Hispanic unemployment rate falls, wages go up

The Pew Hispanic Center released its Latino Labor Report 2006 report today that showed the Hispanic unemployment rate at a historic low of 5.2%. Other key aspects from the report:

-- The gap between the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rates for Latinos and non-Latinos was 0.6 %; the smallest since Latino employment data became available in 1973.
-- Wages for Latino workers rose at a faster rate than for other workers between the second quarters of 2005 and 2006.
-- The jobs recovery from the recession in 2001 is nearing completion for Hispanic workers.

Download the Report (PDF)

Hispanics have challenge in marketing to Hispanics

In the "duh" category for today is an AP story on a U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce workshop on Hispanic marketing that outlined the challenges Hispanics are having in marketing to Hispanics.

The article says, "Hispanic-owned businesses are finding that just because they share a language doesn't mean they automatically know how to market effectively to their own. "

Why is this a "duh" issue in my opinion? Because, as I've mentioned numerous times, just being Hispanic is not enough. You still need to know a little something about how to market to Hispanics.

The fact that Hispanic-owned companies are finding this issue as a great challenge should be an eye opener to general market companies who think that they can effectively reach Hispanics by just hiring one or by just translating what they have to Spanish.

Hispanic Advertising Trends Survey Released

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) released a survey on trends and influential factors in U.S. Hispanic advertising over the past decade, as part of its 10th anniversary celebration.

Asking member agency principals about "events affecting their businesses and their projections of future investments by corporate America to reach the approaching $1 trillion in U.S. Hispanic consumer spending," the key insights were:

-- More than 90 percent of respondents indicated that they anticipate corporate ad spending targeting Latinos to increase in 2007 with more than 30 percent predicting budget growth of more than 10 percent.
-- 75.9 percent believe the finance industry will increase spending most significantly over the next five years followed by entertainment (58.6%) and pharmaceuticals(55.2%).
-- 93.5 percent said the 2000 Census data is considered the most significant milestone attributed to the growth of the more than $5 billion US Hispanic advertising industry.
-- More than 80 percent said the greatest challenge facing U.S. Hispanic advertising agencies persuading clients to invest more of their ad dollars in the Hispanic market, despite the overwhelming statistics on the growth of Hispanic purchasing power and population.

Read the whole release on PRNews Wire.

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month

Otherwise known as the 30 days when many companies actually spend money on events, materials and campaigns to show how much they value the Hispanic culture and dollar. Here's a good information site that outlines the significance of the month.

Latino Coalition Heath Care Task Force to Release Strategies for Improving Latino Health

The Latino Coalition Health Care Task Force will unveil its final report "Strategies for Improving Latino Healthcare in America" tomorrow at noon. The report is supposed to include recommendations to improve the overall health and health outcomes among U.S. Latinos, according to a release on U.S. Newswire.

According to the release, The Latino Coalition is an 18-member national Task Force composed of a "diverse bipartisan group of professionals with broad expertise in the area of health care, including small business owners, physicians, nurses, community based organizations, corporate executives, academicians, researchers and other health care industry leaders."

The task force is chaired by Dr. Josh Valdez, Senior Vice President for Health Care Management at Wellpoint, Inc.

It will be interesting to see what, if any, specific recommendations are made in how to effectively communicate the strategies they are releasing to the growing Hispanic population. More specifically, if they address how culture and not just language is a major barrier to communicating health-related issues to Hispanics.

9/11's affects on Hispanics and banks

On the occasion on the 5th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks I would like for each of us to remember the victims of the tragedy and their families. And, also to keep the men and women in uniform who are in harm's way fighting the global war on terrorism all over the world in your thoughts and prayers.

Here is an interesting article from the News Journal (Delaware) about how tighter security and the Patriot Act have affected how companies that market financial services to Hispanics are being affected.

Wanted: Hispanics to eat at Taco Bell

AdAge reports that Taco Bell is struggling to attract Latinos. OK, let's think of the many natural jokes we can think of with their "Head for the Border" tag line and Latinos :-)

According to the article, Latinos have contributed just a half-percent to the company's same-store-sales gain of 7% in 2005, despite making up 20% of Taco Bell's core 18-to-34-year-old target market.

The article discusses whether the issue is the message or the product.

"It's not really Mexican food or food that unacculturated Hispanics know from their home country," Everett Hernandez, senior VP-general manager, diversity for market-research firm Synovate, is quoted as saying in the article.

Having traveled to Mexico, that is absolutely true. Then again, that's like saying Pizza Hut isn't really Italian. Of course, it's not authentic. It's American fast food. Period.

To me it is the product more than the message. Why Taco Bell would wonder why they are not appealing to Hispanics is beyond me. While I'm not Mexican, I can't imagine a Mexican who is craving a burrito having the Taco Bell $0.99 bean burrito top of mind.

Carl Kravetz, chairman-chief strategic officer of Cruz/Kravetz: Ideas, Los Angeles says it best in the article:

"If they want to broaden their Hispanic market ... their issue is authenticity, and they have a lot of years of not being perceived as authentic to break through ... If they say they deliver good Mexican food to [Hispanics] they won't be believed. If they say they have good, filling, cheap American food, they may have a chance."

Taco Bell is making strides to improve its product offering like adding carnitas, according to the article.

However, products alone aren't enough. Culturally, they need to appeal to a wide range of Latinos, not just Mexicans. Meal time is an important issue for Latinos and we tend to seek out a family oriented restaurant. This was supported in a Woelfel Research study released last October. In my Donde Vamos for Dinner posting, I wrote about some of the results of the study. Namely, Latinos view dining out as a family affair in which the menu variety, low prices and a friendly atmosphere for children are top-of-mind when deciding where and what to eat.

Miller boycotted again

In a classic example of "this company just can't win" Miller Brewing Company is now being boycotted by an organization that claims the beer maker supports illegal immigration by giving money to groups that support amnesty, marches, and benefits for illegal aliens.

You'll recall I wrote back in March that Miller was being boycotted by Hispanics in Chicago for the company's contributions to the political campaign of Sen. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), who is behind a bill that calls for strengthening U.S. anti-immigration laws and construction a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to a release sent out by MillerBoycott.com and paid for by Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, more than 100 organizations have joined the boycott of the beer maker and its parent company, SABMiller plc.

In the release, Congressman Steve King's office reports that "13 Americans are being killed by uninsured, drunk driving illegal aliens each day". They then point to the fact that Miller "plans to increase profits by marketing their beer to the Hispanic markets that are growing rapidly due to illegal immigration."

Not sure if they intend to draw a conclusion here that more marketing to Hispanics = more illegal, drunk driving Hispanics killing people on the roads, but if this were the case you could point to any demographic they market to and essentially say the same thing.

I don't mean to sound like I'm defending Miller. I just think if you're going to boycott the company for their alleged support of illegal immigration then that should stand on its own merit. Drawing conclusions that marketing more to the growing Hispanic population means more people getting killed is a bit extreme in my opinion.