The Power of Business en Español by Jose Cancela
April 11, 2024
SAMS Advertising (Spanish Advertising & Marketing Service), founded in 1963, was the first full-service Hispanic advertising agency in the United States. With its home in New York City, SAMS and its founder, Luis Diaz Albertini, would go on to change the advertising world. The agency’s unwavering commitment to its Spanish-language work would spawn various generations of Hispanic advertising entrepreneurs.
At close to 20 percent of the U.S. population, and with an estimated $3.4 trillion buying power, the Hispanic community is growing and more dynamic than ever. The data proves Hispanic households speak and consume media in Spanish and English.
Telemundo Enterprises’ EVP, Chief Administrative & Marketing Officer Monica Gil likes to refer to this population as the ‘200 percenters’ – they’re 100 percent Latino and 100 percent American, and they want the entirety of their identity to be spoken to. Think of Marcello Hernandez cast member from SNL, he is representative of entire generations of Hispanics who are 200 percenters, myself included. Advertisers who don’t understand us, assume the rise in bilingualism and biculturalism means they can ignore work en Español, or that a simple translation is good enough. Those who get it right know that executing creative en Español is the ultimate “in culture” play a marketer can make.
Let me explain:
Spanish is our language of emotion; it’s home. Mamá, Amor, Familia – English may connect to our brains, but Spanish connects to our hearts. We feel en Español.
Think about it: at no time in the history of America has an immigrant group had the media ecosystem keeping its native language alive the way the Hispanic community does today. Spanish-language media is ubiquitous. TV, radio, digital, outdoor, film, streaming, music, fashion, influencers – you name the medium, platform, genre or industry, and there is a powerful Spanish-language version.
Look no further than worldwide phenomenon Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny. This artist is a prime example. Did you know, he only performs his music in Spanish? Yes, even here in the States, el solo canta en Español.
From moms watching ‘La Casa de los Famosos,’ to Gen-Zers scrolling through Latino TikTok, the message is loud and clear:Spanish is woven into the fabric of our country, and communicating with the Hispanic community means embracing its power.
Having said all the above, the reality is that we are living in a moment in time that Albertini would have relished. In his wildest dreams, he would not have imagined how powerful the Spanish-language advertising ecosystem would have grown to become. Are there challenges? Of course, but there have always been challenges. That is par for the course in any business sector.
In closing – and on the day when the Hispanic Marketing Council kicks off their gathering in NYC – I think we should raise a glass and thank Albertini and his fellow members in the HMC Hall of Fame, all of whom met and surpassed the challenges of their time. I say raise your glass to the companies and their respective heads of marketing who understand the power of the Spanish language for their messaging.
And, last but not least, I say raise your glass to the Latino Advertising leaders of today, all of whom know that the Power of Business en Español is here to stay.
Jose Cancela
About the Author
Jose Cancela is President of the Telemundo Station Group. He was fortunate to have had front-row seats starting in the early 80s to a burgeoning Hispanic market. His career path would put him side-by-side with those who built Spanish-language television in America. He would forge his own path as a premier operator of Spanish-language TV stations in the States and Puerto Rico. Cancela is also the author of the Power of Business en Español (Harper Collins).
