More Representatives, Better Business?

The news from the 2010 US Census is clear and impactful. The population is changing. According to this MSNBC report, for the first time in history California did not gain any seats in the House of Representatives and will maintain 53 seats, followed by Texas with 36 seats and New York and Florida with 27 seats each.

According to US Census Bureau data, six of the 16 states with a minimum of a half-million Hispanic residents have experienced positive population growth requiring additional seats in the House of Representatives. Eight cities with the top 20 Hispanic populations are within those six states, including Houston, Miami, Phoenix and Dallas. HispanicBusiness.com reports, “the average population size for congressional district is 710,767 people, up from 646,952 people in 2000.” Understanding the shift of the population southward and westward combined with the growth and revealing of the Hispanic population will positively affect a company’s identification of the Hispanic target market and their efforts to engage them.

Here are several guiding principles gleamed from the 2010 US Census reports and marketing industry best practices:

• The Hispanic population’s buying power is expected to surpass $1.2 trillion by 2011, according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. Ignoring this source of revenue is simply unwise. Moreover, this market tends to spend more of its total income so an expended marketing dollar can generate a higher ROI. Efforts should run parallel to those put forth for the general population. However, a knowledgeable marketer needs to recognize whether the market is Hispanic. Juan Job, VP of Hispanic Markets at New York Life says, “we define a market as Hispanic if 50% or more of its customers are Hispanic. We have associates exclusively devoted to the Hispanic market in the following units: New York (two), Fresno, CA, El Paso, TX, Mc Allen, TX, Edison, NJ, Miami, FL and San Antonio, TX.”
• Create media units with a message around core Hispanic values that toggle between English and Spanish. Core values such as family, religion, sports and gender roles all play an important part of the Hispanic psyche. Impacting that consciousness requires an understanding of how those values line up and differ across subcultures. U.S. Hispanics report interacting with content in English and Spanish. Integrated campaigns will respect the deep sense of Spanish price Hispanics have but honor their shifts in education, socioeconomic status and the population’s large youth sector.
• Get to know the distinction and stability of the market. Regional populations differ. Persons of Mexican origin dominate the market; Cuban populations are largest on the East coast and concentrated in Florida, New York and New Jersey. Unlike the rest of the Latino population, Cubans in the US tend to be older. Puerto Rican populations are largest in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Just as the Cuban market is affected by its unique welcome status under US immigration law, marketing to the Puerto Rican population is affected by their status as citizens and the ease of travel between the island and mainland. Creating an ad that appeals to all Hispanics would prove difficult; Mexicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans speak different dialects and have considerably different tastes. Differences in idiomatic expressions, food habits and political leanings that follow local and regional populations should be incorporated into the successful, culturally relevant campaign.

Over 20 Spanish-speaking nationalities are represented in the U.S., each with its own cultural characteristics, traditions and values. The unique characteristics of this growing and young population withstand and respond to different marketing techniques. The successful campaign will not be a simply adaptation of one aimed at the white European market and will take into account the subtleties, regional differences and core values of the sub-cultures.

Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40733820/ns/politics/
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/politics/2010/12/21/us_population_308745538.htm
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/

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