Ad Age's 2009 "Bright Spots" includes Hispanic market

Ad Age published an article on where the opportunities for growth are in 2009.

Among the areas is the Hispanic market, writing:

"Hispanics account for about 50% of the population growth in the U.S., and the Pew Research Center forecasts that Hispanics will make up 29% of the U.S. population in 2050, up from 14% in 2005. For many marketers, Hispanics are their growth segment. That's why Walmart, a major marketer to Latinos, is pressuring its suppliers, such as GE, to develop their own Hispanic-marketing strategies. Johnson & Johnson says it will spend more on Hispanic marketing in 2009, adding brands that have never advertised to that segment before. And whole categories, such as pharmaceutical, are assigning brands to Hispanic agencies for the first time. Even hard-hit sectors such as magazines can succeed in a tough economy if they target the fastest-growing Hispanic segments. Meredith's Spanish-language magazine for new parents, Ser Padres, enjoyed meteoric growth in 2008, with ad dollars up 122.6% through September 2008, according to Publishers Information Bureau figures."

The other growth areas included:

DIGITAL OUT OF HOME-- Digital out of home is entering 2009 already in a position of growth, finishing 2008 with $2.43 billion in ad dollars, an 11% increase from 2007.

MOBILE -- Mobile will continue to be a growth area, and vendors remain bullish. More advertisers are expected to dip their toes this year, while others will plow ahead in their experimentation.

ONLINE VIDEO -- In the U.S., online video will continue to rise dramatically relative to other online advertising channels in the next few years, dwarfing growth in search, display ads and rich media.

PUBLIC RELATIONS -- U.S. PR-agency employment in June 2008 reached its highest point (52,300 jobs) since the 2001 recession.

MARKETING ANALYTICS -- The marketing industry's growing love affair with data and analytics is as passionate as ever, and the recession will doubtless drive more brand managers into the arms of the data wonks.

ONLINE COUPONS -- According to ComScore, coupon sites were the fastest-growing online category in November by traffic, up 32% from October to 35.6 million.