The Online Hispanic News

Although corporate spending on Hispanic advertising has nearly doubled between 1998 and 2003, Hispanics still represent untapped potential for the radio advertising market, according to a new study by Arbitron.

The report, titled Power of Hispanic Consumers, Hispanics are heavier users of radio than newspapers or TV, spending half their radio time listening to Spanish-language formats. They also listen to radio longer than their non-Hispanic counterparts, averaging 22 hours and 30 minutes per week, versus 19 hours per week for Anglos. Read more

The announcement last week that The Home Depot has begun actively recruiting bilingual Hispanics puts it on a growing list of retailers looking for ways to tap into the buying power of the country's growing Latino population.

Others include Wal-Mart and Federated Department Stores.

Retailers say Hispanics will have one (t) trillion dollars in annual purchasing power in the United States by 2008. And by 2050 Hispanics will make up 25 percent of the national work force.

At the end of 2004, Wal-Mart had 128-thousand Hispanic workers in the United States, or roughly 10 percent of its employees.

And Home Depot is looking to add qualified Hispanic employees to its work force of 325-thousand, though it hasn't said how many.

Hispanic advocacy groups and economists say the efforts not only make retailers more diverse, but also can help boost sales by appealing to Hispanic customers.

Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids, extends its commitment to diversity with the traveling exhibit “La Casa de Dora,” a 10-city mall tour allowing kids to experience first-hand the interactive, bilingual home of Dora the Explorer, the number-one preschool show on commercial television. “La Casa de Dora” kicks off Saturday, Feb. 19 in Denver and will travel to 10 markets around the country, including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Albuquerque and San Francisco. “La Casa de Dora,” a free, interactive exhibit, will stop at a mall in each city on the weekends from February to May. Read more

General Motors Corp. announced the launch of "Sólo GM" a new corporate advertising campaign targeted to the U.S. Hispanic market. "Sólo GM" highlights the company's leadership in areas including safety and security, innovation, quality and customer satisfaction. Read more

In 2005, Hispanic media is forecast to match last year's 11% growth rate, reaching $3.5 billion and far outpacing mainstream media's projected 4% revenue increase. Radio and print are growing at 11% and 12%, respectively, with TV up 9% and the online medium up an incredible 50%.

In TV, which accounts for about two-thirds of the U.S. Latin media market, new advertisers, new viewers and new programming options are all contributing to the strong growth.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has identifed some target demographic groups that will be getting more promotional attention with messages about eating beef. Two of them include Baby Boomers, and Hispanics. At a meeting at the National Cattle Convention, NCBA experts gave background reports on those groups. Read more

Telemundo and Rumbo newspapers have entered into an exclusive content sharing and cross-promotional partnership in San Antonio, Texas. The new alliance will provide Hispanics in the San Antonio community with access to news stories developed from the combined resources of Telemundo’s broadcast coverage with Rumbo’s print reporting. Read more

Marketing guru Fernando Espuelas, who Time magazine called one of the "Leaders of the Millennium," is targeting another linguistic market often overlooked: U.S. Hispanics comfortable in English.

Espuelas is launching Voy, a New York-based company developing a brand of Hispanic-relevant books, TV, music and movies in English, the language of millions of Latinos raised in the United States and tens of millions more Americans who enjoy Latin culture. Read more

The Marisol Luna doll created by the American Girl company has provoked outrage among Mexican Americans and politicians who claim the doll perpetuates stereotypes about Hispanic neighborhoods. Read more

Nielsen Media Research will launch a branding ad campaign this month designed to "heighten awareness about who Nielsen is and how its TV reports accurately reflect the viewing habits of all different kinds of people."

The campaign, via Burrell Communications, Chicago, will focus on Asian, African-American, Arabic, and Hispanic consumers in key media markets nationwide. The effort will include print, radio, Internet and in-cinema ads. Spend was not given. Read more

Pilar Montenegro and Obie Bermudez teamed up to launch a month-long BURGER KING(R) consumer promotion, A Day Your Way”(Un Día A TU MANERA(SM)). The promotion includes a consumer sweepstakes with prizes of up to $10,000 in the form of a FNBO gift card. As part of the promotion, Pilar and Obie will make special appearances at select BURGER KING(R) restaurants in major markets during the month of February.

Pilar Montenegro and Obie Bermudez are the first Hispanic celebrity spokespersons to endorse a consumer marketing campaign for Burger King Corporation. Read more

AIM Tell-A-Vision, the multi-award winning production and syndication company, announces that effective February, American Latino TV and LatiNation viewers will savor weekly segments sponsored by McDonald’s(R) devoted entirely to Latin entertainment, cinema, film festivals and DVDs. Read more