#3- Do you speak my language?
We continue our blog on Five Reasons for Higher Ad Recall Among Hispanics.
What do Budweiser, Bounty and McDonald’s have in common? They have all successfully reached the Hispanic market with Spanish language print, radio and television ads.
Spanish primetime advertisement spots reach over half the Hispanic population ages 18-49, while English ads only reach 40%.1 Deciding to advertise in a particular language involves more than simply translating copy. When done right, Spanish language ads produce 30% higher recall among Hispanics.
Why?
3. Authenticity vs. stereotyping
Have you ever had anybody try to tell you what you believe? The gesture is quite obnoxious and annoying, especially when they are 100% wrong. The same thing holds true to the early days of Hispanic advertisements when advertisers’ only idea to get the market’s attention involved mariachi bands. Marketers were basically saying, “hey you, you’re Hispanic; you must love mariachi bands and will, therefore, love my commercial if I feature a mariachi band and buy my product.”
Moving beyond the stereotypes and authentically portraying a culture only increases ad recall. Effective advertising stems from understanding your market’s interests (and language) and appropriately tying them in with your brand.
For example, MillerCoors and Lopez Negrete have teamed up and produced several successful TV commercials for Miller Lite beer. The ads often surround the social interaction of futbol/soccer matches or interactions between couples—sorry, no mariachi bands here.4
Stay tuned for Higher Ad Recall among Hispanics #4 in a future blog.
Sources:
1. “Hispanics View TV in Language Used at Home.” (2011, Apr. 20). Marketing Charts. Retrieved from http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/hispanics-view-tv-in-language-used-at-home-17130/
4. De Lafuente, Della. (2008, Aug. 11). “Crossing Over: as Borders Blur and Cultural Mainstreaming Takes Over, Spanish-Language Ads Made in the U.S.can Increasingly Play in Latin America.” AdWeek. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.vapld.info/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA183043795&v=2.1&u=vapl_main&it=r&p=GRGM&sw=w
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