An Ode To U.S. Hispanic Market Fragmentation

By David Chitel (CEO & Founder, NGL Media / Chairman, NGLC)

The U.S. Hispanic market has come a long way since its early beginnings as a media audience that was solely defined by language and targeted by traditional means.  In the decades that have passed, there has been a seismic shift, not only in the size of our market, but also in its composition which is now heavily driven by U.S.-born New Generation Latinos, or NGLs.  As was recently pointed out in a HispanicAd post, the Spanish-language TV market is alive and well with 5 network affiliates, 31 mostly Spanish Cable channels, tons of local independents (3 in LA alone) and new networks on the way.  There is no shortage of content for U.S. Hispanics seeking traditional Spanish-language media with spending against this sector totaling $6B at last measure.  That’s approximately 5% of all ad expenditures vs. Hispanics’ 16% U.S. population contribution.  For those doing the math, 5% is a HUGE under-spend against an audience with $1 trillion in annual purchasing power that is growing exponentially year over year.   This has been well documented.

My NGLC organization’s biggest point of contention has always been that advertisers need to spend to the TOTAL Hispanic market, and not just one sector of it.  Easier said than done in a fragmented media environment with the majority of outlets catering to in-language vs. in-culture.  With U.S.-born NGLs representing upwards of 62% of the U.S. Hispanic market, thankfully there are several TV networks catering exclusively to this sector.  More Fortune 500 advertisers need to check that NGL TV box at a bare minimum.  Other new and exciting offerings such as Hispanics at NBCU are now giving advertisers the opportunity to target and reach Hispanics on mainstream English-language media.  At our conference in April, the NGLC publicly acknowledged that targeting Hispanics in-culture using culturally-relevant creative simply must be part of advertisers’ “total market” consideration set.  Kudos to Hispanics at NBCU for their efforts in this space, and for packaging it in a tangible way that enables advertisers to act.

Simply put, the U.S. Hispanic market is fragmented in more ways than one.  With a growing Online audience of 30MM excluding the millions more consuming in-culture content via Smartphone, Tablet and IPTV, NGLs are once again driving growth from technology adoption to social media participation and even Digital content creation.  If you were impressed by the number of TV outlets targeting U.S. Hispanics think about the number of Digital destinations they visit on a daily basis in both languages.  Fragmentation indeed.

 So why the “ode” reference in the title of this piece?   If you haven’t applied theP.O.E.M. acronym to your U.S. Hispanic communications planning vernacular as of yet, now is a prime time to start.  For those who are unfamiliar, P.O.E.M. stands for “Paid,” “Owned” and “Earned” “Media.”  Everyone’s familiar with Paid Media in the traditional sense, but what about Owned and Earned Media?  Moreover, how does an advertiser leverage all three together to maximize engagement around their brands to drive awareness, message association and purchase consideration?  Starting with Owned Media that can range from an original piece of branded content to what some call “narrative marketing,” it provides the ideal platform to organically serve up a brand’s message in a contextually relevant environment.  As for Earned Media, which may include PR-related mentions on traditional platforms, blogs and/or social media, one cannot put a price tag on such exposure. Case in point, Facebook is hinging a huge part of their advertising strategy on what people “Like” and either directly or indirectly recommend within their personal networks.   I can go on in greater detail, but suffice it to say, Paid, Owned and Earned Media when utilized together in addressable video formats yields the best results.   Recent studies have shown that this is particularly true for females who make the majority of household purchase decisions.

How does this apply to the fragmented U.S. Hispanic market?  To bring things full circle, implementing the P.O.E.M. approach when marketing to Hispanics who are over-indexing on all things Digital is critical to growing an advertiser’s brand.  This is especially true when targeting NGLs who represent the vast majority of U.S. Hispanics online today.  To cite the NGLC’s Máximo Report,word-of-mouth is a vital tool that New Generation Latinos use to discover new brands and products.  Factor in their intense social media consumption, and it’s no wonder the majority of them have learned of a new brand or product via social media.   In the Digital space where tens of millions of NGLs reside, taking advantage of its efficiencies and measurability coupled with a P.O.E.M.approach just makes good business sense.  Moreover, there’s no such thing as “waste” in Digital, where fragmentation is actually a good thing given today’s micro-targeting (and re-targeting) tools.   In a media world that is becoming increasingly more fragmented, utilizing techniques such as those referenced herein are imperative to truly embracing a total Hispanic market approach and maximizing advertisers’ returns. 

NGL Media Targets Latinos Cross-Platform

By Erik Sass (MediaPost.com)

With the Latino market growing in both numbers and spending power, new media companies are popping up to help advertisers reach the burgeoning demographic. NGL Media, which specializes in delivering both Spanish and English-language video content to Latino audiences across a variety of digital media platforms through partnerships with premium content producers and distributors, has launched.

The company can also boast of celebrity support; actor-comedian John Leguizamo is a partner and spokesperson for the NGL’s content aggregation and sponsorship hub, UrbanoTV.

NGL has already amassed a video library of “in-culture” content from over 100 Latino producers and is also working with producers to create original content, focusing on “advertiser-friendly episodic productions” offering opportunities for brand integration and product placement.

Most of the video will be short-form content suitable for distribution via the Web, social media, smartphones, IPTV, tablets and VOD.

NGL CEO and founder Dave Chitel stated that the new company would satisfy multiple demands: “Independent Latino content producers are looking for greater exposure and ways to monetize their work, while professional content outlets are always seeking more eyeballs around scalable revenue-driven opportunities.”

NGL is just the latest in a flurry of deals and new launches to enable content-sharing, content creation, and marketing targeting Hispanic audiences.

And in January of this year, Audio Network, which creates and syndicates music for use in broadcast programming, announced that it struck a deal with Disney Latin America and renewed deals with leading Hispanic broadcasters and content creators, including Telemundo, Claxson, Warner, SiTV, HBO Latin America and Cinelatino.

In December 2009, Univision upped its investment in original content with the launch of a new production company, Univision Studios, based in Miami. In January 2010, Hispanic MediaWorks struck a deal with Telenueva TV, which provides Telenueva TV with ad sales representation in exchange for access to some of its content through syndication.

In July 2010, San Diego-based EPMG announced a partnership with MobileEdgeMedia Group to create a new service targeting mostly Hispanic audiences with standard text message integration, mobile coupons and various video content options, including Web-to-mobile video and user-generated mobile video.

According to the American Community Survey, there are now more than 45.4 million Hispanics living in the U.S., representing 14.6% of the total population of 308 million. That’s twice the number living in the U.S. two decades ago. If current trends continue, the number of U.S. Hispanics will triple to roughly 130 million by 2050, when they will make up one-third of the total population.

Over the last half-decade, Hispanic buying power has also steadily increased, from an estimated $800 billion in 2006 to $850 billion in 2007, $950 billion in 2008, and $1 trillion in 2009. It is on course to reach $1.3 trillion by 2013 and $1.5 trillion by 2015, according to projections from the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

New technology adoption is also rising dramatically. According to Scarborough, the proportion of Hispanic adults living in a household with smartphone access jumped from 5% in 2005 to 19% at the end of 2010. The latter figure compares with 23% for the general population.

NGL MEDIA Launches Groundbreaking Digital Latino Branded Entertainment & Distribution Company

Producing and Delivering Premium In-Culture Video Content

Across Media Platforms On An Unprecedented Scale

New York, NY (July 6, 2011) – NGL Media (www.NGLMedia.com), a new company from Latino media and entertainment entrepreneur, David Chitel, launches today unveiling a groundbreaking approach to addressing Latinos through premium in-culture video content across Digital media on an unprecedented scale.  The company is aimed at working with advertisers, premium content producers and distributors alike to provide transparent access to more Latinos regardless of where they are consuming video content or what language it is in, from moms to urbanites.

Producing high quality in-culture branded content and distributing it far and wide is just one of the services that NGL Media has to offer.  Having already amassed a video library from over 100 Latino content producers, the company’s in-house team is also working directly with emerging Latino talent to create an unlimited fresh supply of advertiser-friendly episodic productions.  Specializing in short form content that can be effectively distributed and consumed across Web, Social Media, Smartphone, IPTV, Tablets and VOD, NGL Media works directly with advertisers and their agencies to seamlessly integrate their brands unencumbered by limitations imposed by any one medium, outlet or content source.

“As I set out to build NGL Media, I threw out the rule book and asked myself what advertisers, content producers and distribution outlets are most looking to get out of today’s Latino media and entertainment space.  Advertisers are looking for innovative ways to engage consumers using a premium combination of paid, owned and earned media leading with in-culture video content.  Independent Latino content producers are looking for greater exposure and ways to monetize their work, while professional content outlets are always seeking more eyeballs around scalable revenue-driven opportunities.  Distribution outlets are similarly seeking a turn-key source of in-culture video content they can quickly and seamlessly integrate into their platforms to generate more high value impressions.  I’m proud to say that NGL Media delivers on all fronts complete with a transparent tracking system enabling our campaigns to be scaled and optimized accordingly,” says CEO and Founder, David Chitel.

NGL Media’s ability to serve video advertising around premium content on both Hispanic and General Market outlets enables campaigns to be delivered at scale on a CPM basis, while simultaneously guaranteeing views regardless of the Latino target audience.  Beyond associating brands with particular shows, NGL Media offers advertisers the ability to take over entire genres of video content that speak to their brand equity and core demo.  Media campaigns may also include blog and social media PR initiatives leveraging NGL Media’s arsenal of over 100 Latino bloggers from across the U.S.  If an advertiser or media outlet simply has branded content they want to be seen in a culturally-relevant environment, NGL Media can serve as the go-to partner to ensure targeted delivery and guaranteed views.

“Our goal is to deliver for each of our core constituencies including advertisers, premium content producers and distribution outlets to provide a high quality brand-building experience around the content we produce and aggregate, on any and all outlets where Latinos are watching.  Sharing revenue with our premium content and distribution partners makes it a win-win for everyone,” says Chief Revenue Officer & Partner, Ben Leff.

John Leguizamo, another NGL Media partner and spokesperson for the company’s content aggregation and sponsorship hub, UrbanoTV, has been on board since the beginning.  This is Leguizamo and Chitel’s second venture together, with the first, LatCom Communications (previously iCaramba.com), being sold in 2006.

NGL Media will be hosting meetings with advertisers, media buying and planning agencies and branded entertainment units in the coming weeks in anticipation of more formal Digital Upfront discussions later this year.  The company is also very interested in speaking with prospective content producers and distribution outlets from professional to independent.  Private video webcasts will be scheduled for those who are interested in immediately learning more about NGL Media’s offerings.  Others can visit the company’s website at www.NGLMedia.com for more information.

Hispanic Marketing: Connecting with the New Latino Consumer

By Felipe and Betty Ann Korzenny 

This book is about using cultural insights to connect with Latino consumers. It’s about marketing strategies that tap into the passion of Hispanic consumers so that marketers and service providers can establish the deep connections they need for a successful campaign. This book provides an understanding of the Latino consumer that goes beyond simplistic recipes.

This highly revised and expanded edition comes on the heels of new US Census figures: Hispanics now account for 53% of the US population growth since 2000, soaring to over 16% of the total population. Corporations are now realizing that they must incorporate Hispanic cultural values into their products, services, and communications.

This edition reflects and responds to the profound changes the Latino market has experienced since the first edition. It considers the way in which changes in cultural identity, immigration, economics, and market synergies need to be addressed in a new relationship with Hispanic consumers.

Twenty-five new industry case studies illustrate the chapters. These case studies show how brands from diverse categories have developed a cultural understanding of their Latino target and created campaigns that established strong bonds.
Selected endorsements:

“Felipe and Betty Ann have evolved their earlier work on Hispanic Marketing into a new and even stronger work that pushes the reader to become more strategic and thoughtful when developing marketing platforms for Latinos. The conceptual framework of Hispanic Marketing: Connecting with the New Latino Consumer is a thoughtful approach around creating marketing actions that are based on a deep understanding of Latino culture. The reader is provided the tools to be able to better interpret the cultural nuances of being Hispanic and how to make more informed and empathic marketing decisions.”

Máximo Report Factoid: NGLs’ “Value Set”

The bi-cultural experience that New Generation Latinos encounter helps shape how they view their role in U.S. society. They have a different “value set” than their Caucasian counterparts that gives them unique attitudes and opinions on education, their career, finances, and much more.

To find out more CLICK HERE