A Mexican, a Puerto Rican & a Honduran walk into a bar.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc    /    LMMiami.com

Folks, here’s a draft of the keynote I have in mind for a seminar organized by the chamber of commerce of a certain upscale metropolitan area in the US Eastern Seaboard that has seen a marked spike in the growth of its Hispanic population. The members of said chamber of commerce are plenty intrigued by the newcomers’ lifestyles and shopping habits. Oddly enough for an upscale DMA in the US of A in 2018, marketing to Latinos seems to be uncharted territory for this crowd of marketers so I’ve opted to start with the very basics. Take a look and tell me what you think:

• Factoid: the US is the second largest Hispanic country in the world by population. There are 60+ million Latinos living in the US. More than in any other Hispanic country except for Mexico.
• There are 20 Spanish-speaking nations out there, give or take.
• Countries where Spanish is the official language.
• Home to roughly 500 million souls.
• Countless accents, speech patterns, localisms, cadences and idioms.
• Let’s say that I strike conversation at an elevator with a stranger who happens to be, say, Dominican.
• After the first word out of my mouth they would know I am not Dominican.
• Four more words would signal I am not from the Caribbean.
• Eight words would suffice for them to pinpoint the fact that I am from Argentina.
• Without a shadow of a doubt.
• Of maybe from Uruguay.
• We would understand each other completely.
• Sans hiccups.
• However, there is a chance that some of my turns of phrase could sound odd, clunky or even funny to him or her.
• And vice versa.
• For instance: as is probably the case with all languages in the world, there a dozens of words across the Spanish world to describe genitalia.
• Male, female or otherwise.
• I wouldn’t say it is a devastating minefield of potentially offensive results but one must tread cautiously when addressing a Pan Hispanic audience.
• If you are going to spend large amounts of money advertising your business, USE PROFESSIONAL ADVERTISING COPYWRITERS with experience in the field.
• It is not enough to call your cousin who went to Cancún.
• He doesn’t remember a word.
• He was inebriated the full week he spent there.
• Google translate?
• Not quite a good option either.
• It hasn’t sorted out all its kinks.
• Artificial intelligence is not there yet.
• More often than not, copy translated by Google translate sounds like artificial stupidity.
• The trick for professionally written and delivered Spanish copy is to exploit the commonalities that unite us across national borders and avoid the disparities that separate us.
• Sounds easy?
• It is not.
• It is a learning curve of decades.
• Due mostly to geographic proximity, the largest Hispanic community in America is made up of Mexicans.
• Followed by a smaller yet robust presence of Latinos from various countries of the Caribbean and Central America.
• Population of México: north of 120 million people.
• Upwards of 60% of Latinos in the US have Mexican ancestry or were born in Mexico.
• Therefore, some people in Spanish-speaking media say “When in doubt go Mexican”.
• My motto, on the other hand, is “when in doubt go neutral”.
• Yes, there is such a thing as neutral Spanish.
• Imagine a polished, midwestern Walter Cronkite brand of Spanish.
• Professional, relatable, emphatic, clear to all listeners and CREDIBLE.

Here’s an example:

Bill Nelson
English:
Spanish:

DHL Cobbler English
DHL Cobbler Spanish
 

Of course, Spanglish is an option. Sometimes.

Young Latinos born and raised in the US tend to be bilingual and to mix up both languages in casual conversation.
Here’s an example:
Partnership for a Drug Free America:
 

In some cases, another good idea too is to be “culturally Hispanic” while trying to resort to as little spoken &/or written words as possible.
Here’s an example.
Ocean Drive en español:

• Generally speaking, US Hispanic marketing -or marketing to US Hispanics- shows a tendency to tug at its audiences’ heart strings through the use of nostalgia, “home sickness” and, if you will, some stereotypes: piñatas, sombreros, abuelita, telenovelas, soccer fandom and histrionics, mariachis with handlebar mustaches, etc, etc.
• For the good and the bad, these tricks of the trade DO pay off.
• Sometimes in an ironic way.
• As inside jokes.
• A hint of tasteful and clever tongue-in-cheek self-deprecating humor always disarms an audience.
• Throw in a little creative hyperbole for the sake of effect and bingo.
• If the usual tropes don’t work (piñata) some campaigns are required to explore other layers of cultural insights, still heavily imbued with Hispanicity.
• For instance:
• -A large percentage of Latinos are “working class” in the senses that they hold multiple hourly jobs & lead a daily life with tight schedules (hence our low voter turnout on election days).
• -Latinos overindex on mobile & texting (we’ve been know to be very chatty and we certainly use technology to channel our chattiness)
• -Procrastination (I am usually frowned upon by my fellow Latinos when I say this, it is a bit of a taboo).
• -Fatalism (which doesn’t mean pessimism, quite the contrary). It is the feeling that life is mired in a certain Murphy’s law so one might as well enjoy the ride.
• See, fatalism (a very Catholic thing) predates itself from a certain belief that our future (whether it is promising or dire) is already written and the individual has little room to change it. There’s little I can do to change my destiny so I might as well take it easy and enjoy life. Hence our happy-go-lucky disposition. This is in stark contrast with the Protestant ethos of a self-made life and salvation by one’s deeds. I don’t want to wax anthropological here but there’s plenty of literature, entire libraries in fact, written about these cultural slash psychological slash sociological traits.
• -An aspiration for upward social mobility: not all Latinos are blue collar. Lots of Latinos have college degrees and work in white collar Corporate America, hence a little touch of aspirational lifestyle is always welcome.
• -Intimidation by and a certain mistrust of authorities and large corporations.
• -Music: we Latinos have a visceral appetite for song & dance. We’re know for breaking into song & dance at the drop of hat. We’re a one restless bunch.
• -Cuisine: we Latinos have a visceral appetite for long, loud meals. Prepared from scratch.
• -More music
• -More music
• -And some more cuisine
• Another question my clients ask me A LOT is: should I “Latinize” my products?
• Yes and no.
• We Latinos LOVE Harley Davidson motorcycles, Budwesier beer and a good American-made truck.
• It’s one of the reasons we are here in the first place.
• Then again, adapting the shopping funnel & user experience of your product to Latinos might be a good course of action, sometimes.
• There are no catchall rules for this: market research is always necessary.
• Here’s an idea: if your car dealership or Quick Service Restaurant franchise is located in a heavily Honduran neighborhood, it might make sense to come up with a Honduran Independence Day promotional effort: for this day and this day only, all Hondurans get a full gas tank for free with the purchase or lease of a new vehicle.
• Then again, conduct thorough research to avoid a cultural faux pas.
• Key message of this effort:
• Don’t gamble it, don’t wing it.
• At a risk of sounding like a shameful huckster, my advice to you ladies and gentlemen is that you do this right, with the right resources and with the right people.
• The prize is huge.
• We Hispanics are an untapped market with a sizable purchasing power.
• We are loyal customers and we’ve been known to be quick with the credit card.
• We are very thankful and loyal to brands and business who show us their respect and consideration.
• By the same logic, the risk of getting burned is high.
• Word of mouth spreads fast among Hispanics and no business wants to be on the wrong side of a public scandal that could be construed and disrespectful to Latinos.
• Once again, Latinos are not think-skinned easily offended shrinking flowers.
• Latinos are very tough, come from some rough places and have suffered serious ordeals to make it here.
• No need to overdo it, no need to overact Hispanicity.
• Businesses that reach out to Latinos will be lavishly rewarded.
• We will forgive you if your accent is not perfect, as we are forgiven with enormous grace everyday for the way we butcher the English language of this great Nation that opened its doors to us.
• But we will take our business elsewhere if we do not feel welcome.
• And by the way, there’s no shame in being a huckster.
• There’s inventory waiting to be moved.