Today’s the Day – Spice up Your Bottom Line

By the Gonzales Group

RISMEDIA, June 5, 2008-Everyone: Investors, marketers, academics, government and elected officials and corporate executives have a stake in understanding the broad evolution currently under way.

As the Hispanic population grows and matures, its structure is changing in almost every way, from educational levels and labor force composition to household characteristics and accumulation of wealth.

It is these evolving factors that drive the increasing influence of Hispanics in the U.S. consumer markets. Consumer-buying power in this segment will quadruple what it was in 1990, indicating major economic strides among Hispanics, according to a study from the University of Georgia Selig Center.

Hispanic buying power went from $223 billion in 1990 to $686 billion in 2004, and will climb to $992 billion in 2009. That’s a 347% increase over 19 years compared to a 140% growth among White non-Hispanics over this same time period.

In the past, the process for reaching Hispanic markets was often limited to one dimensional effort such as the literal translations of general market campaigns.

Today organizations are developing new products designed specifically to meet the needs of this new America.

Companies are creating separate multicultural departments, allocating marketing budget by segment, and most importantly, setting measurable goals for each segment.

The success of any Hispanic initiatives is ultimately determined by:

- Your effectiveness in developing and being able to offer culturally relevant products and services.
- Your ability to brand products and implement culturally relevant marketing strategies.
- Your skill in providing a high level of customer service in Spanish.
- Your aggressiveness in positioning and pricing quality products.

If you do undertake any type of multicultural initiative be it Hispanic or Asian, partner with the experts.

Don’t try and go it alone. When planning a Hispanic campaign, identify the appropriate resources and consider hiring an agency.

You’re dealing with a “High Context” culture that places a lot of emphasis on being in a relationship rather than being a part of it.

And remember that at the end of the day it’s about……..building your economic as well as your social equity.

For more information, visit www.thegonzalesgroup.com.