Keeping up with the Rodriguez's

Smith remains the most popular surname in the U.S., but Hispanic surnames in the top 25 doubled to six, according to a Census Bureau report and an article in DiversityInc.

Notably, Garcia and Rodriguez are now in the top 10. Garcia jumped from No. 18 in 2000 and Rodriguez moved up from No. 22 in 2000, according to the article that also reports that Martinez nearly ousted Wilson for 10th place.

Hispanics buying most gift cards

Article in BrandWeek reports that Hispanics spend more on gift cards than any other ethnic group. According to Comdata-Stored Value Solutions, Hispanics purchase an average value of $71, African-Americans spend $60 and Caucasians spend $41 on the average gift card purchase. The amount spent by Hispanics soared 87% compared to last year, per CSVS which polled 800 consumers online between Sept. 12-18.

The main reasons cited are that Retailers are actively marketing to this segment in a culturally-relevant manner, and the fact Hispanics are "underbanked" leads 26% of Hispanics to buy cards to their children in rather than an allowance or as a budgeting tool.

Other findings"
-- Hispanics are more likely to buy gift cards for themselves (40%) vs. Caucasians (30%) and African-Americans (24%);
-- Hispanics, always or often, spend more than the value of the card (69%) compared to Caucasians (52%) and African-Americans (44%).
-- Hispanics buy cards with higher initial values and are most likely to reload the cards.

Spanish-language media spending up

MediaWeek reports that ad spending in Spanish-language media was up 2.3 percent during the first six months of 2007, reaching $2.87 billion, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus data.

“The past couple of years have seen increased growth in ad spend for Spanish-language media, with automotive ranking as the top product category,” Brian Lane, senior vp, client strategy & product management for Nielsen Monitor Plus is quoted as saying in the article.

AHAA Conference Highlights

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies conference -- titled, "Is Hispanic Advertising Dead?" -- is wrapping up today New York. AHAA put out a press release from today. Specifically, talking about the misperceptions that, "Hispanic advertising and marketing is old-school and lagging behind its general market" ... when "in fact it is the only segment of the industry that is growing year after year."

Highlights from Jackie Bird, chairwoman of AHAA, include:

-- "It's an absolute misperception really that corporate marketers, and some in the advertising industry, would even consider Hispanic advertising dead. Corporate advertisers are being misled. Hispanic agencies and the marketing campaigns we deliver are more alive than ever before. Our strategies for reaching this evolving market segment must be as dynamic as the consumers with whom we are trying to connect,"

-- "Reaching and influencing the diverse population of Latinos in the U.S. today ... requires deep cultural and Latino consumer understanding as well as creative, strategic, savvy marketing that speaks the consumers' language -- linguistic and beyond -- and builds trusted relationships between brands and consumers that transcend Spanish or English."

Can I get an "Amen" please?