Spanish language TV station/network advertising suggestions

 Since when does it make sense to advertise a TV station to someone driving in their car?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but most drivers can't turn their TV on until they've parked their car, gone into their living room, or turned on their mobile device and long since forgotten about your radio ad or bus billboard.  But every Spanish language TV station does it.  OHH and radio.. I guess those are the only vendors who will work a trade?  Stations need to get a lot more savvy if they want to win the ratings game. 

As a former Spanish broadcaster, now turned Hispanic marketer. I have a few outside the box suggestions for stations to consider: 

• Ever thought of advertising your station/s with direct mail?  There are three reasons why this is the BEST way for a station to gain viewers, but nobody does it. It's just not sexy enough…  But it will work miracles with ratings.
• Also, websites? mobile?  45% of Hispanics have smart phones and over-index with social-media usage. So why aren't Spanish TV stations using it?  Few broadcast managers are online-marketing savvy enough to recognize the huge opportunty online advertising could yield for their stations. 
• Channel position is everything, but few Spanish stations can maintain one channel number across broadcast and multiple cable and satellite providers to advertise with. So they comically plop 4-5 different channel positions on a radio ad.   Look, If I'm not in front of my TV, I cant remember all those different channels, 30 minutes later when I get home.   Believe me, there is a better way...

After all, this isn't their business, so you can't blame sales managers for wanting to trade for radio spots and billboards  (perhaps the most wastefull marketing tactics a station could use.. yet the standard fair for TV staitons.) And It's hard to justify a full-time marketing employee. 

So hire us to do it for you. It starts with a phone call to Hispanidad.  I'll be happy to share with you those three reasons for direct mail when you do.

The Soccer Bridge Between US Hispanic Consumers and Businesses

Disneyworld:  Vacation spent standing in line. All spring, I was dreading having to spend my summer vacation staring at someone’s back for 30 minutes at a time. But I had forgotten about the timing of my trip and the fact that Disneyworld is also a pretty international scene. One week prior to the World Cup, soccer jerseys were everywhere.  I did find myself staring at people’s backs, but with famous soccer player names, and numbers. It gave me the perfect subject to open conversation and pass the time.

A Reminder About The 2010 Census:

The first of the 2010 Census numbers have been released with the U.S. population count totaling 308,745,538 people. The new official population represents an increase of 9.7 percent over 2000. In the next several months, more detail will trickle out, and much of the growth will be attributed to the growing Hispanic and illegal immigrant populations. No doubt, there will be politicians who take advantage of the news to mislead and misrepresent how immigrants affect the nation’s economy. So, it seems like a good time to issue a reminder of the overwhelmingly positive contributions immigrants in the U.S. are responsible for. Below are a few facts and figures from the American Immigration Council to keep in mind while you digest the census figures over the coming weeks and months.  Enjoy:

Reyes Eve Sale! Open ’til Midnight!

There are many benefits to being a Hispanic kid growing up in the United States: agua de horchata, pan dulce, big families, your own secret language the other kids don’t speak, etc.

But none perhaps is greater than your own, unique and special celebration at the end of the holiday season.

Hispanic TV buying secrets: REVEALED.

Buying Hispanic TV used to be pretty straightforward. Plan your dates, decide spot or network, check out the ratings performance on the best novela, call the Univision rep, play a little hardball, maybe set up some strict delivery guarantee and…voila!  Buyers researched stations and networks, understood the content being advertised and the media strategy, and adapted the media to the advertiser in perfect marketing harmony.

We’ve noticed that ideal scenario has since departed. There are now

Top Four Reasons Advertisers Mistakenly Overlook Hispanics

Four common misconceptions about Hispanic marketing in Denver keep most of Colorado’s advertisers from targeting Hispanics.  Denver’s top multicultural advertising agency, Hispanidad, offers some answers.

What's with Colorado's Hispanic market?

Never thought of Colorado as a top 10 market?

Think again. Colorado ranks as the eighth largest Hispanic-populated state in the country. The Denver market’s Hispanic buying power is the 12th largest in the nation, with nearly $16 billion per year, overpowering Albuquerque, Fresno/Visalia and even El Paso, Texas, according to Synovate.com.

It’s no wonder the biggest Hispanic media brands look at the Mile High City and recognize a huge opportunity. ESPN Deportes Radio and Lieberman Broadcasting’s Estrella TV are the latest to take action in one of the United States’ most established Hispanic mercados. Both have installed Denver affiliates within the past year.

However, population and buying power can be deceiving, and it’s no secret among Denver’s experienced Hispanic media outlets, that “You can’t judge a Hispanic market by its cover.”

Spanish in the US: So Many Dialects, So Few Right Answers.

 Should I say:  "torta," or "pastel?"  "jitomate" or "tomate,"  "alberca" o "piscina", "camioneta," "pikup" or "troka?" As Gershwin said in his 1937 musical hit "lets call the whole thing off," right?

Poor US Hispanic market copywriters, producers, translators, and news media. These questions are indeed their daily struggle, trying to find the right word without offending anyone or falling victim to language criticism.  I know, I know, most professionals will preach that the vocabulary you use depends on who your audience is...  But take it from a guy whose been involved in all of the above disciplines for  well over a decade...  It doesn't really matter. You're going to be wrong, no matter what.

Democrats: Don't think you've got the Latino vote wrapped up yet.

The Pew Hispanic center just published a report about Latinos and the 2010 elections. There's a big surprise in it.  The report, like we are used to, finds that the majority of registered Latino voters tend to vote Democrat. However, It also finds that for this particular upcoming election, Republican voters are far more inclined to show up to the polls that Democratic voters. 44% of Republican Latino voters say they have given "a lot of thought" to this years election, versus only 28% of Democrat Latinos. This could be alarming news for democratic candidates in states like Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, and Nevada where, the 2008 presidential election was decided by the Latino vote and  turnout was at an all-time high.

So what is my suggestion for Democratic candidates?  No doubt, its....

Reach Three Imperative Audiences in the Prepaid Market

Great article below from Heinrich Marketing on reaching key consumer segments in the Pre-Paid banking card market. Hispanic being one of them. Univision, the brand icon in the US Hispanic market, has released their own version and is distributing the card through Money Gram.  If Univision makes this kind of effort, totally outside of their expertise of Spanish TV programming  and ad sales, well, it's because there is huge opportunity with their audience that has yet to be fully tapped. However. Hispanidad has been on top of these opportunities for years and helped several major banking brands market to the underbanked Hispanic consumer base.   Want to make this happen for your brand?  We'd love to help. See the article below.