Latino Trends Fuel Media, Ad Changes
Denver Post - July 11, 2004
Large corporations are continuing to chase the booming Hispanic population, based on a range of census and demographic trends:
The U.S. Hispanic population grew 61 percent between 1990 and 2003 to reach 35.3 million people. That makes Hispanics the fastest-growing group in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Colorado's Hispanic market is the eighth-largest in the United States, according to a study by the Selig Center for Economic Growth.
A number of new U.S. Spanish-language TV, radio and print publications have popped up in the last two years: Azteca America, ESPN Deportes, HBO Latino, Showtime Latino, People Español, a number of Spanish-language radio stations and a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Dallas.
Advertising dollars targeted to Hispanic magazines grew 24 percent between 2002 and 2004, according to Media Economics Group in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Total spending on Hispanic advertising more than doubled to $3.4 billion between 1997 and 2003, according to the American Hispanic Advertising Association. Among the biggest spenders: Procter & Gamble Co., General Motors, McDonald's and Sears Roebuck & Co.
Still, advertising targeted to Hispanics makes up an average of just 2.4 percent of corporate ad budgets, the association reports. And companies often miss the mark with Spanish-language pitches, claims TransPerfect Translations, a New York translation firm.
A 2003 survey by TransPerfect found 57 percent of people who speak Spanish - and speak English as a second language - said they've seen advertising that is incorrectly translated from English.
Nearly half of them say if an ad is poorly translated, they tune out the message. TransPerfect found the following mistranslations or misuses in ads targeted to Hispanics:
"Point" was mistranslated as "puta," which means prostitute, instead of "punta."
"Census" was mistranslated as "sesos," which means brain, instead of "censo."
"Huahua," which means bus to people from Cuba and Puerto Rico, also means baby to people from Chile.
"There are risks if you go at it," said Jose Lopez-Varela, who heads up the Hispanic advertising arm of Hill Holliday in Miami.
—Jennifer Alsever
About TransPerfect
TransPerfect is a diversified family of companies providing a full array of international communication services in 22 offices worldwide, including document management, translation, and staffing solutions. TransPerfect is ISO 9001:2000 certified which means it has implemented the most rigorous quality assurance process, according to criteria set forth by the International Organization for Standardization. The wide range of services it provides includes imaging, reprographic services, electronic data discovery, multilingual OCR, electronic labeling, coding, on-site imaging and copying, as well as staffing, and a full suite of translation and interpretation solutions. Headquarters are in New York City.
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