Abogados

What does this mean as far as consumer spending power? Hispanic consumer spending power in 2001 increased an estimated 118 percent since 1990, to $452 billion of the nation's $7.1 trillion, according to the Selig Center at the University of Georgia. And spending on Hispanic advertising is expected to grow 4 percent in 2002 -- when outlays for general market advertising are expected to remain flat -- from last year's $2.2 billion.

No wonder U.S. companies are waking up to the Hispanic market. But most brands and companies continue to dabble in multicultural marketing instead of living and demonstrating it. When speaking about diversity, what does that mean? And how are you going to start within your company? Doing a single or even double-year campaign isn't going to win over a group and make you feel responsible.

I know of a major company that realizes it must do more in the Hispanic market -- it's lagging behind, but has decided not to make changes this year, given financial limitations and a corporate emphasis on ROI, so it's going to wait until next year. Is it missing the boat? Perhaps not --especially if it builds more infrastructure within the company on diversity and really underscores a long-range commitment to diversity marketing.

To me, companies that get this right and can ingrain it in their employees and their values will win in the long term. This is only the beginning of a population shift. Consider that 30 years ago, about 80 percent of the nation's school-age population was white. Today, it is about 60 percent. So, no it is not too late, but multicultural marketing will become a business table stake.

Let me offer some observations of trends and other developments on the multicultural-marketing and branding front that our global brand group has been following:

Tailor localized marketing efforts by audience and geography. Since certain geographies reflect greater demographic shifts, companies should create local programs that allow them to strategically reach minority consumer groups.

Find your voice. In reaching a diverse audience, companies should really examine who might be the most influential communicator and place to communicate your message. In one culture, the newspaper may be the best medium. In another, it may be the radio. The power of the radio personalities in the Hispanic community is much stronger than in the general market. Be sure to do your homework and test spokespeople with the target audience. It could mean the difference between hitting the mark and missing the target.

Be aware of recent anti-American backlash. Be extremely sensitive these days in terms of globalization issues. Anti-American feeling appears to be picking up again after diminishing after the September 11 bombings.

Consider cultural differences. These differences may also factor into a product's perception by an ethnic group. When speaking to your target audience, it is very important to not only make sure you understand who they are but also what their core beliefs are. Now let's begin to assess how prepared your company is to speak to this diverse audience.

Conduct a brand-marketing audit. To better understand how your company fares on diversity issues, consider conducting a brand-marketing audit. More companies are doing this -- indeed it's becoming somewhat institutionalized due to competitions to select the Top 100 companies for diversity. There are very specific criteria for the competition -- hiring, retention, promotion, employee-related issues, governance issues, supplier diversity, what the corporate brand looks like, etc.

1) In an audit, consider who your consultants are at the senior level who are helping you bring diversity to your company and thought leadership initiatives. How do you handle focus groups and are they diverse enough? And do you have the right people to understand how to market your products to a particular group?

2) Take a look at all your collateral materials and advertising. I suggest you put them all in one room. This allows you to see much more clearly who you're speaking to and who you think your audience is. A lot of companies are really surprised at what they discover. They find their advertising persona is far different from that portrayed in their annual report, for instance. Consequently, many are sending people back to look at everything -- from ad campaigns, to annual reports to Web sites -- to develop the consistent message they want to communicate.

3) How many of your companies make materials available in Spanish? When you go to an ATM machine these days, most ask you whether you want to communicate in English or Spanish. But very few companies yet have their consumer materials or services in Spanish.

4) Go into your communities to get a snapshot of real life today --especially at your children's schools. I'll bet the student makeup is far different from when you went to school. That classroom today has more Asians, African-Americans as well as kids of Hispanic and other ethnic backgrounds. Companies must work to evaporate outdated stereotypes of their communities' and work to portray real life in their communities, to clearly see the diversity and figure out how to integrate that into their marketing without it seeming forced and insincere.

Assess your vulnerability. This obviously coincides with the brand-marketing audit -- but I call it a "vulnerabilities assessment." I can't emphasize how critical this is. There are many companies -- major ones -- that are extremely "White Bread" companies. If you're not reflective of America today, you need to think about how to start to evolve to that and add diversity at different levels. If you don't, a backlash can be very damaging to your brand and reputation.

We're making real strides in the multicultural arena. Just think, in 1997, Hispanic magazine said it found only 75 companies worthy of being named to its eighth annual corporate 100 list of the best firms for Hispanics. But we have a long way to go. That became clear the other day when I noticed some findings from the Roper folks about consumer attitudes toward things businesses could do in their marketing or advertising. When asked if companies are making a real effort to market to minorities and represent them in advertising, only 16 percent said "very often" and 42 percent said "fairly often." That total percentage of 58 percent has been virtually unchanged in the past decade in similar Roper surveys.

And when asked if companies are providing positive role models that portray diverse age, racial and lifestyle groups, only 14 percent say very often and 43 percent say fairly often. That total percentage of 57 percent hasn't changed in two years, although it is up from 49 percent in 1997.

That tells us something. The bottom line, frankly, is that diversity isn't a slogan -- it's a reality. It's important that companies find ways to begin looking at the current status of their companies and what competitors are doing to market their brands to a more diverse population. The bottom line is that in order to be competitive in the future, you should be doing the same.