The Hispanic Household Is Uncharted Territory For Marketers.

The direct response advertising community is discovering that the Hispanic household represents a huge untapped marketing opportunity. While interest in the Hispanic Market has been growing over the last few years, the fight for a share of the Hispanic household’s direct response spending is just beginning. The 2000 US Census data has revealed the immense buying power of this market, and there is additional data to support the viability of the Hispanic household as a direct response opportunity. Yet some advertisers still ask: Aren’t we reaching them already through existing DM efforts to the General Market?

The typical Hispanic household receives less than 1/10th the advertising mail as general market households. According to two recent surveys by Dimension/Draft and Data Research Group, 66% of Hispanics say they always open and read their advertising mail, and 39% say they want to receive more. The relative lack of mailbox “clutter” suggests that responsiveness should be higher to this audience. One segment that has been completely overlooked is the Hispanic “New Mover” audience, which is surprising, considering that new movers tend to spend as much as 5 times that of non-new movers.

Geoffrey Fiala, who runs MiCasita, a National co-op mail program targeting Hispanic “New Movers” (www.micasitamail.com), explains: “We’ve had considerable interest in our program from major co-op mail marketers, as well as companies that have effective solo direct response mail programs for the general market, but have had trouble reaching the Hispanic household cost-effectively. Our program offers an easy, inexpensive solution to reaching these households at the right time, with the right message.” MiCasita’s next scheduled mailing will take place mid-July ’03 with space still available as of this writing. The circulation of this program is approximately 250,000 per mail drop in the top US Hispanic Markets.

While MiCasita reaches a very specific audience, many marketers also want to reach out to the broader Hispanic population. Carmen’s Cupones y Consejos (Carmen’s Coupons, Tips and Advice), the other leading co-op mail program for the Hispanic market, mails quarterly to approximately three million households nationwide. “With over a year’s worth of successful mailings, we know that Carmen’s is becoming an essential part of many direct response marketers plans.” Says Shayne Walters, President of Carmen’s Cupones (www.carmenscupones.com). He continues: “We’re also seeing a strong interest in our upcoming Hispanic Heritage Month mailing (Sept ’03) from the non-profit sector, packaged good manufacturers and retail establishments.” Carmen delivers valuable information to her “friends and family” in 7 states and 12 markets across the U.S.

While traditional Hispanic ad agencies don’t often embrace direct marketing as an essential campaign element, there has been growing interest from a new breed of Agencies that recognize the power of reaching the Hispanic consumer through the mail. “The emergence of co-op programs such as MiCasita and Carmen’s Cupones demonstrates the need for inexpensive vehicles to reach Hispanic households, including the bilingual Hispanic.” Says Barbara Ruano, President/Founder of Spanglish Communications, a Costa Mesa, CA ad agency and media company (www.spanglishads.com) specializing in the Latino Market (including the second and third generation “crossover” Hispanics). She adds: “These new direct marketing programs finally give our clients an effective way to get their message into the Hispanic mailbox, without the high price of solo direct mail.”

Lee Kroll, President of Kroll Direct Marketing (www.krolldirect.com) in Plainsboro NJ, agrees that the Hispanic household represents a great opportunity for direct marketers. “There are some great Hispanic DM success stories out there, and a whole new crop of excellent segmented lists have recently become available for marketers interested in this consumer.” Kroll said.