U.S. Hispanic Market to grow by 5% in 2012

Despite the economic challenges, the The U.S. Hispanic Advertising Market will grow between 4%-5% in 2012, according to a survey conducted by Portada

The economy is cited as one of the main risks going forward. “As the recession continues, it will force companies to tighten their purse strings and look for efficiencies in targeting the Hispanic marketplace”, says Lateef Sarnor, Industry Practice Head for the Multicultural category at AOL.

Hulu Latino launches

Hulu today announced it has launched Hulu Latino, billed as the "most robust and complete Spanish-language content library available through an online video service in the U.S." per a press release sent to me by Hulu.

As part of the launch, Hulu announced content partnerships with  Azteca America, Butaca, Caracol Televisión, Comarex, Estrella TV, Imagina US, Laguna Productions, Maya Entertainment, RCTV, Todobebé Inc, and Venevision.

Hulu Plus subscribers can find current and classic Spanish-language programming, including the entire current season of primetime TV shows from Univision, Galavision and Telefutura. Users of the free Hulu service now have next-day access to a selection of popular current season programming, including recent episodes of popular favorites like La Fuerza del Destino, Aqui y Ahora, Protagonistas and Noche de Perros. Hulu Plus subscribers will be able to watch all the content available on the free Hulu service through any Hulu Plus enabled device.

Hispanics Are Online, But do Marketers See Them?

eMarketer expects U.S. online advertising spending to reach $31 billion in 2011.  How much of that is spent targeting U.S. Hispanics? Industry figures show it at only $200 million in 2011, a mere 0.65% of the total investment in U.S. online advertising, according to an article in MediaPost's "Engage: Hispanics."

Woefully low, even if you're only targeting Spanish-dominant Hispanics.  This has to change in 2012 as studies continue to show Hispanics prevalence for on-line from both traditional and mobile/tablet platforms.

Playwright objects to Hartford theater's casting of Caucasians in leading role

The Hartford Courant published an article about "The Motherf**ker With The Hat" Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis objecting to Hartford-based TheaterWorks casting Caucasians in the lead roles of the play.

Guirgis, the article states, was most upset that TheaterWorks made no effort to bring in Hispanics for the leading roles of Jackie and Veronica, a dysfunctional and volatile Puerto Rican couple. In addition, he said the casting notice made no reference to the leading characters being Puerto Rican.

TheaterWorks Executive Director Steve Campo conceded the point, saying, "in the future TheaterWorks will certainly seek and take advantage of all available resources to more effectively reach out to Latino theater artists, especially when obviously appropriate roles are available.”

What's also unacceptable, in addition to not making an attempt to cast more credible roles, is the fact TheaterWorks made no apparent effort to market the production to the Hispanic market in the area, which is overwhelmingly Puerto Rican.

Hartford's mayor is Puerto Rican mayor and Caucasians are the minority in the capital city.  In Hartford County, there are 136,783 Hispanics with 95,964 of those (70%) being Puerto Rican, according to the U.S. Census Fact Finder.  In the city, Hispanics comprise nearly 45% of the total population with Puerto Ricans comprising 77% of the Hispanic population.

As my daughter would say this is an "epic fail."