Brandweek reports that a growing percentage of advertising dollars targeted toward Hispanic consumers are moving online as more of these shoppers spend time surfing the internet.
"Our gospel over the last six or seven months has changed," said Alex Lopez Negrete, president and chief executive office of Lopez Negrete Communications.
Mr. Lopez Negrete, whose client list includes Tyson and Walmart, told Brandweek that his clients used to spend between zero and five percent advertising online. Today, he said five percent is the low-end figure and some brands are spending up to 20 percent of their budgets targeting Hispanics surfing the web.
"We don't have to preach about online and digital anymore," he said.
During the first 10 months of 2008, the amount of money spent advertising to Hispanics online grew to $212 million versus $165 million for all of 2007, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
While the assumption for many is that Hispanic consumers going online necessitates the need for Spanish language communications, many are younger people who are bilingual and may prefer English, according to some experts.
Today, according to a Horowitz Associates' study, 48 percent of all Hispanics in the U.S. have broadband access compared to 57 percent of the general population. Nearly 70 percent of Hispanics who prefer English-language sites, mostly younger consumers, have access to a broadband connection.
These younger consumers are more likely than the general population to visit social networking sites, use instant messaging, listen to music online, blog and participate in chat rooms.
"Some of my research shows that Hispanics are on the forefront of using social media," Felipe Korzenny, director of the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication, told Brandweek. "What that's telling me is that marketers who use social media will do better. They need to know how to set up a presence on a social network site, to lure people and create momentum. It requires a lot more than meets the eye."
Discussion Questions: What do you take from the Brandweek article on Hispanic consumers going online? Is there a need to reassess some of the approaches that are taken for granted such as the use of Spanish and broadcast media when it comes to marketing to Hispanics?