Crossing Cultures.

To fully understanding the role of culture within the Hispanic market, marketers have focused of the differences between groups of Hispanics. The Hispanic market is so dynamic and varied that it is impossible to pigeonhole every Latino into one effective category. Even a decision as basic as what language to use in advertisements can cause marketers headaches. On one hand, the emotional and nostalgic connection by creating advertisements in Spanish is a powerful tool for marketers to use (Korzenny and Korzenny p.94). Yet many Hispanics actually prefer advertisements to be presented to them in a bilingual form (Korzenny and Korzenny p.92). I believe that the use of bilingual advertising is not only beneficial for marketing towards Hispanics, but it can effectively be used to reach non-Hispanic whites.

Korzenny and Korzenny describe the marketing campaign of Corona in their book, Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective. Instead of using the traditional beautiful girls and party atmosphere of beer commercials, Corona was advertised as being “orgullosamente mexicana (proudly Mexican) (p.119).” This tactic had a major impact on the sales of Corona in the Hispanic Market. The tagline, with the use of images of the beautiful sites of Mexico and spectacular food, was a one-two punch that tempted the senses and controlled the taste buds. This was not a bilingual campaign, yet the images presented in the advertisements are things that can reach out to a more universal audience. When looking at the advertisement, I felt myself craving a Corona. It wasn’t because I felt the pride of being Mexican, it was because I wanted to be in the picture. If I was flipping through Sports Illustrated and I saw that advertisement with the Spanish words printed and an English translation underneath, I would be thinking about getting a Corona.

The idea that I am trying to convey is one of aspirations. Hispanics see advertisements in Spanish and it reminds them of experiences they had in their past. They then aspire to re-live the experiences they once had by purchasing the product. I believe that the same ad can cause a similar sensation in non-Hispanic whites. Korzenny and Korzenny describe Karl Jung’s idea of a collective unconscious, which is composed of common experiences by many different groups (p. 95). Because everybody can relate to leisure, beauty, pride, and so on, marketers can effectively cross boundaries in a purely general marketing sense.

In this year’s Super Bowl, Toyota placed an ad that featured a bilingual approach to selling their Hybrid model. A father and son are in the car and the father explains that he is driving a Hybrid and speaking in English all because it will be better for the child’s future (PR/Newswire 2006). The portion that is in Spanish will help draw in the Hispanic audience, but I don’t think it will alienate the non-Hispanic audience either. I think that everybody can identify with the idea of doing something to make the world better for their children. Understanding these connections should relieve some of the fear that marketers have about placing Spanish advertisements in English specific media.

Ted Greeley
Communications Undergrad
Florida State University

Works Cited

Korzenny, Felipe and Korzenny, Betty Ann. Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective. Burlington, MD. Elsevier Inc, 2005.

PR/Newswire. “Toyota’s ‘Hybrid’ Super Bowl Ad Sneak Peak Now Available on Toyota.com and Toyota.com/Espanol.” 31 January 2006. http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=27829&cat=PR+Newswire&more=/pr_newswire/