Monday, Feb 13th, 2012
Translation is poised to play an even bigger role in 2012 than last year, impacting the outcome of elections on an unprecedented level. Hispanic voter participation reached an all time high in 2010 and is projected to be even higher during a presidential election year.
Educating the public on candidates and issues includes Spanish-speaking constituents and reaching them with consistent messages has never been more important. Redistricting has thrown many races wide open and will allow Hispanic votes to play a more meaningful role in the choosing the winner.
Don’t be afraid to jump on the Hispanic outreach bandwagon… it has a long – and profitable – road ahead!
Not sure where to start? Check out our e-book!
Monday, Feb 13th, 2012
Looking at the white washed commercials that dominated the Super Bowl, the corporate tendency to keep multicultural and mainstream separate is evident. Even consumer giants like Walmart and Denny’s have only recently gotten into the Hispanic advertising game. There is still plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons of a multicultural approach for your (or your client’s) marketing strategy.
Chief Marketing Officer for Denny’s Frances Allen explains that despite being aware 20% of its diners are Hispanic Denny’s just put their money where their data is and “went live with our first national online marketing campaign targeting the Hispanic consumer to support our limited time offer for our recently launched Sizzlin’ Skillets.
The video, which can be seen on YouTube.com in Spanish and on Funny Or Die in English, is the first branded content that we’ve made in both English and Spanish to ensure we’re effectively reaching a more diverse audience”.
Make an impact with smart campaigns…
With little valuable Spanish language content out there, it isn’t hard to make an impact with smart campaigns. Compelling, cutting-edge content is key, as with all marketing campaigns. All too often overly simplistic ads can leave a condescending taste in the mouths of Hispanic audiences, but luckily one man’s trash is another man’s opportunity. This lack of inspiring Spanish content leaves a void roomy enough for many eager marketers to fill.
Fusing language and culture is key. In the case of the Sizzlin’ Skillet, this Language Maven has to weigh in that while a little long, the Spanish version attempts to transadapt and is actually funnier than the English version! Bringing Cesar Millán into the taming of the Skillet is smarter than many other things I’ve seen out there.
Thursday, Feb 9th, 2012
In a world where the release of a new iPhone immediately prompts questions on what life changing tools the next version will bring, how do you know which marketing trends are cutting edge and which will make consumers yawn with familiarity? 2011 saw many trends come and go (remember planking?). Thankfully that will soon be just a distant memory, but judging the lifespan of consumer trends can be trickier than the average fad.
Is Hispanic marketing a trend or a profit track just coming into its own? The numbers don’t lie, this is one trend that is here to stay. Data from the 2010 Census and election participation have written a hopeful introduction to the story of Spanish language media, and conglomerates like Hormel Food Corp. are writing the next chapter.
Citing growth in the Hispanic population as a major factor behind its 9% revenue growth last year, Hormel specifically praised MegaMex, its ethnic food division for “picking up the slack” of its other segments. Hormel is wholeheartedly marketing its most profitable division, “As Spam’s 75th anniversary approaches, Hormel will launch a series of humorous TV advertisements. Hormel showed off 10 ads, including two domestic and one Asian market Spam ads, and two domestic and one Spanish language MegaMex ads. Hormel spent $115.3M in advertising in fiscal 2011 and plans to continue a similar plan in 2012″. - Jeff Ettinger, Hormel President and CEO
With giants such as Hormel, Folgers and Walmart just now stepping into the bilingual ring… the Language Maven wonders how come some folks think it’s too late to get in the game…
Multicultural marketing is still in its infancy…
Friday, Feb 3rd, 2012
We received this gem of a plug recently from one of our “competitors”:
Seriously? Beyond the lack of creativity in the pitch, the typo jumping out makes me cringe… is this the attention to detail they offer their clients? Sure, mistakes can happen to anybody, but not in a mass mailer when proofreading is in your job description.
This is a case where you will get what you pay for. There are shoppers for Walmart and shoppers for Target. There are also shoppers for Nordstrom and Saks. Quality is the differentiator and, if you are a bargain shopper, don’t act surprised when your message rips at the seam.
How can you know your message is in capable hands? Do your homework: compare websites and attention to detail. Did the agency invest in their branding, wording and make an effort to lure you in with the quality they offer or did they provide a rock bottom rate your CFO just can’t say no to? You care about your image and capturing the Trillion Dollar Hispanic Culture that’s out there… make the investment and reach out in a culturally competent manner. Your CFO will be grateful in the long run!
Friday, Dec 23rd, 2011
This would be a great gag card for a friend if it were intentionally funny. But the tone of this card in China definitely doesn’t match the smiley happy decorations.
Friday, Dec 16th, 2011
Since Monica is in her native Argentina this week, it is fitting to share one of the many English blunders she encountered.
A picture really is worth a thousand words, or in this case just two. Just seeing a cigarette with a red slash through it will resonate the phrase “No Smoking” for most Americans. The image really saves this literal translation from being ineffective in connecting to the English audience.
Friday, Dec 2nd, 2011
Fortune cookies are notoriously entertaining in their vagueness. But have you ever cracked open a cookie only to be baffled by a fortune that is not even intelligible let alone profound?
I have no idea what “it” is but I guess I should run to “it” or maybe get a ladder to reach “it”!
Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2011
Just finished a meeting on SpanishOne’s web presence with @alejandroreyes @broadacrecoffee 
It’s my first time visiting Broadacre, which opened 2 months ago and since it is actually quiet enough to get some work done, I decided to stay for the rest of the afternoon!
Next week the cafe is celebrating State Worker Appreciation Week with a different deal everyday:
Wednesday, Nov 23rd, 2011
SpanishOne Translations has officially entered the blogosphere! Our first blog post for Midtown’s My Neighborhood section on News10.net went live yesterday and we couldn’t be more excited! Check it out at: http://midtown.news10.net/news/arts-culture/88149-turkey-hunting-madrid
Our brains are swirling with the topics we want to bring to you: everything from multicultural events around town to market trends and of course, our “translation foibles” to keep you smiling.
On Monday, in anticipation of SpanishOne’s newest reincarnation, I finished
“Sticky Readers: How To Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better”. As the title implies this quick-read is filled with tips on streamlining ideas into an engaging blog post.
Margaret Andrews, a local Sacramento blogger, offers advice on how to inject human appeal into your personal experience to give blogs universal appeal. Most helpful to me: she emphasizes the importance of staying concise, but infusing blogs with the details to keep people connected at the same time.
While her tips will undoubtedly help blogify my writing, I will not be adopting what I consider her “my world is just blog fodder” attitude. For example to demonstrate the handiness of carrying a camera 24/7, she recounts asking a friend to photograph her tooth (that had just fallen out) because it would make a great blog! Thankfully for my friends and all that know me, I can never see myself doing this and remain content pondering recent encounters for interesting material…stay tuned!
Wednesday, Nov 23rd, 2011
You’ve heard of SuperFoods but, Super Mobile Users?
Yes, you read that right… Super Users are the best kept secret that marketers are not telling you about and sometimes not even talking about.
These Super Mobile Users are the Hispanic population – specifically the young part of the population that makes decisions based on online research and are more likely to have smart phones and unlimited data plans than their non-Hispanic peers. This follows the general trend of Hispanics leap-frogging technology: a larger percentage have laptops than desktops and often access online information from a phone if a computer is not available at home.
Even more trend worthy is the fact that young US Hispanics who prefer to receive their information in Spanish vs. English is growing right alongside Spanish language website numbers worldwide. Those researching product information in Spanish are even outnumbering their English counterparts in cell phone usage.
While most marketing efforts are still focussed on traditional media, folks should wake up an smell the coffee! The Hispanic population is the fastest growing segment in smart phone and unlimited data plan acquisition (source: FSU, April 2001)
Case studies on how large corporations are just starting to “get” Hispanic mobile marketing can be found in our ebook. Are you a super-duper mobile mobile user?
