Hispanic-specific marketing found lacking

The Hispanic agency surveyed 9,300 senior marketers at Fortune 1000 companies via email to discover how much of their marketing, if any, was focused on the growing U.S. Latino population, estimated to exceed 50 million this year.

The results reflect a "head in the sand" approach by many marketers because, despite an acknowledgement of future culture shifts, only half specifically target the Hispanic demographic.

Even though significant numbers of marketers believe that Americans' taste in food (89%), fashion and beauty (87%), entertainment (82%) and even technology and communications (78%) will be impacted by the growing Hispanic population, over 80% of marketers have no plans to begin or increase efforts in this arena in the coming year.

"For the last 30 years a minority of companies that have been smart enough to take advantage of engaging Hispanic consumers have seen their efforts make a difference to their bottom-line. Now more than ever, businesses need to think about how to tap into the opportunity the Hispanic market presents," said Hector Orcí, co-founder and chairman of the agency.

Orci's survey also revealed that marketers could do more to engage Hispanics via social media. While 20% do have an Hispanic-specific social media strategy in place, 80% of the Hispanic population are using social media so there's huge scope for opportunity.

"Hispanics are tech savvy, young trend setters with incredible spending power," Orcí said. "Companies that recognize the potential of the market by effectively engaging them will see a return on their investment."

Ocri's "2010 Hispanic Marketing Trends Survey" can be found, free to view, online (.pdf).

Tags: Hispanic, Hispanic marketing, Latino, marketing strategy, social media