Before I retired I was on the National Hispanic Corporate Council Board of Directors. I was a keynote speaker at a national convention. My subject was” how business was missing the mark by not recognizing the power of the Hispanic consumer and how to find and capitalize on that opportunity”. My company had over 50% share of the Hispanic market in the 3 key markets where we operated: Miami, New York City, and Chicago.
How did we do that? We advertised on the Spanish- speaking TV stations for years before our competition. We became experts on the buying habits of that consumer base. I learned many things and I believe most still apply today.
First and foremost, there is no “Hispanic or Latino” market. Cubans do not relate to Mexicans and Mexicans do not relate to Puerto Ricans . Language is all they have in common. So, our three markets were very different. Chicago was mostly Mexican Latinos, NYC, Puerto Rican, and Miami Cuban. Each required a different approach.
Communications needed to be in Spanish and in all cases be family oriented. Our normal advertising messages did not always appeal to this segment. In some cases it was offensive. We used a Latino advertising agency not our normal agency to sort all this out.
What’s my point? I don’t believe the brain dead media in this country have a clue as to how this group will vote in November. Nor do I believe they will vote as a block like the media is telling us.
Like most political knowledge, the media gets it wrong. They are sure the Trump message on immigration will offend this group and Hillary will get all the votes.
I’m not so sure. Stay tuned.
