Translation in the Year of the Dragon
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…
