US Hispanics And Geosocial Check-in's

Pew Internet just released a study on Location-Based Services that indicates 24% of Hispanic smartphone owners, a higher % than White & Black Non-Hispanics, use Geosocial services like Foursquare to check in.

We are seeing the same behavior on social platforms with our brands on Facebook.  In the past 12 months we've seen the majority of consumers use mobile to "like" our pages on Facebook.

In the same study it was no surprise to see Facebook as the #1 choice for location-sharing or "check-in" services.  Facebook at 38% with Foursquare at 18% and Yelp at only 5%.

Link to the Pew Internet study here.

The "American Spanish-Speaking Audience"

Last weekend Instructions not Included was the hit nobody saw coming, unless you spoke Spanish and watched Spanish language TV networks like Univision and Telemundo.  Although US Hispanic consumers have always been avid moviegoers, a movie like Instructions, made specifically for them, generating the box office dollars it did, was a surprise that shouldn't of been any surprise.  

For many the US Hispanic consumer opportunity is still within their blind spot. Even with major markets transitioning into minority-majority status misperceptions on US Hispanics' purchasing power, shopping & media habits abound. 

For the movie the secret weapon is Eugenio Derbez, popular with the "American Spanish-speaking audience."

From Forbes: “Derbez is the biggest star you’ve never heard of,” says Presburger. “He’s huge in Mexico and with the American Spanish-speaking audience.”

And with no real marketing effort, except Derbez's cross- border social media influence (American Spanish-speaking audience) the movie generated a spectacular $28,000 PSA (per screen average) in its weekend debut.

From Forbes:

 The success of Instructions shows the value of niche markets. While most studios are going for the biggest bang from the biggest bucks (see every super hero movie made in the last five years), Pantelion is targeting a smaller group but one that goes to the movies a lot. There was never any thought to releasing Instructions directly to video on demand.

Link to article in Forbes here.

US Hispanics and Consumer Product Innovation

We are seeing increasing business media coverage on the US Hispanic segment.  The Financial Times recent article on US Hispanics focuses on how leading consumer packaged goods companies are innovating to better serve the needs of this increasingly important consumer segment.  Brands from the home country must innovate to stay in sync with both the evolution of US Hispanics and remain competitive at the retail shelf.

From FT:

"Nestlé began importing Abuelita hot chocolate and La Lechera condensed milk to the US from Mexico in the 1990s. However, Carlos Velasco, president of its international brands division, says it also has to develop new innovations to keep the brands relevant to “acculturated” Mexican-Americans as well as non-Hispanics."

"It offers Abuelita as a quick-stir powder for busy consumers who do not have time to use its traditional chocolate tablet, which can take up to 15 minutes to make a drink. Under the La Lechera name, it is now selling baking kits for Mexican-style cheesecakes.

And as developing economies slow down businesses are now realizing the opportunities of one of the most dynamic emerging markets, right here in the USA.

"But as economic growth in the developing world slows, companies are becoming more eager to win extra business from the group (US Hispanics), which some see as an emerging market within the world’s biggest economy."

Link to FT article here.

The Remarkable Growth of US Hispanics - 1980 to 2011

In 1980 the U.S. Hispanic population was barely 15 million.  In the three decades since it has more than tripled to 52 million (2011) and expanded beyond traditional states into the Midwest and Southeast.

The PewResearch Hispanic Trends Project recently completed a study mapping the U.S. Hispanic population by state, county and city.  They have some great maps that show decade by decade growth of the U.S. Hispanic population.

The map gif above (The Atlantic Cities) shows U.S. Hispanic population growth from 1980 to 2011.  It clearly shows the dispersal of U.S. Hispanics beyond traditional states as well as growth along the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines.

From PewResearch: The nation’s Hispanic population, while still anchored in its traditional settlement areas, continues to disperse across the U.S. Today, the 100 largest counties by Hispanic population contain 71% of all Hispanics, but that is down from 75% in 2000 and 78% in 1990.

From The Atlantic Cities:  Hispanics still remain largely clustered in the Southwest and Florida: Today, fully 9 percent of all Hispanics in the United States live in Los Angeles County alone. And just 100 counties combined contain 71 percent of the Latino population (that's out of more than 3,000 counties nationwide).