The issue of Spanish vs. English in marketing to US Hispanics is getting more complicated as the market matures. Mario Xavier Carrasco, managing partner of ThinkNow Research, spoke with eMarketer’s Lisa Barron about the importance of language and cultural relevance.

1. Balancing Cultural Relevance and
Language When Marketing to US
Hispanics
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
Mario Xavier Carrasco
Managing Partner and Online Research Director,
ThinkNow Research
April 21, 2015
The issue of Spanish vs. English in marketing to US Hispanics is
getting more complicated as the market matures. Mario Xavier
Carrasco, managing partner of ThinkNow Research, spoke with
eMarketer’s Lisa Barron about the importance of language and cultural
relevance.
eMarketer: How much does the choice of English vs. Spanish matter?
Mario Carrasco: I think it’s one of the most important choices to
make when you’re talking to the Hispanic market because Spanish-
dominant Hispanics are very different than English-dominant
Hispanics. It’s as important as being culturally relevant. In reaching
Hispanics, No. 1 is being culturally relevant, doing your research and
not stereotyping. No. 2 is deciding which language to choose, because
with each language you’re determining a different target.
You have to decide who you’re targeting. If you’re going after foreign-
born [people], more recently immigrated, it’s more likely you’re going
to be targeting them in Spanish. If you’re targeting bicultural,
bilingual, it depends on the situation.
eMarketer: Are marketers adept at distinguishing between cultural
relevance and stereotyping?
Carrasco: I think some advertisers are. I think there are definitely
advertisers leading the pack in terms of being able to skillfully weave
cultural nuances into advertising. There’s an interesting correlation
between the agencies that do it well and the success of their brands

2. vs. agencies that are relying on either dated research or dated
assumptions about the Hispanic market. You’ll see that those tend to
be struggling brands.
“Millennials are having kids, millennials are
buying homes, they’re making their big
purchases. It’s the growth population.”
eMarketer: Do you have any examples of companies that are doing it
really well?
Carrasco: I think Target is doing really well. Target is an interesting
case in that it’s struggling like all retailers are struggling, but they
realize there’s still an opportunity in the Hispanic market in terms of
people still going to brick-and-mortar stores and purchasing. They’re
saying, look, let’s reallocate our budget to Hispanics. Target does their
research and their ads are great. They’ve aired in Spanish-language
on English television, which is a pretty bold move. I think even though
they’re struggling, we’ll see them turn around because of their focus
on the Hispanic market.
eMarketer: Data shows that the US Hispanic population relies more
on their smartphones than desktops [for internet-enabled activities].
To what extent would they regard these ads coming in on the
smartphone as intrusive?
Carrasco: It’s all about context. Advertisers are getting better in
terms of taking into account relevancy for the demographic. Hispanics
are going to be more receptive to ads that are relevant to their
lifestyle. Some interesting things are happening with geotargeted ads.
If a person is nearing a store and there’s some sort of discount
coupon served to them, I would imagine Hispanics are going to be
more receptive to that because they’re more receptive to advertising
that is relevant, that is going to save them money.
eMarketer: For foreign-born Hispanics in the US, as the novelty of
American advertising wears off, will they be viewing it with a more
critical eye?
Carrasco: We definitely see that right now in our research. And
culturally, what’s interesting is we looked at big overarching values like
the American dream, and we see that something like the American
dream among foreign-born Hispanics is really strong, but as you start
to look at bicultural and English-dominant people—people who have
been here for generations—that wanes. People become more jaded
the longer they’re here.
eMarketer: Given the youthfulness of the Hispanic population, are
marketers tending to ignore Hispanics older than millennials?
Carrasco: I would say in general, yes. Because millennials are having
kids, millennials are buying homes, they’re making big purchases. It’s
the growth population. Also, it’s because millennials are helping their
parents make decisions a lot of the time, depending on what
generation they are.
But there are some brands that are specifically targeting older
populations: AARP and some financial institution are increasingly

3. looking at the older Hispanic market as well.
eMarketer: The sheer size of the Hispanic population in the US makes
it a market that’s well worth courting, but the average income and
household wealth for Hispanics is still below the national average. Are
marketers overestimating how lucrative it might be?
Carrasco: Despite having a lower household income, there are other
numbers that show why it’s positive to invest in the Hispanic market.
For one, children per household. Hispanics are having more children
per household than non-Hispanic whites. So it’s a growth opportunity
for things like consumer packaged goods. Clearly, when you’re having
more children, there’s more need to buy consumer packaged goods.
Even though the average may be lower than [other segments], if we
look at affluent Hispanics—let’s say people [earning] $75,000-plus—
they’re traveling more, they’re making bigger-ticket purchases.
They’re going to entertainment events more and sporting events
more. Despite that income gap, it’s still a huge growth opportunity for
marketers.
Interview conducted by Lisa Barron on April 21, 2015.
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