January 06, 2010
Social Media Minority Business Brand Awareness
Minority Businesses Slow to Embrace Social Media and Web 2.0 - RainbowPUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit Tackles Tough Issue. Social Media is one of the most effective ways for minority owned businesses to build brand awareness, influence clients and increase revenue. Sustainable success in 2010 requires executives and entrepreneurs to understand how to integrate digital marketing and social networks into their strategic marketing plans.
January 6, 2010 -- Digital and social media marketing leaders T.C. Coleman, Esq., CEO of UpwardAction®; Lethia Owens, CEO of Lethia Owens International, Inc.; Andrew Morrison, President of Small Business Camp; and Eric Hamilton, Executive Director of The Web Academy will join forces during the 13th Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit for the Social Media Revolution: Build Credibility, Raise Visibility, Grow Profits panel.
Those attending the Wall Street Project Economic Summit's “Social Media Revolution” will explore efficient and effective ways to use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Plaxo, online video and private social networks to attract new business opportunities and increase revenue. According to Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., “Our mission is more necessary than ever before: ensuring access to capital, industry, technology and deal flow. Social media technology has become a vital tool for competitive companies. Therefore, the information being presented is exactly what minority businesses must have to succeed in this new era.”
During the past year, an increasing large number of minorities are turning to social networks for social expression and communication. According to the 2009 Multicultural Marketing Study by the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University, DMS Research, and Captura Group, usage of social networking websites has exploded during the past year among all ethnic groups and this trend is expected to continue. This explosion presents a significant opportunity for minority businesses to attract new clients, expand market share and increase influence.
Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Economic Summit has been at the forefront of helping minority businesses grow their businesses, gain access to capital and increase influence for the past 13 years. Andrew T. Carr, Executive Director of the Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project shares that the “tradition continues with our highly anticipated Social Media Revolution panel.”
Social Media Revolution: Build Credibility, Raise Visibility, Grow Profits takes place on Wednesday, January 13, 2009 from 3 PM – 5 PM (EST) at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, 811 Seventh Avenue at 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019.
About the Panelists:
Tasha Cooper (T.C.) Coleman, Esq. is the CEO of UpwardAction®, a brand development and digital marketing agency, where success is measured by shifts in marketplace behavior and the increase of influence. T.C. is a thought-leader in the areas digital marketing and relationship development. She is also the founder of LawyersLaunchpad.com, a business development hub for entrepreneurial lawyers (aka “lawyerpreneurs”). Learn more about her companies at http://www.upwardaction.com/ua and http://lawyerslaunchpad.com.
Lethia Owens is the CEO of Lethia Owens International, Inc., a Personal Branding & Social Media Consulting Firm and the Founder/CEO of CallKayla, a Social Media Virtual Assistant Agency. Lethia helps clients define their brand message and develop a strategy for attracting, connecting with and engaging clients online while generating consistently high value for their friends, fans and followers. Learn more about her companies at http://www.lethiaowens.com and http://www.callkayla.com.
Andrew Morrison is the founder of Small Business Camp - an entrepreneurial training, coaching and marketing services firm. The company delivers an intensive 2-day program that allows the participants to walk-in with just an idea and leave with a marketing plan, public relations strategy, money-making website, direct-mail campaign and 90 days of follow-up coaching. Learn more about his company at http://www.smallbusinesscamp.com.
Eric Hamilton is an Internet, web, search marketing and social media veteran. Eric works for Yahoo! as an Engagement Manager supporting Yahoo! Web Analytics which is Yahoo’s enterprise level analytics solution. He is also the founder of The Web Academy, a 501c3 non-profit organization designed to provide free web design classes to the community and free web services to churches and other non-profit organizations. Learn more about his organization at http://www.thewebacademy.org.
For additional information about the Social Media Revolution panel and the 13th Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit, visit http://www.upwardaction.com/WallStreetProject.pdf or call the Rainbow PUSH New York headquarters at (212) 425-7874.
Posted by Ahorre at 11:30 AM
December 09, 2009
FIU Hispanic Marketing Programs Florida International University
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) at Florida International University (FIU) announced it has created a program of Hispanic Communication Studies to address communications trends and issues relevant to the U.S. Hispanic community. The school plans to continue upgrading the program in the future in order to position itself as the premier thought-leadership institute on issues relevant to the U.S. Hispanic community.
The new program builds upon an already existing set of courses taught at the FIU SJMC covering Hispanic market communications and Spanish language journalism. It will be headed by the SJMC Department Chairs: Teresa Ponte, chair of the Department of Journalism and Broadcasting, and Fernando Figueredo, chair of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. The SJMC is led by Dean Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver and Associate Dean Allan Richards.
"It makes sense to establish this program at FIU, since Miami is home to the most important Hispanic broadcast-media outlets as well as a large and diverse Hispanic community," Ponte said. "We have become a feeder school to the news media as well as to public relations and advertising agencies recruiting Hispanics to address the fastest growing minority segment in the U.S.," she added.
"Our location as well as the significant number of award-winning Hispanic professors in our faculty places us in a unique position to establish such a program," added Figueredo. "Seventy percent of the students we graduate from the SJMC are of Hispanic heritage, and university-wide at FIU, we graduate more Hispanic students than any other university in the country," he added.
The SJMC is already making plans to upgrade this initiative into an institute focused on the analysis of communications issues and trends impacting the U.S. Hispanic community. It will include projects such as an ongoing series of seminars with highly distinguished speakers from around the country as well as hosting an annual conference to discuss the most relevant issues on the continuing evolution of the Hispanic media. In addition, it plans to further the current Hispanic-market-driven research agenda at FIU on critical issues affecting the U.S. Hispanic community, with a special focus on how Hispanics consume and interpret news and information.
Posted by Ahorre at 04:53 PM
November 19, 2009
Translate Latinos Dichos Jargons Spanglish
Posted by Ahorre at 08:02 PM
What Programs Latinos in Social Media Use Hispanics
Posted by Ahorre at 07:58 PM
Latinos in Social Media Speak Spanish English
Posted by Ahorre at 07:56 PM
Who are Latinos in Social Media
Posted by Ahorre at 07:53 PM
November 09, 2009
Spanish Language Web Browsers Espanol
Flock announced its partnership with Univision Interactive Media, Inc. - “Our U.S. Hispanic audience will now be able to stay connected to their favorite Spanish-language content and all of their friends using a secure social web browser,” said Kevin Conroy, president of Univision Interactive Media, Inc. “We’re very excited about the unique user experience we’ve developed in partnership with Flock, and we look forward to continuing to deliver the best possible Web experience for our users.”
This free and highly customized social media browser connects users to the most extensive source of Spanish-language content, while keeping them linked to their email and the most popular social networking and media sites. Simple drag-and-drop functionality enables easy sharing of photos, videos, text and more to a friend’s profile on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or other social media sites in Flock’s People Sidebar. Through the FlockCast feature, users can also ‘broadcast’ their public actions to multiple locations at once.
The exclusive Univision.com edition of Flock includes access to news, entertainment and sports feeds, as well as a default Univision.com homepage tab and search capability. The custom social media browser also features “favorite” bookmarks, media streams of popular Univision.com videos and photos, and persistent links to other areas of Univision.com.
“Univision.com is a leading provider of online Spanish-language content in the United States,” said Shawn Hardin, CEO of Flock. “Flock is excited to expand its offering to serve the preferences of the Hispanic community in the United States, and Univision.com is the ideal partner to team up with to deliver an experience that combines good friends and great content.”
Posted by Ahorre at 11:25 AM
January 09, 2007
Hispanic Market SEO Marketing Tools
Hispanic PR - Hispanic marketers today gained a powerful new Web consumer marketing tool with the launch of the search engine-optimized, “Interactivo Release” from Hispanic PR Wire (HPRW). The feature-rich Interactivo Release allows HPRW clients to digitally showcase their press releases, photos and media kits online in a way that is unrivaled in the Hispanic marketing and press release wire industries.
“We’re all about creating maximum value for our marketing and media clients alike and that’s just what we’ve done with the Interactivo Release. A dazzling marketing tool hotwired for the Web 2.0 era is how to describe it and we’re not even done optimizing it,” said Manny Ruiz, CEO of Hispanic PR Wire. “We’re talking about a press release that creates a compelling multimedia experience for both consumers and media.”
The Interactivo Release replaces HPRW’s former flagship press release the Inteligente Release and is available as a $125 Basic and $250 Premium add-on to any geographic distribution. It includes an array of important new and upgraded features that can be viewed live by visiting the link,
Posted by Ahorre at 07:32 AM
November 12, 2006
Real Estate Internet Marketing Versus Print Ads
Hipotecas - Mortgage - Real Estate - Real estate professionals are accustomed to print ads that they spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a one-time print ads.
However, these same professionals try to spend as little as possible on their soon-to-be most important marketing tool: their Web site.
About 5 billion people a month go online to look for a product or service. Major newspapers are scrambling to convert to electronic media because their readership and subscribers are dropping faster than a house price on newly discovered toxic dump site, yet our comfortable real estate person pays no heed and continues wasting money on print media while treating his or her Web site like a poor relation. The Mortgage Business - Mortgage Web Sites
Posted by Ahorre at 02:45 AM
June 25, 2006
Social Word-of-Mouth
By Pamela Park - How marketers can take advantage of the rise in social multimedia, rather than be mowed down by it.
For P&G, on the other hand, it's more about tapping into existing communities or providing people with the tools to connect with one another. (The company operates word-of-mouth networks Tremor and Vocalpoint.) This is partly because the products P&G offers aren't as conducive to brand enthusiasm. "Buying toilet paper or Metamucil is a different level of involvement," said Stan Joosten of P&G. "Who the heck would want to go to charmin.com? And the fact is, people don't."
Stan pointed to online moms' groups like Southern California's Peachhead, profiled in the New York Times recently (registration required), as an example. "Those are the kinds of discussions that we'd like to look into. [Consumer-generated videos like the Diet Coke/Mentos clip], those are one-offs," he said. "You need to be agile enough to jump on it when it happens, but you can't count on it to forge your relationship with consumers. It's underestimated how important these [online communities] are in people's daily lives."
Posted by Ahorre at 12:32 AM
March 25, 2006
ANA Television Advertising Survey
A new survey, released by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Forrester Research, Inc., found that 78% of advertisers feel that traditional television advertising has become less effective in the past two years. The survey also found that marketers are exploring emerging technologies to help bolster their television advertising spend.
The joint survey asked 133 national advertisers about their attitudes towards TV advertising and what impact new technologies, such as digital video recorders (DVRs) and video-on-demand, will have on their TV advertising budgets. Those surveyed represent more than $20 billion worth of advertising, including marketers from Charles Schwab, Colgate, Dunkin’ Donuts, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel, Pfizer, and Verizon.
“As DVRs look to climb above 30 million households in the next three years, advertisers are finding themselves forced to reconsider their media mix,” said Josh Bernoff, Vice President, Forrester Research, who presented the findings today at the ANA Television Advertising Forum in New York. “Television networks continue to publish research that traditional TV advertising is potent as ever, but national advertisers aren’t buying it and are seeking alternatives to enhance their budgets and move them beyond the customary 30-second spot.”
Key highlights of the ANA/Forrester survey include:
Almost 70% of advertisers think that DVRs and video-on-demand will reduce or destroy the effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials.
When DVRs spread to 30 million homes, close to 60% of advertisers say that they will spend less on conventional TV advertising; of those, 24% will cut their TV budgets by at least 25%.
While 55% say that their top executives are closely watching changes in TV advertising, most advertisers have not experimented with advertising on DVRs (49%) or video-on-demand (44%).
Eighty percent of advertisers will spend more of their advertising budget on Web advertising and 68% of advertisers will look to search engine marketing.
Advertisers are also looking at alternatives to traditional TV advertising and will spend more of their advertising budgets on: branded entertainment within TV programs (61%); TV program sponsorships (55%); interactive advertising during TV programs (48%); online video ads (45%); and product placement (44%).
Ninety-seven percent of advertisers agree that the TV industry will need new audience metrics — other than reach and frequency — to report commercial ratings, not just program ratings to effectively measure TV advertising.
“The television industry as we have known it may be challenged on a number of fronts, but continues to attract a significant media investment by ANA marketers,” said Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the ANA. “As new and traditional media alternatives compete more aggressively for a share of the media pie, and marketers look to improve consumer targeting, reduce costs and enhance accountability, television is aggressively responding. With technology-based advances in addressability, enhanced television options, Internet convergence (IPTV) and branded entertainment opportunities, television is likely to continue as the dominant part of the marketing mix.”
Posted by Ahorre at 05:37 PM
March 08, 2006
Latino Youth Market in America Study
mun2 revealed the findings of the first major Latino youth-only national study. Top-line findings were presented at the Nokia Theatre in New York City at a research forum entitled me2: Understanding the Young Latino in America, a groundbreaking look at the values that drive the highly-coveted 14-34 year-old Latino demographic.
The three-part study, commissioned by mun2, was conceived in response to the burgeoning demographic consisting of second generation Latinos. According to census data, this segment, which represents people born in the U.S. with at least one foreign-born parent or is a U.S. citizen by birth, is quickly becoming the fastest-growing segment in the next 15 years. It is expected that by the year 2020, second generation will represent 36% of all Latinos, out-numbering the first-generation segment.
The study sought to elicit an in-depth psychographic profile of these young adults and understand what they are feeling today regarding ethnicity, culture, language, family, and religion. It was conducted to better inform mun2 and its trade partners of the importance of producing programming and marketing opportunities that are relevant and resonate with this powerful audience.
“The findings of this study make it clear that young Latinos as a targeted demo have fallen through the cracks in the general marketing arena,” said Antoinette Zel, Senior Executive Vice President Network Strategy at Telemundo. “Simply, there is an enormous opportunity to market to them given that their population numbers are too big to ignore and their purchasing power, so significant.”
Executed by Look-Look, the study was administered in an inventive, unique and multi-tiered style, using innovative qualitative and quantitative research methods including ethnographies, blogs and visual journals, as well as formal quantitative techniques to survey over 1,800 young adults in seven of the top ten markets where 14-34 year-old Latinos concentrate.
"We are at the tipping point of an emerging new lifestyle category that will greatly affect American and global culture. Young Latino Americans are in the process of innovating their own customized culture that encompasses music, language, fashion, food, entertainment and beyond,” added Sharon Lee, Co-President/Co-Founder of Look-Look, Inc. “It's an exciting time and this young community is absolutely aware that they are the next big thing."
Conclusion and implications for advertisers and marketers found in the study include that there are missing links in connecting to this audience, as there is a need for relevant brands and products. Yet, the following criteria must be taken into account. Advertisers and marketers must not force them to choose one culture over the other. They need to embrace the hybrid world Young Latino Americans live in by following their lead and create a new category forming a new brand directed to them. Acknowledging their complexity and establishing a meaningful definition, as they are one group, is important.
The study covers several key areas of interest including identity, ethnicity, culture and lifestyle and accessibility which include:
" 79% of Young Latino Americans (YLA) cannot identify a brand or company that is accurately targeting Latinos.
" Because YLA do not feel their demands are being met, they are creating and embracing custom communication such as blogs, social networking, TIVO and satellite radio.
" There is a growing sense of culture/population explosion among YLA; they are savvy to the fact that there is always an of-the-moment ethnicity, they feel its their turn to be in the spotlight and they feel a sense of empowerment because they are well-aware that Latinos will be the ethnic majority in 15 years.
Defining their Ethnicity
" When it comes to nationality, YLA are specific and identify themselves by their country of origin. The younger age group of 14-24 year-olds are more likely than those aged 25-34 to identify with specific nationality based on preferences of their parents and grandparents. The younger segments refer to nationality as a way to be more unique.
" YLA feel that the current definition of being Latino is based on language and looks: 59% say that other people think Latinos must speak Spanish; 58% say other people think Latinos must look "Spanish" (dark hair, eyes and skin).
" Because not all YLA look Latino or speak Spanish, many feel the need to explain themselves: 36% say people don't believe them when they tell them they are Latino; 29% feel like they have to prove their Latino identity to people.
Order of Identity
" First and foremost, YLA identify with the youth culture, secondly, by their Latino identity-specific to nationality and lastly, they see themselves as part of the American culture.
A Hybrid World
" YLA exist in a hybrid world and are masters at navigating their spaces and identities; 77% report that they are in control of which identity all or most of the time.
" YLA identify with being Latino when they are with their family (48%), around Latino friends (43%), in their home (41%) and in their country of origin (41%).
" YLA identify with being American when they are with non-Latino friends (31%), in public spaces (26%), at school (24%) and at work (24%).
" Their Latino and American identities intersect often, such as when in public spaces (59%), at school (50%), in bars and clubs (48%) and with non-Latino friends (47%).
Values and Beliefs
" Being Latino means more than just speaking and looking Spanish; to YLA it means being family oriented (84%), proud (83%), hard working (81%), passionate (80%), tied to tradition (77%), religious (71%), and believing in higher education (60%) and giving back to their community (53%).
" YLA are unconventional in terms of religion; 60% believe you do not have to go to church in order to prove your faith to God and 49% believe religion is an extremely important part of their lives.
Ties to Culture
" YLA are extremely interested in maintaining a connection with their culture; 67% agree that this is something that is important to them and nearly half of YLA have the desire to form a stronger connection to their Latino culture.
" While YLA don't seem panicked, there is some concern over the possibility of becoming disconnected: 31% agree that they are afraid of losing the connection; 30% feel that they are unequipped to pass down their culture, and 25% are unsure of how to maintain the connection.
To view more of the study CLICK below on March 1, 2006:
Posted by Ahorre at 07:17 AM
December 23, 2005
Franchise Business
A Franchise Partnership in Chicago seeks to connect aspiring minority entrepreneurs with franchisors and help finance the deals. Founded five years ago, the program enlisted 16 franchise companies including Carvel Ice Cream, Dunkin' Donuts, PostNet, Sign-a-Rama, and Fantastic Sam's hair salons. Franchise Business
Posted by Ahorre at 07:59 AM
December 01, 2005
Que Pasa Target.com/espanol
Nice ad copy from Target this week. The URL on the TV copy sends the Univision viewers to www.target.com/espanol. OK, so here comes curious Geoff...
Click, target.com/espanol AHA! - todo en Español. Ok,Click "Libros en Español" = English page. Que Paso?
Posted by Ahorre at 11:13 AM
August 27, 2005
1-800-BEISBOL
1-800-BEISBOL .com is our spanish language web site on Latino Beisbol Players.
Posted by Ahorre at 10:26 AM
April 28, 2005
Puma Spanish Web Site
Puma Spanish Web Site - With the growth in the U.S. Hispanic market driving up demand for soccer-related products as well as other apparel and accessories, Puma North America is using an outside service to expedite the management of content on its new Spanish-language site. The service is 4 to 5 times faster than managing content in-house, e-commerce manager Greg Pulsifer tells InternetRetailer.com.
“The Spanish-language market is huge for us,” Pulsifer says. To quickly serve the market, Puma decided to build a Spanish-language replication of its English-language e-commerce site, Store.Puma.com. But when it considered hiring an in-house Spanish-speaking content manager to replicate the English-language content on its new Spanish-language sister site, it realized that an in-house approach would take too much time and expense, he adds, noting that an in-house person might take days to upload Spanish-language content. “Every month we add several new products to our site,” he says.
Puma launched its Spanish-language site within 60 days last fall using the TransMotion content management and translation system from MotionPoint Corp., Coconut Creek, FL. So far, conversion rates and sales are running about the same as on the English-language site, meeting Puma’s expectations, Pulsifer says.
But without the MotionPoint system, he adds, it would be difficult to keep up with content changes on both sites. The system saves Puma 15-20 hours per month of the extra time it would take to refresh Spanish-language site content in-house and properly represent its brand, he says.
With MotionPoint, Puma just adds content as it always has to its English-language site. MotionPoint uses a combination of software and manual content translation to detect changes to that site and copy it, including all images and text, to the Spanish-language site. Once Puma adds or modifies content on its English-language site, the changes appear on the sister Spanish site within one business day, Pulsifer says. “We don’t have to even think about it,” he says. “But we’ve already seen a good return on investment.”
Will Fleming, CEO of MotionPoint, says TransMotion is used by about 20 retailers and branding companies. Costs range widely based on the size of a web site, with implementation starting in the “low single-digit thousands” to more than $1 million, plus ongoing maintenance fees, he says.
Posted by Ahorre at 08:08 PM
April 18, 2005
AOL Latino City Guide
By Wendy Davis, AMERICA ONLINE LATINO TODAY LAUNCHES AOL Latino City Guide a new Spanish-language guide to 16 U.S. cities, with Ford Motor Co. as the exclusive sponsor through the end of the year. With this initiative, dubbed "Hecho Para Lo Que Viene," -- which translates to the Ford Motor Co.'s slogan "Built For The Road Again"
-- Ford cements its relationship as one of AOL Latino's major advertising partners. The city guides, which will include information in Spanish about music, restaurants and events in major cities including Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and San Antonio, will be available Web-wide through AOL.com, and to subscribers, through the English language city-guide area and through AOL Latino.
The feature's hub page is divided into five different sections, each sponsored by a different type of Ford vehicle, said Peter Blacker, vice president, multicultural and international, AOL Media Networks.
The community area, is sponsored by Ford's Focus, while the "Your Voice," section is sponsored by Mustang, a road trip section is sponsored by Freestyle, a section devoted to international events is sponsored by Ford 500, and a section devoted to information about volunteer or charitable opportunities, such as tsunami relief, is sponsored by the F-150.
In addition to the ads that will run alongside the editorial content, the site will occasionally include rich media page takeovers, Blacker said. He added that the hub page likely will carry video content, including streaming video Ford commercials.
Ads that will run on the site were created by Zubi Advertising's digital arm, Zubi Digital, based in Miami.
Posted by Ahorre at 12:57 PM
February 27, 2005
Got Milk en Espanol
Washington, D.C. (HISPANIC PR WIRE) The National “got milk?(R)” campaign is launching its first Spanish language web site, www.2424leche.com. The site will provide users with the most up to date information on milk's benefits and the famous got milk? campaign. The new site includes many great interactive features to make learning about milk a fun experience, while helping fight the battle against obesity.
The comprehensive site offers resources to educate the Hispanic community on why it’s important to include 24 oz. of milk every 24 hours as part of a healthy diet. It includes information from recent studies that suggest that lowfat or fat free milk, as part of a reduced calorie diet, can help you achieve a healthy weight. The site features various sections offering advice from experts like Dr. Aliza, a nationally recognized Hispanic medical health expert and correspondent for Univision. It also provides a look at the most recent milk mustache celebrities such as Giselle Blondet, Veronica & Christian Castro and Miss Universe 2003, Amelia Vega, including the exciting behind the scenes pictures and videos of their photo shoots.
For those looking to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, the site provides great tools, such as the body mass index calculator, which helps determine your ideal body weight, ideas and recipes that help you find ways to include milk in your daily diet. It also provides a glimpse into the stories of real people who have lost weight by incorporating lowfat or fat free milk into their diets.
“The launch of 2424leche.com will help educate Hispanic moms and their families about milk’s new role in keeping their weight under control by including the recommended 24 oz. of milk every 24 hours through fun recipes and health tips, while providing nutritional information to encourage their families to continue to drink milk as a means to keep healthy,” said Kurt Graetzer, CEO of the Milk Processor Board.
The National Milk Mustache "got milk?"(R) Campaign is jointly funded by America's milk processors and dairy farmers: the MilkPEP Board in Washington, D.C., and Dairy Management Inc., Rosemont, Illinois. The goal of the multi-faceted campaign is to educate consumers on the benefits of milk and to raise milk consumption. A series of educational brochures is available by visiting the milk Web site at http://www.whymilk.com. Lowe is the creative agency for The National Milk Mustache "got milk?"(R) Campaign.
The tagline "got milk?"(R) was created for the California Milk Processor Board by Goodby Silverstein & Partners and is licensed by the national milk processor and dairy producer groups.
Posted by at 10:50 AM
February 17, 2005
1-800-BEISBOL
1-800-BEISBOL sobre las grandes ligas. Latino Baseball
Posted by at 06:28 PM
February 15, 2005
Delta Dental Spanish Web
Delta Dental Adds Spanish-Language Section to Web Site
BUSINESS WIRE - In an effort to provide important dental health information to all its customers, Delta Dental Insurance Company today unveiled a Spanish version of the enrollee portal on its web site.
Delta Dental's new web pages offer enrollees and customers complete access in Spanish to corporate news, dental health and benefits information and links to web services, including its SmileKids dental health section for children and teachers.
"Providing clear dental health information to enrollees as well as to the general public is an important public service," said Robert Elliott, president of Delta Dental Insurance Company. "Especially in states such as Florida and Texas, where English is a second language for so many of our current and prospective customers, we want to improve access to web pages so they can be well-informed consumers of dental services."
The Spanish-language version of the corporate web site is part of an ongoing initiative begun by Delta Dental years ago to increase access to dental health information and empower enrollees to make educated dental benefit decisions. As part of this initiative, the company offers printed materials -- such as enrollee brochures and dental health tips -- written in Spanish, the second most commonly spoken language in the nation. Delta Dental employs many bilingual staff members, including Spanish-speaking customer service representatives and support staff who provide support for on-site customer educational forums such as open enrollment meetings. This past year, the company produced a Spanish video to help new enrollees better understand how their dental plan works; parent company Delta Dental of California also has a Spanish-language section of its web site similar to the one rolled out today by Delta Dental Insurance Company in its 10 states.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that as of the year 2000, 28.1 million people in the United States, or nearly 11 percent of the total population, spoke Spanish in the home -- a number expected to increase as the nation's Latino population grows.
Delta Dental Insurance Company is part of a San Francisco-based holding company system that collectively serves nearly 21 million enrollees in both commercial and government-sponsored programs throughout the nation. It is also part of the Delta Dental Plans Association, whose 39 independent companies cooperate on nationwide programs that today cover more than 45 million of the approximately 155 million Americans with dental benefits.
Posted by at 08:07 AM