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Connecting With Latinos
Author encourages marketers to appeal to the human side of Latinos before dissecting their ethnicity
Published on LatinoLA:
February 8, 2006
Ever since Hispanic Marketing became a buzz term, consultants and professionals have been preaching a similar sentiment: treat Latinos as a unique sect of people, and focus on their "Latinidad" before everything else in order to connect with them and get into those ever-growing pocketbooks. Juan Faura, a multicultural advertising specialist and a bestselling book author, claims this approach is all wrong. In his new book "Hispanic Marketing Grows up: Exploring Perceptions and Facing Realities," (Paramount Market Publishing, February 2006) Faura showcases a new method of marketing to Hispanics that is sure to get a rise out of traditionalists.
"My philosophy is that we need to appeal to the human side of the target consumer before we dissect their ethnicity," explains Faura. "We all make decisions as people, not as categories, thus we should hone in on connecting with consumers as people with fundamental needs and desires."
Tackling subjects from media use to acculturation, Faura shares insights into Hispanic culture that he gained after an intense period of face-to-face encounters with Hispanics in more than 18 states and 74 cities. A veteran of the industry with 15 years experience in marketing research, Faura started this process knowing very well how Hispanic consumers are perceived; his mission was to determine if these perceptions really were true by getting answers straight from the source.
Among other controversial topics, the book delves into stereotypes and their basis in reality; taboo issues such as sexual orientation, family structure, socioeconomic stereotypes and gaps in healthcare and technology; and the preference for English-language media.
We asked him a few questions. Here are Faura's insights:
Q: How were the interviews conducted?
A: All interviews were conducted unscripted. We, my cameraman and I, approached people on the street at their place of work and through referrals from other people. None of the interviewees were recruited ahead of time. The interviews were very frank and conversational in nature meaning we did not want our participants to feel like we had some specific agenda because we didn?t.
Q: How did you select the interviewees?
A: The only qualifier for an interview was that the interviewee be of Hispanic descent or CLAIM Hispanic descent. We did not check for this obviously, but the way I saw it was if you feel and claim to be Hispanic then for my purposes you were Hispanic. We interviewed as many Hispanics as we came across on the road as well people we were referred to. On the upper end of the scale the interviews were conducted with people that were referred to me or that I knew fell within the definition of a US Hispanic consumer we were looking for. Sometimes the interviewees selected us. They would see the camera and the microphone and would come to see what was going on.
Q: What surprised you most?
A: I think what surprised me the most was that although people stated that they functioned primarily in Spanish they consume and function in English much more than they initially indicated. From a media standpoint they do in fact prefer Spanish language media, but by a much narrower margin than we suspected. In many instances they actually consumed English and Spanish media equally. When I asked the obvious question ?How can that be when you told me you function primarily in Spanish?? the answer I got was so obvious that the question almost seemed stupid. They don?t have to have a conversation with a television, it is a one way flow of information, one they can receive at their own pace and in context making understanding the program much more viable.
Q: What are the primary values that are driving Latino consumers?
A: Family is still a very important driver, but the definition of family is what has shifted. While we would like to define the Hispanic family as the traditional nuclear family, US Hispanics have broadened and adapted that definition beyond the traditional mold. The other primary value that drives Hispanics in the US per my conversations is the overall betterment of their family, not only from an immediate standpoint, but from a generational standpoint as well. Many are very willing to sacrifice immediate improvement in exchange for the security and improvement of their future generations. By the way, improvement and betterment did NOT necessarily equate to financial riches, it was much more about security and integrity. Many of the people we spoke with saw that as a big difference between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. According to them Hispanics did not equate being rich to being happy while non-Hispanics more often than not could not think of themselves and their family as being happy and successful unless they had a lot of money.
Q: What kind of messages are they responding to?
A: It depends on who you are talking about. Obviously the US Hispanic market is not homogenous, in fact it is quite the opposite, there are many more shades of being Hispanic than even we anticipated. When talking about more unacculturated Hispanics they seemed to respond more to messages that focused on those things they came looking for, aspirational andinnovative in nature while more acculturated Hispanics seemed to respond more to messages deeply infused with Hispanic flavor and insight. I know it seems to fly in the face of the convention that it is the other way around, but there it is, when it comes to the type of message they respond to we had it backwards.
Q: It?s mentioned in a Time magazine article, 1.24.05, that you state ?Family is always first.? Do still find this to be true? Do you think this will evolve in time? What other primary motivators do Latino share?
A: As I said previously family is still of primary importance, but there is growing acceptance and embracing of an expanded definition of family. This includes a more open view to same sex couples, single parents, non-relatives, etc. One very interesting value that young Hispanics seem to share is that they do not want to be defined as or grouped by their ethnic origin. I should make very, very clear that this did not mean they were not proud of their heritage because in fact they showed some of the strongest and best defined pride in their heritage, what they objected to was having their ethnic origin being a primary definer for those who would like to communicate with them. This insight extended beyond just the young Hispanic segment and applied to both foreign and US-born Hispanics and is the basis for a shift in my fundamental view of how to market to Hispanics. We tend to do exactly what irks them, we define them by their ethnic origin first and their humanity second if at all. If we are to be successful marketing to them we will need to rethink our approach to better fit within what they consider to be motivating and true.
Q: How do the savvier general market agencies / businesses perceive the Hispanic market? A: I think the savvier general market agencies and businesses have now begun to realize that the old doing something is better than nothing paradigm is definitely shifting. I also think they have also begun to realize that simply translating communications to Spanish does not necessarily mean they will be impactful. They might understand the message, but it does not necessarily mean they will be impacted by it or shift their purchase behavior.
Q: How do you suggest traditional Hispanic marketing and advertising agencies grow up?
A: I think evolve would be more reflective of what I mean. I truly believe, as I believe I have outlined above, that if we develop our work using human insights first and only after establishing that common human element move on to the cultural aspect of things we will all develop much more impactful work. You see I think the market has evolved to the point where the definition of success in Hispanic marketing will HAVE to be supported through a solid business litmus test rather than how relevant or authentic the work is. The fact is that to develop better work we must move beyond the demographics to support it through business dynamics.
Q: What kind of response do you get from traditional marketers regarding your real world knowledge?
A: This is a great question. Actually I always preface what I say by stating?Don?t kill the messenger!? There are some agencies and marketers that are already there and already producing great work, but the majority do not like to hear that what they have been doing for the past five years and what they are doing now is completely ineffective from a business standpoint, from a bottom line standpoint. Believe it or not they would rather keep going with efforts that are either losing them money or at best breaking even for consistency?s sake than retool completely.
Q: Which marketers are getting it right? Need help?
A: I think both Toyota and Nissan have done a great job of maintaining strategic consistency and of approaching their efforts from a more human than a cultural standpoint. I also think SBC and Coca Cola have done a good job of redefining their Hispanic efforts to be more reflective of an overall strategic approach than a separate Hispanic?specific approach. I think Chrysler needs some serious help with their Hispanic efforts. There is absolutely no insight or finesse to anything I have seen from them. In fact I have seen efforts from them that are actually grammatically incorrect. I also think Wells Fargo as well as other financial service companies could be much more effective in their communications to the US Hispanic market. I don?t think their efforts are wrong or bad, but they are certainly bland and once again lacking any true insight relative to their category. The only financial services marketer or bank that in my opinion has done an outstanding job approaching the US Hispanic market is Washington Mutual. Their efforts have included what is now widely accepted, the matricular consular as a form of id as well as some very effective direct marketing efforts.
"Hispanic Marketing Grows Up" is available at www.paramountbooks.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.amazon.com.
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