Marketing to Hispanic Americans - Research Paper Example

Marketing to Hispanic Americans The Hispanic market in US is growing significantly. Yahoo (n.d.) suggests that the Hispanic market is growing faster than the general market. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic market grew by 43%. There are 15.2 million more Hispanics now than in 2001. Llopis (2013) observes that Hispanic consumers are becoming a good target for entrepreneurs and corporate executives due to their rising purchasing power. It is estimated that by 2015, the purchasing power of Hispanic Americans will reach $1.5 trillion. Various brands are keen to develop a good and cautions approach to capture the Hispanic Americans’ market. Companies and business firms that use specific Hispanic business models to target Hispanic consumer are likely to become successful in the highly volatile and competitive business world. Marketing to Hispanics should take the aspect of ethnicity into consideration because ethnicity is important to all minorities for the purpose of identity. 67% of Hispanics suggest that ethnicity is an important element of their identity. Furthermore, 78% of them suggest that they are proud of their ethnic identity (Yahoo, n.d.). Ethnicity determines the individuality, faith, values, views on gender roles, and consumption behaviours and attitudes of the Hispanics. This makes the aspect of ethnicity even more significant in marketing to Hispanics. Drivers of ethnicity for Hispanics in America include political views, speech and dialect, reunions, family, gatherings, eating habits and preferences, and home décor. Hispanic reactions to news content are often motivated by ethnicity. For instance, ethnicity influences the choices of Hispanic Americans regarding fashion and style, beauty, finance, entertainment, food and restaurants. The shopping content of Hispanic Americans is also influenced by ethnicity. Hispanic Americans may be classified into first and second generations. For both first and second generation Hispanic Americans, ethnicity is an important aspect their present and past. However, first generations Hispanics are connected with their ethnicity more strongly than second generation Hispanics. First generation Hispanics are ethnically influenced by their Spanish shopping content, but second generation Hispanics are not much influenced by their ethnic Spanish shopping content (Valdés, 2000). Both first and second generation Hispanics are greatly influenced by how news media and marketing campaigns in the media cover them. Second generation Hispanics take notice of ethnicity mainly when it is represented negatively by the media. First generation Hispanics want to be marketed to in health and beauty sector. Generally, ethnicity plays a crucial role in marketing to Hispanic Americans in various sectors such health and beauty, entertainment, finance, auto, food and restaurant, grocery, etc. Llopis (2013) argues that in order for a business to capture the Hispanic market, it must develop a complete marketing strategy. A good example of how successful a business can be with the Hispanic American market is the success of Pizza Patron. This business firm was founded by Italian man Antonio Swad. Pizza Patron is located in Dallas and has gained the loyalty of Hispanic consumers by satisfying their cultural needs. According to Llopis (2013), culture is the new universal language in America. Cultural intelligence is required for businesses to target Hispanic consumers effectively. In this case, cultural intelligence does not mean translating American English into Spanish; it entails being culturally sensitive. Cultural intelligence enables businesses to develop an appropriate business models, relationships, and leadership development. Being sensitive to culture is ethical and should be used by every organisation that intends to remain competitive in US and beyond (Llopis, 2013). Demographic shifts in America necessitate brands to avoid guesses and assumptions regarding their business models and their target audiences. According to Llopis (2013), a business does not have to be accustomed or connected to a given cultural heritage in order to sell to a given cultural group. Instead, the business just needs to learn about the features of their culture and values that can motivate them to trust their brand. In the case of Hispanic Americans, it is important for businesses that target them to embrace their culture in order to win them. Hispanics in America do not want to be marketed to; they appreciate and reward brands that embrace their culture. To establish a strong brand with the Hispanics and earn a long term relationship with them, businesses need to target the specific cultural needs of the Hispanics. The most important aspect in developing an appropriate marketing strategy on the Hispanic Americans is to understand the recipes that define Hispanic cultural needs (Valdés, 2000). There are several recipes that brands can create depending on the appealing nature of their products or services to the specific cultural needs of Hispanic consumers; but the ingredient remains the same in all brands – culture. The first step in marketing to Hispanic Americans is to understand the Hispanic person as defined by his culture (Llopis, 2013). In other words, every business that targets the Hispanic market should first understand the characteristics of their culture. This understanding of Hispanic culture enables the business to understand the perceptions and attitudes of the Hispanics towards specific brands, products and services or businesses. The loyalty of Hispanic Americans on a given brand depends on the brand’s ability to meet their cultural needs (Valdés, 2000). Therefore, a business may earn brand loyalty from Hispanic customers by understanding the culture of the Hispanics and developing brands that meet their cultural needs. Koyen (2012) considers that understanding and meeting the needs of Hispanic culture is difficult because there are cultural differences in the Hispanic population. Some of the cultural differences are fundamental while others are subtle. Hispanic Americans form one of the most diverse ethnic groups in United States. Mexican-origin population of the Hispanic form 60% of the Hispanic American population. They dominantly represent the cultural segments of Texas, California and Arizona. Hispanics of Puerto Rico and Dominica dominate the cultural segment of New York, NY. Cuban Americans represent the Hispanic American cultural segment of Florida while the Salvadorans occupy Maryland and Columbia. Guatemalans also form part of the Hispanic communities in USA. Llopis (2013) also supports the proposition of cultural differences among Hispanic Americans. Mr Swad, the founder of the successful Pizza Patron understands that the Hispanics do not form a homogenous consumer base. Hispanic Americans reside in a highly diverse community. In fact, the growing population of Hispanics is found in areas that marketers and business organisations do not pay any attention (Valdés, 2000). For instance, the Salvadorans and the Guatemalans are not recognised by brands. Most brands that target Hispanics such as McDonald’s, Budweiser and Pizza Patron target the cultural needs of the largest and dominant Hispanic group, the Mexican-origin population, and neglect the other rising Hispanic groups. In order for firms to meet the needs of the growing Hispanic population, they need to focus on a wider perspective of understanding cultural and language differences among various Hispanic groups. The Spanish language, for instance, is a language rich in diversity from one group to another. In Mexican Spanish, to ask someone out for lunch is like asking someone out for dinner in Columbian Spanish (Koyen, 2012). Therefore, marketing to Hispanic American requires businesses to become sensitive to cultural nuance. Llopis (2013) notes the same account; that businesses should understand different lifestyles, political beliefs, and cultural values and nuances of different Hispanic groups in order to be able to market to or meet the needs of each specific group. The success of marketing to Hispanic Americans does not depend on how a business communicates in Spanish; it depends on how the business communicates in the different Hispanic culture. Businesses targeting Hispanic consumers need to value cultural ingredients and invest in Hispanic consumers in the right ways. First, before engaging in business with the Hispanics the business needs to build a strong relationship with them. This is because Hispanics mainly interact in a personal manner (Mueller, 2013). In this case, businesses need to learn not only the Hispanic language but also the Hispanic culture in entirety and in its diverse nature. Marketers reach the Hispanic consumers by first understanding them in a personal level. You cannot just start talking to a new consumer about sales. This relationship enables the business to understand the Hispanic consumer from a cultural perspective better. This requires the business to develop a good cultural intelligence and communication skills. Llopis (2013) suggests that it is easier for a business to bundle the Hispanic consumer rather than marketing differently to the Hispanics. He considers “total market” as a good strategy in the ideal market, but it does not suit the Hispanic consumer. General marketing approach does not earn the loyalty and trust of a Hispanic consumer. Hispanic Americans become loyal to brands which appreciate their culture and provide them with goods and services that meet their cultural needs. Llopis (2013) defines total market as a shift from targeting specific communities to creating marketing strategies that appeal a multicultural nation. This marketing approach is not good in marketing to Hispanic Americans because it tries to force Hispanic consumers into general market messaging. Hispanic consumers are always skeptical and can realize when a given brand is not addressing their cultural needs. Furthermore, Hispanic Americans see things in ways that other people do not. They are careful when making purchasing decisions because they do not want to be deceived. Therefore, businesses should first establish a trustworthy relationship with them before marketing to them. This way of luring Hispanic Americans needs patience. A marketing strategy that seeks immediate results is not good for the Hispanics because Hispanics do not rush to buy things. Llopis (2013) argues that to covert Hispanics into loyal customers is like a marathon, not a sprint. Hurrying to sell something to a Hispanic American causes tension and destroys the opportunity to win consumer loyalty. Marketing to Hispanic Consumers also requires internet marketing strategies that address their cultural needs. For instance, advertising through a website that is accessed by Hispanics requires the marketer to use a logically and emotionally appealing approach (Mueller, 2013). A good example of creating a local and emotional appeal is the inclusion of highly appreciated terms and words in advertising a product through the internet. Marketing to Hispanic Americans may fail if the marketer fails to use the right cultural ingredients. Hispanic consumers are not valued sufficiently because a few companies understand them. Some companies do not see the long term opportunity in marketing to Hispanic Americans. Mismanaged ROI has led companies to avoid marketing to Hispanic Americans. Companies that tried once and failed do not want to repeat it again. Companies fail to gain from the Hispanic consumers because they used the wrong cultural ingredients, created the wrong recipes, and mismanaged the expectations of their ROI (Llopis, 2013). Marketing to Hispanic Americans requires a segmentation approach that sees the Hispanic market as a market segment that requires specification (Llopis, 2013). After segmenting the Hispanic market as an appropriate target market, a company should position itself in that target market by using appropriate promotional tools. One of the tools is mobile internet marketing. Hispanic Americans have smartphones and access the internet frequently. Marketing through mobile internet requires the business to provide the Hispanics with things of value to their culture – recipes, coupons, custom ringtone, etc (Mueller, 2013). Event marketing is also an important marketing strategy because Latinos like events. However, it is important to be careful about the event to use for marketing because different Latino groups like different events. Of course, it is also important to learn Spanish before marketing to Hispanic America. Negotiating, communicating and building a good relationship with them is easier with their language than English. In this regard, a company targeting the Hispanic market should use Hispanic words in their advertising. In conclusion, if a company really wants to capture long term success with the Hispanic consumer like Pizza Patron and McDonald’s, it should create a Hispanic business model; a model that makes a good investment in cultural intelligence, authentic leadership, branding, supply chain partnership, community outreach, and communications in the context of the Hispanic community. References list Koyen, J. (2012). The Truth about Hispanic Consumers: Myths vs. Reality. AdWeek. Accessed March 29, 2014 from http://www.adweek.com/sa-article/truth-about-hispanic-consumers- 138828. Llopis, G. (2013). Capturing the Hispanic Market Will Require More Than a Total Market Strategy. Forbes. Accessed March 29, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/05/13/capturing-the-hispanic-market-will- require-more-than-a-total-market-strategy/2/ Mueller, M.P. (2013). Marketing Tips for Reaching Hispanic Americans. The New York Times. Accessed March 29, 2014 from http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/marketing- tips-for-reaching-hispanic-americans/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Valdés, M. I. (2000). Marketing to American Latinos: A guide to the in-culture approach. Ithaca, N.Y: Paramount Market Pub. Yahoo (n.d.). Marketing to the Hispanics. Read More