Who's not hurting:
Hispanic magazines
Ad pages are up a modest 0.6 percent but revenue is up 24 percent
By Diego Vasquez
Oct 27, 2011
While many English-language magazines have seen the ad page gains of 2010 slow down in 2011, one category that's still doing very well is Hispanic magazines. Ad pages for all consumer magazines are down 1.3 percent through third quarter, but Hispanic magazines are up 0.6 percent, an increase that would be even bigger if not for the fact that several magazines, including TV y Novelas and TV Notas, reduced their publishing frequency this year. Revenue for the magazines is up nearly 24 percent. Hispanic titles have seen big growth in personal care products, reflecting the magazines' mostly female skew, as well as in food, beverages and apparel. But one area where Hispanic magazines, just like English-language ones, continue to lag is auto. The category is down once again this year and it's uncertain when it will come back. Carlos Pelay, founder and president at Media Economics Group, which tracks Hispanic media, talks to Media Life about which titles are doing well, the significance of the new census, and why fewer new titles are launching.
What's the general sense in the Hispanic magazines category right now?
Overall, Hispanic magazines are enjoying a return to solid growth in ad pages and dollars – particularly for the largest titles. For the category as a whole, total ad dollars are up by 23.8 percent, while ad pages are basically flat at +0.6 percent.
Most of the major titles have enjoyed growth in both ad pages and dollars. For example, ad dollars are up by 39.9 percent at People en Español, 12.6 percent at Latina, 26.1 percent at TV y Novelas, 50.4 percent at Siempre Mujer and 26.1 percent at Vanidades. Ad pages are also up 34.1 percent at People en Español, 10.3 percent at Latina, 46.9 percent at Cosmo en Español, and 29.9 percent at Siempre Mujer.
Total ad page growth for the Hispanic magazine category however has been dampened by cuts in frequency between 2010 and 2011 by titles like TV y Novelas (18 issues/year to 12 issue/year), TV Notas (51 times/year to 26 times/year), and Vanidades (18 times/year to 12 times/year). However, while those titles have cut frequency, they have managed to increase rate base significantly and raise rates, resulting in the ad revenue gains noted above.
Which ad categories are seeing the biggest growth for Hispanic magazines this year? Why?
The personal care products category remains by far the largest category, accounting for more than a one-third (36.8 percent) share of all dollars and a 28.6 percent share of all ad pages in the Hispanic segment during the first three quarters of this year.
Spending in the personal care category has grown by 29.4 percent year-over-year, led by spending increases in hair care (up 41.4 percent) and cosmetics (31.4 percent). Procter & Gamble (45.9 percent share) and L’Oreal (27.9 percent) lead the category in ad spending with Estee Lauder a distant third (4.5 percent).
Looking at the list of magazines that dominate the Hispanic market by almost any measure – circulation, ad pages, ad revenue – they are mostly either magazines for women or entertainment titles with a high share of women readers, so it is not surprising that the personal care product category is so dominant.
Although that’s not a new phenomenon (dominance of women’s-oriented titles), just five years ago in 2007 personal care products' share was 18.2 percent of ad dollars. So that category’s share of ad dollars has doubled in five years from 18.2 percent in 2007 to 36.8 percent so far this year as some other categories have weakened and a number of magazines (some of which attracted investment from other segments) folded.
So I would argue that this increased dependence on one category is not necessarily a healthy long-term development for Hispanic magazines.
Having said that, there has been strong growth from other fairly significant categories as well such as food (up 57.0 percent year-to-date), beverages (non-alcoholic) (up 87.3 percent), apparel (up 34.7 percent) and financial (up 16.3 percent).
Are there any categories that are still holding back and have been slow to recover from the recession? Why?
The loss of automotive advertising has been the single largest blow to the Hispanic (as well as general market) magazine industry.
Auto manufacturer ad spending has fallen by almost two-thirds from a 14.8 percent share of ad spending to 5.9 percent this year in Hispanic magazines. So far in 2011, automotive has slipped another couple of share points from 8.2 percent of total spending in 2010 to an average 5.9 percent so far this year. In dollar terms, that’s another 19.7 percent drop in estimated dollars.
A few other categories showing declines are insurance (down 17.7 percent this year) and government (down 80.7 percent mostly due to comparisons with 2010 Census-related advertising and fewer military recruitment ads).
Travel has also been slow to recover with an overall decline of 21.5 percent this year, concentrated mostly in airlines and hotels; ads by convention and visitor bureaus (VCBs) are up by 69.4 percent.
How does ad category spending in Hispanic magazines compare to English-language magazines? Are you seeing the same patterns in growth and decline?
Comparing our data to PIB data, Hispanic magazines are outperforming the general market overall. Some of the category trends are quite similar: for example, PIB’s toiletries and cosmetics is also one of the categories driving growth, while automotive remains moribund.
Some of the contrasts are that Food is down by 14.1 percent general market while it is up by 57 percent in Hispanic magazines.
How much of an influence does the Census have on the desire to advertising in Hispanic media? Do you think you'll see more of a surge from this?
My opinion is that any bump in Hispanic advertising from the 2010 Census was short-lived and marginal, particularly in comparison with the impact of the 2000 Census, which had a far more significant impact in awakening interest in and making the case for dedicating larger budgets to the Hispanic market.
By 2010, the burgeoning size of the Hispanic market should have been well anticipated and already factored into the advertising plans by any major corporations. Timing may have been another factor since the results were made public during a weak economy.
In any case, a recent AHAA study has shown that Hispanic budgets remained fairly constant during the recession while general market budgets were slashed. It’s generally felt that, overall, the Hispanic segment is still being under-invested, although the same AHAA study argues that the most successful companies have allocated a higher percentage of ad budgets to Hispanic.
Has other Hispanic media been coming back with the same strength as magazines during the past year?
Comparing with other industry sources, it appears that Hispanic magazines are recovering at a faster rate than broadcast and newspapers (especially national newspapers, which are suffering ad declines), but not as quickly as cable and internet.
Which Hispanic magazine titles are having the strongest year and why?
Most of the major titles have enjoyed growth in both ad pages and dollars. For example, ad dollars are up by 39.9 percent at People en Español, 12.6 percent at Latina, 26.1 percent at TV y Novelas, 50.4 percent at Siempre Mujer, and 26.1 percent at Vanidades. Ad pages are also up 34.1 percent at People en Español, 10.3 percent at Latina, 46.9 percent at Cosmo en Español and 29.9 percent at Siempre Mujer.
Other magazines having a good year include Televisa’s Poder Hispanic (a merger of Poder Enterprise and Hispanic Magazine, where ad pages are up by 40.2 percent) and Impremedia’s redesigned Vista magazine (up 26.2 percent ad pages YTD).
Are you seeing or anticipating more Hispanic title launches this year than last? Why or why not?
At a national level, there has been very little new launch activity in the past couple of years, and although I have heard anecdotally of a few potential launches I do not foresee a return to the same level of activity in terms of new launches as existed pre-recession.
Even so, there are some relatively new niche titles that are doing very well by targeting certain segments that have not been reached very effectively before. For example, Constru-Guía al Día is a Spanish-language magazine published by Silver Lake Media Group and distributed via partnership with Home Depot. Their target audience is Latino contractors and trade professionals.
Ad pages at Constru-Guía al Día are up by 11.3 percent this year and they have succeeded in bringing in some tool and building materials advertisers that would not normally have been in an Hispanic magazine, as well as some more traditional male-targeted brands like Chevy Silverado and Ford F-150.
|
|
|
