Hispanic Teen Trends.

“The back-to-school shopping season serves as an important bellwether for the holiday season by helping retailers pinpoint emerging trends and popular products.”

“Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO

Most major mass retailers “Back to School” media plans include an investment in local Spanish TV, Radio & Newspapers. These media buys only serve to primarily reach Hispanic parents and are not effectively reaching Hispanic youth themselves. Traditional Spanish Media, particularly in-language TV, most Spanish Radio formats & ethnic newspapers are lightly & selectively used by Hispanic Youth for news and entertainment or not at all.

The importance of targeting Hispanic Youth 12-18 as a distinct target group for “Back to School” selling, is a reflection of a retail trend that indicates that children are using their own money to buy “back-to-school” basics and at times on items for which their parents do not view as necessary or aren’t willing to pay.

Although Younger Hispanic teens 12-16 may not have the retail might or buying power of older Hispanic Teens 16-18. They assert a stronger influence on Parent’s “Back to School” shopping decision than their non-Hispanic counterparts, particularly among parents who are un-acculturated & semi-acculturated who trust that their children are more knowledgeable or appropriate in what are true “back-to-school” requirements in the U.S.

Some argue that Younger Hispanic 12-16 can be reached by popular mainstream media consumed by other teens, since:

– Hispanic teens resemble the general population of teens in many ways and consume pretty much the same mainstream media outlets
– Hispanic teens continue to use English more than Spanish when speaking to friends, at school, workplace & social situations.
– ‘Dora the Explorer” proves that Latino Kid Power is understood by popular powerhouse cable outlets and casting Latin characters is a hot trend for new program development in Kid Programming.

Hispanic Teen Media Space

To reach Hispanic Teens, Hispanic TV buys need to include Novelas and specialty weekend programs such as Univision beach party dance show “Caliente”, Telefutura top 10 music countdown show “Pepsi Musica” or TV Azteca’s pop idol “La Academia” to have some traction against Spanish Dominant & some Bi-lingual youth. Also, inclusion of niche English-language, Hispanic lifestyle cable outlets such as MUN2 or new MTV 3R’s will improve delivery of English Dominant Hispanic Youth

As smart as these buying decisions are, these youth-oriented programs maybe only reaching the oldest range of Teens and Young Adults. The younger the age of the target, the more likely they are not being reached even by specialty niche programming. The media habits of a Hispanic 12 year old school age kid are very different from a Hispanic 18 year old.

There exists a Unique Latino Younger Teen Media Space that is capturing their imagination and holding their attention more than any other media outlet – and working in this media space is low out-of-pocket investment.

This media space should also include: social networking sites as Batanga, newcomer elHood, MiGente, VozLatina and ZonaZoom; High School distributed Magazines such as Lateen Magazine, Latino U – H.S. Edition, Teen Voices and Quince Girl (Sweet 15th focused edit) & Youth-oriented radio formats such as Hispanic CHR, Hurban, Reggaeton.

Retailers need to challenge their Hispanic Agencies to develop “Back to School” media plans that reach Hispanic youth and to add quality buys, by making sure not to under-deliver to younger Hispanic teens.

Nelson is the Vice President and Media Director for Latinvox. He is responsible for expanding the shop’s media practice, including the rollout of new products and services. He is also part of the senior team of Latinvox executives guiding the agency’s strategic development, with a focus that includes agency-wide professional development and training, establishing new practice areas, hiring additional key senior talent, and assessing possible strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

By Nelson Garcia, Latinvox