The one commonality in any discussion about the Hispanic population is that it’s growing fast and, with a population of 35.3 million people based on the 2000 census, has already surpassed all other minority groups in size.
   That number has gone up, to an estimated 39 million in 2003, and is on pace to hit 50 million by 2010, based on new data released last week by the census and projections from Miami-based marketing company Geoscape International.
   Yet the one thing less-often talked about is how media campaigns targeting Hispanics will have to adapt to changes within the population.
   There a declining reliance on the Spanish language, which is already having an impact on how Spanish-language media goes about reaching them, with Univision’s Telefutura taking the lead in targeting bilinguals.
   But the population is also expanding beyond major metropolitan areas, while new immigrants are increasingly coming from countries other than the more familiar Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
   The challenge to advertisers will be to reach this evolving demographic.
   Cesar Melgoza, president of Geoscape, suggests abandoning the cookie-cutter approach.
    “Many marketers choose to reach Hispanics, if not with language, then by targeting culture,” he says.
  “I’m sure when ABC put on the ‘George Lopez Show,’ for example, it was meant to reach the Hispanic audience but [with an English language program].”
   That makes sense and will make more sense in coming years.
   The Simmons’ Hispanic Study found that although the number of Hispanic adults grew by 3.5 million between 2000 and 2002, the percentage of those who primarily speak Spanish, defined as those mostly or only speaking Spanish at home, dipped from 53.3 percent to 50.2 percent.
   “Over time people are continuing to learn English, but that process is slowing down,” says Melgoza.
   “Once you reach a certain density level of Hispanics, it acts like gravity. At a certain point they tend to retain their language for a longer time.”
   One thing that could change the pace of switching to English, however, is the expansion of this group to areas beyond metropolitan areas where Hispanic are not an established population.
   The 2000 census, for example, found that while relatively small, the population of Hispanics in the Midwest grew 81 percent in the past decade. At more than 3 million people, the group now accounts for about 9 percent of the Hispanic population.
   Specific markets to post enormous gains include Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., where the Hispanic population grew tenfold, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The number of Hispanics in Atlanta, for example, grew from 24,000 to 269,000 in the past two decades.
   “For most marketers, they have to understand that most people make their purchases on a local level,” says Melgoza. “Most purchases happen on a micro level.”
   Another change, though perhaps most dramatic in specific geographic pockets, is that the country of origin is changing in the Hispanic population.
   About two-thirds of Hispanics in this country are of Mexican descent, while Puerto Ricans make up another one-tenth, according to the census.
   The fastest growing population of foreign-born Hispanics, however, although still a fraction of the size of the Mexican-born population, come from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.
    “Hispanics are simply people whose heritage is a Spanish-speaking country,” notes Melgoza.

January 27, 2003© 2003 Media Life

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.

 Send to a Friend| Printer-Friendly Version
Cover Page | Contact Us