Nielsen Company's Releases Guide to the Super Bowl

Nielsen put out a press release today on consumer and media information related to the Super Bowl in all areas of media and marketing in the U.S.

It further outlines the growing number of Hispanics who are watching "football" versus just "futbol."

-- An average of15.7% of Hispanics, or approximately 6.1 million viewers, watched the 2006Super Bowl.
-- About 19.1% of Hispanics over age 55 watched the game, the highest rating for any age category of Hispanic viewers.

Comparatively, according to the release:

-- 34.7 million women over the age of 18 watched the 2006 Super Bowl for a 31.0% average rating.
-- Among women viewers, those in the25-54 age group had the highest interest, with a 33% average household rating.
-- An average of 27.2% of African Americans, or approximately 9.7 million viewers, tuned in to Super Bowl XL.
-- The highest watching African American age category was 25-54 years olds, with a rating of 33.4%.

In case you haven't yet heard, the average :30 spot will cost about $2.5 million.

Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations Book Recognized

Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations' book entitled The Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations Understanding and Targeting America’s Largest Minority was selected as a 2006 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice magazine.

Choice Magazine -- a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association -- reviews about 7,000 titles a year and selects the best titles for a once a year list of outstanding works.

The Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations book was one of more than 25,000 titles considered for selection by Choice in 2006. Outstanding Academic Titles are the "best of the best."

Los felicito ...

No "thank you" ... but at least they listened

I e-mailed a contact I know at the Hospital of Saint Rafael a few weeks ago regarding this ad that I noticed they were running in a Spanish newspaper in Connecticut. The ad has to do with their replacement surgery and it shows a happy older couple and the headline reads "No deje pasar esto," which reads "Don't let this happen (to you)."

I thought it a little odd, especially since the couple looks so happy. I thought, "geez, I hope this DOES happen to me when I get older."

The intent, I suspect, was to say the equivalent of something like "Don't let this pass you by" since the copy has to do with their services that supposedly would return you to a life where you could happily dip your wife.

While I never heard anything back, I did notice this past week the same ad with a new headline in a different Spanish newspaper.

This time, the headline reads, "No te sientes mientras otros bailan," which means, "Don't sit while others dance."

Much better.

Hispanic PR Wire and PRSA to present 15-city 'Hispanic PR & Marketing Strategies Tour’

Hispanic PR Wire and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) today announced that they will present a 15-city professional development breakfasts program called the “2007 Hispanic Public Relations and Marketing Strategies Tour.”

According to the release, the tour begins January 25 in Miami with the PRSA Miami Chapter and is expected to visit cities like Atlanta, Washington, DC, New York, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and others.

The content will vary by city, and will include, "Hispanic media relations and public relations measurement presentations or media panels with top notch Hispanic and/or multicultural media outlets. Multicultural public relations case studies, media contact sheets and other information will be distributed to attendees at each of the events."

Not many additional details are listed in the release.

I am actually heading to PRSA headquarters this Friday evening. As president of the Southern Connecticut Chapter of PRSA, I was invited to a cocktail reception welcoming William M. Murray, the new PRSA President and COO. I'll let you all know if I find out anything else.

Cool ... but can I pay in pesos?

Pizza Hut today sent out a release on Hispanic PR Wire announcing that they are now accepting on-line orders in Spanish through its Spanish language website or its regular website PizzaHut.com.

My "peso" mention is in reference to the backlash Pizza Patron experience after announcing they were accepting Mexican pesos as a form of payment.

While the Spanish language website leaves a little to be desired in terms of overall content compared to their English site (basically serves only as an on-line ordering portal with menu and nutritional info), it is a great step toward capturing the on-line Hispanic market. I would be interested to know where and how they promote this website. If you see it somewhere, please let me know.

Hope it's not a "flash in the night" effort

The American Red Cross is making some efforts in certain parts of the United States to generate awareness among Hispanics of the importance of donating blood. I recently read an AP article in the Hartford Courant that pointed out that 56.5 percent of Hispanics have type O blood, the "universal" blood type that can be used by people with other blood types if needed. However, only 3 percent of the state's donors are Hispanic.

The article stunningly leaves out a critical piece of information: why? While legislators should be commended for bringing light to this issue, "light" is not enough. After all, Hispanics who hear the message that it's important to donate will almost universally agree, don't you think? However, how do you get them to take the next step (i.e. act upon a message) and actually donate? I enter that a press conference and the short-term media coverage that it generated is not enough.

In the general market, the Red Cross has learned through much research and trial and tribulation that most people don't donate blood because they've never been asked. So, you might have heard the advertising spots "consider yourself asked," which is a good message, obviously, given the main reason people don't donate.

However, is "not being asked" the same reason Hispanics don't donate? The Morning News (Northwest Arkansas) has an article that is similar to the one in the Hartford Courant, but does get to some of the reasons the Hispanics interviewed in the article claim are why they don't donate. Most are just based in ignorance:

-- They think they are going to gain weight
-- They think the needle is very painful
-- Hispanic students fear becoming infected with AIDS
-- They will donate for friends and relatives, but not for general use.

While I admit I don't know exactly everything that the Red Cross is doing to deal with the issue of Hispanics not donating, it seems from the news coverage that they are focused on getting Spanish-speaking people to conduct blood drives in predominantly Hispanic areas (probably using translated materials).

This is a good step, but the Red Cross needs to also understand that it's not solely about the language barrier. Cultural reasons are also likely at the root of the issue. However, to truly get to the root cause, they need to take the same approach to understanding the challenges and developing messages for the Hispanic market as they have done for the general market. Until they do, I suspect the current efforts won't yield long-term results.

"Mi Espacio" doesn't have the same ring to it

The race is on for the Hispanic MySpace , according to an article in Adweek.

The article mentions sites like as LatinosConnected who are vying to attract Hispanics by offering them a "more familiar experience." The site's founder, Veronica Alvarez, says, "MySpace is a great community…but it doesn't have the look and elements that make it feel like a Latino brand. I'm trying to send the message that (LatinosConnected) is a community for Latinos by Latinos." Launched in December, they have already signed up Verizon and the U.S. Army as advertisers.


The article also states that one in four teens in the U.S. is of Hispanic descent - and it's expected to grow 62 percent by 2020. That compares to a 10 percent growth in the number of teens overall - according to the University of Georgia Selig Center for Economic Growth.

Ok, death might be a little harsh

Some of you might have heard that pizza chain, Pizza Patron, recently announced they were accepting Mexican pesos at their locations. The back lash has begun and now BusinessWeek is reporting the chain is now getting death threats.

It's interesting in that Pizza Patron's sales have been increasing through the years and they chain has also expanded, with the growth in large part due to the fact they are effectively targeting the Hispanic population. Now that effort is what is being criticized.

What BusinessWeek points out, to their credit, is that accepting foreign currency isn't anything new. Their article discusses how many businesses up north accept Canadian dollars (I remember this when I was at Niagara last year. Not to mention when I went to Toronto and border towns in Mexico I could also pay with dollars).

Keeping in mind that my blog is about marketing issues and not political ones, when I wrote about the May 1 boycott, I pointed out that the biggest mistake with that boycott event is that it was perceived as an Americans against Mexicans issue. This current issue with Pizza Patron is an extension of the backlash that type of event created in the general American public.

From a marketing perspective, catering to your customer only makes good business sense (as I pointed out, just as it does for the guy accepting Canadian dollars in the northern tier). So, for people to complain about Pizza Patron, not to mention making death threats, is ridiculous unless they are also ready to do the same for the businesses accepting Canadian dollars. From a public relations perspective, I can only hope the chain anticipated the backlash this would create and that they are responding properly from a crisis communication perspective.

FSU offers Hispanic Marketing Communication course online

Florida State University will begin a new online Hispanic Marketing Course beginning on Monday, according to a release they sent on Hispanic PR Wire. The 15-week course is "available to anyone interested and is particularly recommended for professionals currently addressing the Hispanic market, or those who would like to start a Hispanic marketing initiative," the release states.

I called the contact on the release (Ashley) to both inquire as to why the university sends out a release on Jan. 3 for a course that begins on Jan. 8 and also about costs.

She e-mailed me the particulars:

The course is called ADV 3410 - Hispanic Marketing Communication and costs $450.93 for in-state students and $1576.50 for out-of-state students, which includes an $180 fee auxiliary that covers the added expenses of online learning. The semester ends April 28.

I went to the course description and the course does sound interesting, though based on many of the stated objectives it seems as if a lot of the course is dedicated to the basics. However, more knowledge about Hispanic marketing and a refresher on things you might already know can only enhance your expertise, so it's something I will consider taking ... but for the next session. Ashley was non-committal as to whether there would be another session but she was optimistic based on the interest the course is receiving.

NY #1 morning show loses host

New York Daily News is reporting that Luis Jimenez, from La Mega (WSKQ 97.9 FM) and host of the market's #1 morning radio show "El Vacilón de la Mañana" left and has signed with Univision.

The move opens new markets for Jimenez around the country. Daily News reports that he will begin in markets like Dallas and Los Angeles as he can't work in the New York DMA until next year because of a clause in his contract. At that time, he would be on La Kalle WCAA (105.9 FM) which plays mainly reggaeton music.

This is important to note because though it's in Spanish, "El Vacilón de la Mañana" is the #1 morning radio show in the New York DMA regardless of language. It's interesting to see if it stays that way and how La Kalle will rank beginning next year.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and my best to each of you in 2007 for success, prosperity and health. 2006 was an interesting ride. We've saw some great, some good and some terrible examples of the right and wrong ways to reach Hispanic consumers over the past year. In 2007, I don't expect any let up of smart companies seeking to tap into the Hispanic market. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and insights with you. Thanks for reading Latino Lingo!

WC