latino lingo

All things related to effective Hispanic marketing, Hispanic advertising and Hispanic public relations.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Rumor confirmed

Batanga's acquisition was confirmed in a Hispanic PR Wire release today.

According to the release, HispanoClick will reside under the Batanga, Inc. umbrella. Marc Duquette will continue to serve as General Manager of HispanoClick and Ana Maria De La Cruz, co-founder of HispanoClick, will continue as Vice President of Business Development based out of Batanga’s headquarters in Miami, Florida.

Here are the relevant quotes from the release:

“At Batanga, we continuously strive to provide a complete solution to our advertisers’ Hispanic online needs. We will continue to actively scan the market for opportunities to build upon our online marketing platform as part of our overarching goal to deliver outstanding value to advertisers seeking to reach Hispanics online. Performance-based advertising is an increasingly big part of the equation, and with an additional 5.6 million US unique visitors per month, we can now extend reach and improve performance,” said Rafael Urbina, Chairman and CEO of Batanga.

"Joining the Batanga family is a very exciting opportunity for HispanoClick, our publishers and advertisers. Batanga’s dedication to innovative advertising solutions is in line with what HispanoClick has always set out to provide its advertisers,” states Marc Duquette, founder of HispanoClick.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Batanga Buying HispanoClick?

Portada Magazine is reporting that Batanga maybe close to acquiring HispanoClick.

This is significant in that Batanga would be able to take on Univision.com in the area of online advertising. Batanga is already surpassing Univision.com in terms of visitors and has grown to be the online powerhouse in its category.

The interesting aspect, as Portada Magazine rightly points out, is that the trend of online media companies buying online advertising networks is no longer a general market trend.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

VivaReal tapping into Hispanic housing market in culturally-relevant manner

VivaReal.us recently launched its updated site that serves as a great resource for Spanish-speaking home buyers.

Why great? For starters, it's pretty comprehensive in the information it offers. Areas like financing, buying a home, selling a home as well as real estate resources are covered.

Where it differs from other sites is it's use of social media tools to teach Latinos about the home-buying process and connect them with practitioners and experts. Specifically, the site has information available in audio and video formats in addition to text.
"VivaReal is an online community that enables consumers proactively looking for real estate to connect with professionals that can effectively assist them with all their real estate needs in their own language," is how Fabio Rodriguez of
Bilingual Marketing Group described it to me in an e-mail.

Mr. Rodriguez went on to tell me that they built the site from the ground up rather than trying to recreate the wheel.
"It would have been much easier to translate all the "how to information" about real estate to Spanish, but this would have missed the mark. In our approach we wrote everything directly in Spanish instead of translating content. We did this with the Latino consumer in mind. Despite the volume of activity and widespread availability of educational materials, there is a shortage of information in Spanish, and the available info in Spanish is not clear enough since in most cases it is just a mere translation from texts originally written in English."

Ensuring Latinos had a reliable and trusted source for housing marketing information was also a motivator for the site. He added:

"From our personal experience working with Latinos, questions remain as to which financial education sources are effective and what type of financial information is especially pertinent to the real estate market. Additionally, information continues to emerge about the growing number of Latinos who have become victims of predatory and unscrupulous financial operators resulting in disproportionately harmed Latinos. Our core goal to empower consumers to make informed decisions (we are not a real estate company so we are unbiased)."

Mr. Rodriguez also mentioned the project is endorsed by Tim Sandos,President and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).

“VivaReal.us takes consumer education to the next level by making the information widely available to home buyers in audio and video formats,” said Mr Sandos. “Tools like this will help take the fear factor out of the process and foster a real understanding of home-buying for Spanish speaking consumers.”

¡Buena Suerte!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

The dead horse that won't die

In the latest example of "when will they get it" is an AP article about the supposed hypocrisy of Republican candidates to advertise in Spanish while talking about how everyone needs to learn English.


On the face, perhaps I could see how one might think this true. But, if you're that "one," then you don't know much about language patterns and immigration. Here's a brief lesson (again).


First, it's important to understand the importance between assimilation and acculturation. I've written about this numerous times, but basically Hispanics are acculturating in the the U.S. society simply because we can. I've outlined these reasons such as the fact our major migration is much more recent, we come from geographically closer locations and technology allows us to stay in tune with our patrias. Very different from the European migration.


For newer arrivals and older Latinos that have been here for some time, the primary language or preference language is Spanish. That doesn't mean we aren't learning English. In fact, by the second and third generation, we become more bi-lingual and ultimately English dominant. Why is this important? Because the biggest growth both in population and purchasing power is in the second and third generation Latinos.


So, we are learning English. But, guess what? Like our European immigrant counterparts, it does take us a little time to learn it.


It certainly makes sense to communicate to those of us that prefer Spanish in that language. That doesn't mean we shouldn't learn English. Making that conclusion is sophomoric. As is an article solely focusing on Republican "hypocrisy" when Democrats are also advertising in Spanish.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Moonshadow is back on Mega's hit morning show in NYC

Moonshadow, who along with Luis Jimenez grew La Mega's morning show "El Vacilón De La Mañana" into a ratings powerhouse, is back on the popular show. (#1 in the NYC DMA, regardless of language)

I wrote last year how Luis Jimenez had left the show on WSKQ for Univision radio and more riches. He is still doing his thing and being extremely successful at it with other jocks like Speedy, who was on WKTU for some time.

This is an important development as it could mean a stronger head-to-head in the market for the morning show, and more opportunities for advertisers. If you're not aware of the power and influence of Spanish radio DJs like them or Piolín, you're missing the boat. Many advertisiers use them as spokespersons or for product mentions in addition to advertising during the time slots.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Keepin' it real garners recognition

LicenZing LLC, focused on lifestyle brand building through PR, marketing and licensing, was recognized as an outstanding Northern California Hispanic business by the area's Telemundo affiliate.

The award is specifically for "business acumen, success and community involvement making them a leader in their field and highly recognized in the community."

Though, one look at their approach and appeal shows that their success can be attributed in part to effectively reaching their target audiences.

What LicenZing does is work with a select range of clients in areas such as fashion, fitness, yoga, innovative design and technology to provide brand building services from strategic planning, creative, media, merchandising and licensing.

I've had some e-mail dialogue with the company's founder, Molly Robbins, who has launched the apparel lines Palomita and Chucho into the market. She came up with the tag line: “Esta marca es para ti” (This brand is for you).

She tells me:

"Through research and my daily involvement in the apparel world, I saw the obvious need for a 'real' Latino focused brand. I wanted to develop something that SCREAMED I am Latino from the shelf. The whole vintage/retro things is trending so that is why I pursued getting exclusive licenses from Hispanic companies. The initial properties I have obtained have been the most recognizable i.e. Topo Gigio, Bimbo, Pascual Boing, etc. As we establish ourselves as a true and original Latino brand I believe we can ad in “less obvious” properties, but they will still resonate with our consumers because the designs are fresh, fun and cool."
When I asked her about the tagline, she added:

The Tag line “porfin una marca para ti” says it all. We are not about being say like a Daisy Fuentes and having someone make apparel that is fashionable and simply sewing in a neck label that says Daisy Fuentes. Why is this Latino? The apparel items are the same as any other brands, yet what makes them Latino is the fact that her name is on them???
In addition to making me laugh (or lol for you "cool" types) she is also correct. It is about being real. It's also not about being cliche or stereotypical. Her use of recognizable icons like Topo Gigio isn't done in an over the top manner. She's also touching on an important facet (perhaps the hottest and fastest growing) of the Hispanic market: Latino youth that are bi-lingual to English dominant and perhaps experiencing retro-acculturation.

¡Buena suerte!

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Speak to the heart as well as the intellect

It's a statement that I discuss at presentations and certainly new business opportunities. This notion was certainly well rationalized and explained through the AHAA Latino Cultural Identity Project, released in late 2006.

The reason I bring it up is because AdAge has a good article on an auto industry consultant advising auto makers to "get emotional" in their appeal to Hispanic car buyers.

While the article has a largely multi-cultural focus, it addresses this critical aspect in Hispanic marketing. And, is yet another reason why simply translating general market messages in Spanish is not the same as marketing to Hispanics.

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Friday, January 04, 2008

The taps are opened ...

Anheuser-Busch plans an overall 25 percent Hispanic market spending increase this year, and other brewers are also stepping up its efforts to sell more cerveza to Hispanics. An article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch outlines some of the efforts A-B is making and has been making.

Among them was the roll out of Chelada aimed at Mexicans. The drink combines a tomato cocktail with Budweiser or Bud Light, and was in response to the already popular drink of mixing beer with clamato, which is extending beyond Hispanics.

Of particular note is the research that A-B did, and the subcategories of beer drinkers they determined such as loyalists, trendsetters and sippers. A-B is going beyond general horizontal marketing outreach to a more vertical appeal to subgroups. This is important as trends do change and Hispanic beer trendsetters are important to influence, as they are in any market.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

USA Today on Three Kings Day

I've previously written about Three Kings Day and the opportunity that many retailers are missing. USA Today has an article today about how retailers are getting smarter on the holiday as a way to extend the Christmas (or, if you're PC-minded "Holiday") season.

Happy New Year!

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