempt to make up for lost opportunity. Erika Prosper, director of account services for Garcia 360, a San Antonio-based communications agency, said: "The American Association of Hispanic Advertisers came out with a study that shows how companies have been under-spending in the Hispanic market compared to how much they've spent on the general population. In the last year, a lot of attention has been paid by companies who realized they were under-spending. Many more general market companies have gently pushed their clients to go ahead and start looking at whether or not they are spending enough in the Hispanic market because it overall helps bring the bottom line up."

Programming has also made a difference to advertisers, said Prosper, because "they are seeing television take a serious look at Spanish-language or bilingual programming. Additionally, you are seeing more cable spin-offs from broadcast networks, or major cable networks pop up that have to do with this new Latino culture, which is a result of the first generation of immigrants. In the past couple of years television networks have begun incorporating a more multi-cultural approach with programs that are English-based but in Spanish or even bilingual."

Publicity expert Claudia Phillips said it's important to use as many media platforms as possible to reach the Hispanic audience. "Hispanic media provide news in culture and language, which helps to orient Hispanics, and cover many relevant issues," she said.

Currently, though, Hispanic consumers are less likely to have digital service, which limits marketing opportunities, said Howard Horowitz, president of Horowitz Associates, Inc. "It is becoming increasingly important for cable MSOs, broadband providers and media brands to design marketing and programming strategies appealing to the various subgroups of urban Hispanic consumers in order to capture this emerging market. Without successful marketing to Hispanics, a real opportunity for digital and broadband services will be lost." KT