It’s more than just ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca.’ To target the $20 billion Latino teen market you must speak the same language — and it’s not always Spanish.

By Ana Vargas

Traditionally, communicators and marketers have assumed their messages would reach young Latinos when they targeted all teens or the General Hispanic audience. That’s beginning to change. PR pros and marketers are taking notice of the growing marketplace power of young Latinos, who are estimated to spend $20 billion of their own money each year. They make up 14% of the US population, according to Teenage Research Unlimited. And this market sector is expected to grow by as much as 62% over the next 20 years.

But if you think reaching these young people only takes invoking someone like Ricky Martin or Jennifer Lopez, think again. Latinos are much more complicated than that complicated enough that communications experts are still trying to figure out this market.

Young Latinos may share many similarities with their Americans peers, but the bottom line is most of them do not talk the same way or have the same cultural ties. For young Hispanics who rarely see images of themselves incorporated in mainstream TV, radio and advertising, tailoring information specifically for them can increase the impact of your message.

“You can’t do a one-stop, one-size-fits-all approach. How you market to a young Mexican man in LA will depend on how long he’s been in the country, his primary language, his likes and dislikes,” says Armando Trull, VP of Cohn & Wolfe’s Hispanic outreach division.

For a responsible drinking campaign for the Century Council, Cohn & Wolfe researched different segments of the youth market — from recent young immigrants to bilingual first generation groups to fifth youth who might not speak any Spanish. The result was a campaign using musicians playing salsa, Spanish hip pop, Spanish rock and other areas that each have their own distinct following. “You really need to know exactly what part of the youth community you’re trying to reach or you’ll waste your money,” says Trull.

There are some overarching issues, however, that should be addressed when looking at this group.

“The cultural nuances are the largest problem that people trying to communicate with the Hispanic community face. You cannot just write in Spanish and expect it to work, especially with young people,” says Henry de La Garza, CEO of de La Garza Public Relations in Houston. Many experts say that young Latinos prefer to receive information in English — though that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t sometimes use Spanish.

Jessica Priego, account supervisor at Ogilvy Public Relations in Washington, DC, is working on materials for MasterCard that will target Latino college students. Although written in English, the materials have been constructed around young Latino experiences. For example, many come from households where credit cards have not been used, so more explanation on how credit cards work will be included in brochures. “We need to provide examples that they can relate to.”

Know the audience well

Eight percent of young Hispanics use Spanglish (a mixture of English and Spanish) when speaking with each other. “You need to create messages that don’t speak to the community but come from the community. Communicating using their jargon is the most important thing you can do,” says Larry Barrios, account executive at MWW Group in Los Angeles.

Arbitrary translation of words into Spanish will only project a “wannabe” image. Spanglish tends to mix English with smattering of Spanish words that have more meaning than their English counterparts. And, as with any young audience, slang is constantly changing so research is imperative to keeping your message current.

In Houston, Henry de La Garza found that Latino kids and teens were going to local public libraries in large part because of misinterpretation of the word “library” — in Spanish, “librería” means “bookstore” and “biblioteca” means “library.” The result was a campaign for the Houston Public Libraries using “biblioteca” and the slogan “libros y más” (books and more) indicating that other resources like computers were also available there.

In Latino cultures the ties to family present significant differences from mainstream teens. Hispanic kids are taught from day one to have respect for their families, pride in the family name and self-reliance. “They are not as rebellious as American teens. They recognize that their parents have sacrificed a lot for them and will often say their parents are role models,” says Roxana Lissa, president of RL Public Relations & Marketing in Los Angeles.

Because young Latinos live with parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts who may speak very little English, they are constantly exposed to Spanish-language media at home. It is quite common for Hispanic families to watch TV together, especially telenovelas (Latin American soap operas) and local news programs.

Young Latinos who move between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking realms are exposed to a vast array of media. “With young Latinos, you have double the amount of opportunities to reach them,” says Deborah Kazenelson, president of DKLA Communications in LA.

Despite young Latinos’ widespread use of English, some subjects may carry more resonance when addressed in Spanish, especially delicate concerns such as religion, relationship and sex. Ogilvy produced and HIV/AIDS awareness campaign for DC Faces in Spanish to reach young Latino men. Latino soccer players were used as spokespersons and an awareness day was created at an October DC United soccer game. “You need to push the right cultural buttons and put things in the right cultural context to get your message across,” says Ogilvy’s Priego. The event was followed up with posters saying “protegé tu futuro” (protect your future).

When speaking to young Latinos in Spanish, a general and straightforward language should be used, without the regional variations found throughout Latin America. But remember that many third and four generation Latinos don’t even speak Spanish, so study your target before you choose a media outlet. All of this is not to say that you won’t reach these youths by targeting mainstream teens. Young Hispanics tend to bear more similarities to their American peers than they do to older generations of Latinos. “Something I have to hammer into my clients time and time again is that Hispanic teens are entirely different market from their parents. They are better educated than their parents, they prefer to communicate in English and to consume in English media,” says Juan Faura, director of global research at Cheskin Research.

The message, not the messenger

For example, in focus groups the “Got Milk?” commercials scored high with young Latinos even though they were in English with no Hispanic characters, while other commercials featuring Latino stars scored low if their messages were unclear or deemed uncool.

If Latino teens respond so well to general teen messages, why should you invest in PR targeted specially at them? RL PR’s Lissa argues that, while general messages may be well received by Latino teens, they also may carry less resonance than messages that specifically target this group.

In addition, teens tend to focus on being part of American culture, but once in college a new phenomenon takes place, which some have dubbed “reverse acculturation.” Young Hispanics become more interested in their ethnics background and in speaking Spanish. They also take more notice when messages do not include them.

Obviously, determining when to use Spanish and when to use English presents some difficulty, as does knowing when to tap into American cultural icons and when to appeal to Latino sensibilities. Possibly the only thing that’s clear, at this point, experts say, is that there can be no one way of targeting this group. Cohn & Wolfe’s Trull and others hope to see the level of market research on Latinos reach the same level of sophistication it has with the African-American market. But given the rapid morphing that goes on in youth culture, getting out there and seeing what young Latinos are doing is the only way to ensure your message has the right appeal.

Latino media outlets: a selection

PRINT

Latina magazine: a women’s magazine for Latinas. Stories cover career, celebrities, beauty, health, food and travel with a Latino edge and is written in both English and Spanish. Latina Girl provides similar coverage for Latinas in their early teens.

TELEVISION

Local Spanish-language newscasts: Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision produce local news programs often watched by the entire family.
Sabado Gigante: four-hour Saturday morning game show, talent show and talk show. The variety show, hosted by Don Francisco, is regularly watched by entire families and boasts 100 million viewers.
Despierta America: national morning show on the Univision network showcases news, human interest stories and lifestyle pieces.

RADIO

New York: La Mega WSKO 97.9 FM plays the hottest Salsa, Spanish rock and top-of-the-charts Spanish-language music. Its morning drive program features celebrities, advice and promotionals, often geared toward a young male audience.
Miami: El Zol 95.7 FM reaches young Latinos with both morning and evening drive programs as well as hip promotions and contests.

INTERNET

Quepasa.com: one of the most popular Internet portals among Latinos, the site offers articles and information in both Spanish and English. Topics covered include everything from finance to sports.
Starmedia.com: the US section of this Spanish-language portal features articles on news, sports, music and entertainment — with both US and Latino-focused stories. CL

source: RL Public Relations website

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