Washington State Media Values 600,000+ Population

Wow. It’s very telling that Washington state television has reached the level of sophistication of California media when it comes to sharing civic issues specifically with its Spanish-dominant Latino population!

I recently read that a California gubernatorial debate was broadcast in both English and Spanish. Not surprising.

Well, Washington is right up there with California, reminding all that 1) government issues are relevant to Washington state Latinos and that 2) Latinos are relevant to our state’s government!

This is all thanks to the presence of Vme in much of Washington and its partnerships with KCTS 9, which hosts the local affiliate in partnership with Washington State University. Vme is the national Spanish-language network that produces public programming that is educational as well as fit for the whole family. We are lucky here to have access to that national resource which also features important local programming.

KCTS 9 aired their Ask the Governor program last Monday with Governor Christine Gregoire—live, and complete with calls and emails from concerned citizens. This was another significant opportunity for Washington voters and residents to learn about the pressing issues we face—and just in time for our upcoming elections.

But there’s a twist.

The local Vme affiliate again collaborated on this important project. Not only is the entire program dubbed in Spanish for airing on local V-Me, but Tony Gomez and team worked to create additional integration between the two airings with questions in Spanish from Latinos.

So, while most of the questions for Governor Gregoire were in English, there were a couple in Spanish. The key is this: These particular questions weren’t included just for the Spanish-language program, but aired on the original English-language program with English dubbing or subtitles. On the Spanish program, Vme will be stripping that layer and Latino viewers will hear from people in their own community. Not only does this enrich the program by collecting more diverse viewpoints, but it shows that 1) Washington state does indeed have a great Latino constituency, and 2) that demographic is actively invited to join the process of getting informed about important issues that will affect them, too.

I witnessed a piece of this process, when professional interpreters were brought in to produce the voiceovers for Enrique Cerna (the show’s host), Governor Gregoire, and questions from the public. It was a great opportunity to see the kind of devotion KCTS 9 and Vme have to make important, local content accessible to the Latinos of our state.

Tony Gomez, who practically runs Vme single-handedly, hails from California and has for years been pushing for better communication and involvement with Washington State Latinos—something that is becoming more and more critical as our state’s Hispanic population has topped 600,000.

“We want to ensure access to information that affects the lives of our viewers,” explains Community Outreach Coordinator Tony Gomez. “We also hope to create more engagement between language communities. Dropping the Spanish questions into the English broadcast allows everyone to be part of the same conversation. In this way, the program is more than a one-way dub of English content, passively received by Spanish speakers. It gets us closer to a two-way conversation and reminds everyone of our diversity.”

Pregúntele a la Gobernadora will be aired in Spanish on Vme at 7pm this evening. Vme can be viewed over the air (with a digital tuner) on 9.2 in the Seattle area/Western Washington and on 47.2 in Yakima and Central Washington. (Cable channels are Comcast 119 in Western Washington, and Charter 297 in Yakima/Central WA.) For more information about Vme in Washington, visit their site or KCTS 9 Vme on Facebook.

The Spanish-language program is also available now via the KCTS 9 site.

NEWSFLASH

Local affiliates of both Vme and KUNS (Univisión) will air Spanish versions

of the U.S. Senate Debates. The Vme broadcast will air next Friday, 10/22 at 7 pm.

It’s rumored that KUNS will try a simultaneous broadcast of this Sunday’s debate.



Hispanic Heritage May Be This Month, But Hispanic Culture is 24/7

Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 - October 15. It's invented here in the U.S., much like the term "Hispanic" itself. It is based on Fiestas Patrias, or the many countries' independence days celebrated by Latin Americans everywhere. There is no "Hispanic Heritage Month" in Latin America or Spain.

So while it may be a little forced, it's a way we can devote a month to the incredible history, culture and people of these regions. It's a clear target for corporations to get "involved." But of course, that wheel keeps turning whether we're celebrating it or not.

Earlier this month, I retweeted a message about Nordstrom and its involvement in Hispanic Heritage Month this year with a special Roberto Rodriguez-designed top, the proceeds of which will benefit the Hermanitas program (part of MANA, the largest pan-Latina organization in the U.S.). Nordstrom quickly followed me on Twitter after that retweet. While this major retailer is not a client, there's something they may not realize I know about them.

Nordstrom has backed the passions, aspirations and achievements of Latinos for years, and in many significant ways.

While Nordstrom has done some national print advertising, its connection is deeper than simply attracting the Latino consumer to shop at their stores. And while it does it pretty quietly 11 months out of the year, it makes a big difference. Here are some ways Nordstrom has done it right--ways that every corporation should be noting:

CHARITABLE DONATIONS
When I last spoke with a Corporate Communications contact there, Nordstrom was making annual donations of $1,000 to $65,000 each to more than 20 Latino organizations nationally--eight of which were focused on education.

SUPPLIER DIVERSITY

Their Supplier Diversity Program, created in 1989, ensures access to the economic opportunities within Nordstrom for minority- and women-owned businesses. I have figures back from 2005, when Nordstrom expenditures with minority and women-owned businesses reached $635 million, bringing total expenditures to $6.4 billion since the program was launched.

Also, prior to building or relocating a new store, Nordstrom sponsors and promotes a Project Preview, which is designed to introduce Nordstrom to minority- and women-owned subcontractors and suppliers in local communities. This presents a great opportunity for local companies to learn about Nordstrom business practices, bidding procedures and to become familiar with the requirements of the project.

LATINA EMPOWERMENT
Each year, Nordstrom hosts the Latina Empowerment Summit at its downtown Seattle store. This is a day wherein local Latinas are invited to hear from nationally known speakers as well as a panel of regional role models. This year's Summit--the 10th annual event--is this coming Saturday. Attendees will hear from keynote speaker Consuelo Kickbusch, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, founder and president of Educational Achievement Services, Inc., and an accomplished author. It's an event that inspires and connects attendees to the Latinidad they share. (I've attended this event, too, and its an amazing warmth that's created in that room!) This year's invitations feature the work of local artist Blanca Santander.

So as you may have noticed, it's about more than just Hispanic Heritage Month, and it's about more than advertising. It's about creating a real connection--a connection that truly matters--to communities and to consumers.

Of course, as a native Seattleite I'm partial to Nordstrom, which got its start as a Seattle shoe store in 1901. But I think this is one company that can proudly serve as a model of diversity. Oh, and here's more information on its Hispanic Heritage Month promotion this year.

What's Appropriate? Understanding Cultural Cues

It's amazing what people *think* is appropriate.

We all have our ideas about what is, and isn't appropriate, and they're usually based on context. When a guy would ask my then college-aged sister to dance, her response would be "that's not appropriate." That usually had them backing away, confused. Why is that not appropriate? (And how do you respond to that, anyway?) As it turns out, she just liked dancing by herself.

Knowing that our individual sense of what's appropriate, relevant--and that behavior or those words which send the same message we're intending to send--can vary within a culture, just imagine the mistakes that are made when working cross-culturally.

I'll never forget about a beautiful gift of flowers my Japanese friend received. Her all-American boyfriend surprised her with an impressive bouquet of fresh mums. She was less than pleased, and that was confusing to me because it was a lovely, considerate gesture. (If only all guys were so inclined, I thought!)

Turns out, chrysanthemums are funeral flowers in her native Japan--an important piece of knowledge for anyone courting someone from Japan, I'd say!

And speaking of Asian cultures, I just read a novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (a surprising view into the wartime treatment of Seattle's Japantown residents, a subject that just wasn't taught when I was a kid growing up here). Samantha, a Caucasian engaged to Marty, a Chinese American, is trying to win over his father. She goes to Uwajimaya to buy ingredients for traditional Chinese dishes like choy sum and black-bean crab, to which the father smiles approvingly. Then she announces the green tea ice cream she purchased for dessert. Pregnant pause.

Green tea ice cream is not Chinese, but Japanese, but based on her earlier victories the father tries to let it go.

If you are marketing to a specific group and truly understand what makes that demographic tick, you can capture their hearts--much like Samantha captured her future father-in-law's heart by preparing traditional Chinese dishes that he remembers growing up with. Then, even if there's a slip, consumers may maintain loyalty based on your history of "victories."

Of course the contrary is true as well: Companies can easily push away their consumers by not doing their homework and learning about what truly captures the hearts and minds of their target demographic.

Levi’s: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for TV…Kind Of

This blog post was written by Paul Sangalang who is an intern at Conexión Marketing. He has received a B.A. in Business Administration from Washington State University in International Business and in December he will receive a second degree in the Spanish language.

Levi jeans, in conjunction with the Discovery Channel, will follow the journey of 5 young U.S. Hispanics on their journey from Alaska to Argentina by way of the Pan-American Highway. The 10-week show will be broadcast in Spanish and is accompanied by a bilingual website. The three men and two women who were chosen to partake in this “trip of a lifetime” will have 10 stops along the way where they will work on projects related to music, style or design; all while wearing the latest from Levi’s Work Wear collection.


This TV series will represent Levi’s principal effort to-date at attracting the Hispanic market to the brand. If you read about Hispanic marketing here or elsewhere, you know that research has found the Hispanic segment to be generally young and a prominent user of social media. Levi’s is harnessing this vital piece of information by kick-starting their Levi’s-branded website with frequent updates from the 5 stars. These status updates can then be shared on other social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook to increase awareness and foster a base of followers for the show. This is all in conjunction with their “Go Forth” campaign, chosen specifically as the “pioneering” aspect was found to connect with the Hispanic market.

While the show will air in Spanish, Levi’s target market is the young bilingual Latino. This is one of the main reasons why the website following the show will be in both English and Spanish. Marketers have consistently found the task of successfully reaching this segment to be one of the most challenging and Levi’s hopes to have found an innovative way to reach out to them.

Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the United States’ great business pioneers, being founded in San Francisco, California in the 19th century. While the goal of the show is to target the Hispanic market, I feel that the general U.S. public can relate to the story. The United States was founded by explorers and pioneers willing to travel through uncharted land. This modern-day version, albeit with charted maps, illustrates a similar journey of new experiences and learning about one’s self.

I think it’s important that we, from time-to-time, go out and explore new frontiers and have new experiences…but if you can’t do that, at least you can zip up a new pair of Levi’s and follow these 5 Latinos on their personal journey through North and South America.

Telecom Services Are Getting Hispanic Dollars - How Will Other Industries Fare?

This blog post was written by Paul Sangalang who is an intern at Conexión Marketing.  He has received a B.A. in Business Administration from Washington State University in International Business and in December he will receive a second degree in the Spanish language. 


In a 305-page report by Insight Research Corp. titled US Hispanic Use of Telecommunications Services 2010-2015, it concluded that Hispanic buyers will account for “17 percent of all residential telecom expenditures.” With the number of Hispanics in the US estimated to surpass 50 million, it’s apparent that this demographic will become a major target for marketers outside of only telecommunications services. Telecommunication companies, as well as other industries, have been aggressively marketing towards the Latino population for years, but the question is: when will all the other industries tap into this market segment?

It’s important to note that the Hispanic ethnicity is the youngest segment in the US, with the largest percentage of citizens under the age of 18. It was also found that Hispanic-Americans are very social online, which can be attributed to the youthfulness of the segment. If marketers play their cards right, they will be able to obtain long-term consumers and reap the financial benefits of lifetime customers.

According to early Census predictions, US Latinos will hold $1 trillion in buying power. It will be paramount for companies and industries, which haven’t already, to recognize the immense potential that the US Hispanic segment holds. It’s not too much of a stretch to presume that those companies who fail to recognize what the Hispanic market holds for their business will fall to the wayside, while those that do prosper.

It will be interesting to see how these companies market to the Hispanic segment and who will succeed in gaining the most market share. I’m sure that these industries are all thinking the same thing and will be working furiously to outmaneuver their rivals. So let the games begin…or better yet: ¡que comience el juego!

To view the article click here.

BigResearch: Reaching Niche Markets Within the Growing U.S. Hispanic Population

This post was written by Edilia Ruiz, who is a student at the University of Washington from the Department of Communications and Spanish, and is interning with us during Spring Quarter.

Thinking of targeting your business to the Hispanic population? Consumer research firm BigResearch in Columbus, Ohio has discovered that tastes of Hispanics vary in regards to shopping and media preferences between U.S. born and English speakers versus their counterparts who are foreign born and speak Spanish.

English-dominant speakers and U.S. born Hispanics tend to prefer stores like Macy’s, Walmart and Kohl’s for clothing and Best Buy, Target, and Walmart for electronics.On the other hand, Spanish–dominant consumers and foreign-born Hispanics choose stores such as Macy’s, JCPenney and Walmart for women’s clothing and Best Buy and Amazon.com for electronics.

Also, BigResearch found that English-dominant and U.S. born Hispanics include top 40 in their music interests, whereas Spanish speakers include Latin artists.

Media and technology topics showed that English-dominant Hispanics are more likely to text on their cell phones and use TiVo/DVR, while Spanish-dominant Hispanics are more likely to blog and use instant messaging.

In my opinion, having this type of research helps businesses know how to target a specific audience and advertise most effectively. As a bilingual consumer, I identify with both group findings in this research because as a Spanish speaker and foreign-born consumer I choose stores like Macys, JC Penney and Walmart to shop; at the same time, as an English speaker I also listen to top 40 and I use my cell phone to text as well as blog and instant message with friends and family.

Some questions I had while reading this article include concerns about who their sample included. Did the research include participants in Columbus only? In big cities? Rural areas? Nationwide? Beyond? and what was their methodology? Was the survey conducted through focus groups, telephone interviews, intercepts or was it online? Further, the results do not reflect a big difference between the two groups and their choices of music selections or stores for shopping. Perhaps this tells us that the two groups of Latinos are more alike than different in these areas.

If you are interested in learning more about this research check out the BigResearch website.

Algo para agregar a tu conocimiento sobre Aguascalientes

This post was written by Edilia Ruiz, who is a student at the University of Washington from the Department of Communications and Spanish, and is interning with us during Spring Quarter.

So, you might have heard about the goring of José Tomás, the famous bullfighter of Spain, at the fair of Aguascalientes, México last Saturday since it’s all over the news. In this post, I will not be writing of the tragedy, but instead I will share a festive side of the State of Aguascalientes.

It all began in 1828 with a government’s vision that unfolded at a market, a loan of 8,000 pesos ($670.00 U.S dollars) from one merchant and of course lots of enthusiasm from the merchants in Aguascalientes.

Despite this being the first Feria de San Marcos, it gained lots of success that drew people from different states throughout México and abroad. The San Marcos Fair started as a simple country fair with livestock, and then modernized to also include new events such as cockfighting, bullfighting, the Queen of the Fair Pageant, and traditional Aguascalientes dress.

The San Marcos Fair which lasts thirty days provides an opportunity for growth and exposure of local, regional and national economies that come together and share the original vision. Every year, the state of Aguascalientes invites a Mexican state and a foreign country to share their culinary arts, fine arts, music and dance with the people. This year, Feria de San Marcos will be celebrating 180 years of festivities, making it the Number One national fair in México.