How Latinos are Changing Advertising
By: Christina Hoag
Tags: Business, Hispanics, Advertising, Marketing, Latinos

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

It’s no secret that that as the U.S. Hispanics are moving into second, third and fourth generations, English is becoming their primary language and language of choice. So what does that portend for the Spanish-language advertising industry: Has it hit the top of the bell curve and is now starting the slide back to a niche?

It’s a question that keeps many Hispanic agency professionals awake at night. The industry is undergoing major shifts as clients increasingly opt for the “total market” approach, which aims to deliver a message to multiple targets by using a main theme, bilingual dialogue or multicultural actors. The premise behind total market is to appeal to commonalities among diverse consumer groups.

But Hispanic agencies, which have spent decades convincing advertisers that the Hispanic market is worth spending money on, have traditionally pivoted on difference. That is, Hispanics are different from other consumers. Ergo, they need their own advertising campaigns, budgets — and agencies.

The key difference is, of course, language, although there are a host of more subtle, cultural discrepancies. So if English use among Latinos is rising, it’s no small matter for boutique agencies, where “Hispanic” has traditionally been interchangeable with “Spanish-language.”

I posed the question recently to Linda González, chair of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies and president of Viva Partnership Miami, which has handled Hallmark and Disney accounts. She notes that Spanish-language isn’t going the way of the dodo any time soon due to two factors: the ongoing, robust flow of immigrants from Latin America, and the fact that Hispanics consider it important to keep the language alive through generations.

Spanish-language advertising growth is following immigration settlement patterns to cities that typically haven’t been considered Hispanic markets — González points to Seattle, Charlotte, N.C., and Kentucky where Hispanic shops have hung up shingles recently.

Still, she acknowledges the market is evolving: “It’s less about the language and more about the culture. There has to be that switch.”

For some agencies, switching has meant a wholesale change in business strategy. In March, Atlanta’s PM Publicidad, a traditional Hispanic agency, morphed into PM3 Agency, branding itself as a total market, multicultural service shop. Cox Communications and the National Automotive Parts Association feature among its clients.

The decision to change was partly the result of looking at where the population is skewing, partner Patricio Montalbetti told me.

“Obviously, the market is bilingual, bicultural,” he says. “The people who want to cater to Hispanic will still have a job, but what’s growing is the other market.”

Another factor in the decision to change gears was intensifying competition from general market agencies, which are increasingly launching their own Hispanic/multicultural departments. Small agencies have to be able to compete with a broader suite of services, including English creative.

“General market agencies are acquiring companies like mine or creating them. Clients have to decide: should I go to a boutique agency or Omnicom with all resources?” Montalbetti says. “That portion of English-language marketing, who’s going to manage that?”

A side effect of general-market bigfooting the Hispanic arena is talent poaching. Both González and Montalbetti lament that finding creative talent has always been a challenge, but is now especially hard. Younger creatives conversant in digital strategies are in particular demand as Hispanics, both Spanish and English-dominant, overindex on mobile internet use.

The good news is that Hispanic agencies don’t have to convince advertisers of the importance of reaching Latinos. “We no longer have to beg our clients to do Hispanic,” González says.

With Hispanics numbering 54 million and expected to comprise more than a quarter of the U.S. population by 2060, the numbers tell the story. Hispanic agencies now have to decide how they’re going to tell it.