HISPANIC TEENS MAY NOT SPEAK ESPANOL BUT CARRY STRONG VALUES

Hispanic teens play an increasingly important role in the purchasing decisions of America’s most valued household brands. In fact, brand marketers today are continuously trying to keep up with and understand these teens and their ever-changing trends.

Last year, teenagers spent over $170 billion dollars in music, movies, retail products and other media platforms such as video games.

To further shed light on this lucrative market, last November, Adweek, Brandweek and MediaWeek organized “The Second Annual What Teens Want Conference” in Los Angeles. The two day conference brought together brand marketers and communications specialists throughout the country to share valuable information and strategic approaches to better reach out to a burgeoning and fickle segment of the market; highlights included informative dialogues with top marketing executives, direct feedback from teenagers and panels tackling critical niche marketing issues.

Right at the epicenter was a panel discussion called Marketing to Hispanic Teens: Reaching The Underrepresented Majority. The session was moderated by Leila Cobo (Latin bureau chief for Billboard) and guest speakers included Daniel Crowe (President of LATV), Christy Haubegger, (Creative Artists Agency & founder of Latina magazine), and Rebecca Leon (Lion Fish Entertainment).

Hispanic teens share as many similarities as differences with their mainstream counterparts. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 88 percent of Hispanics under the age of 18 were born in the U.S. This demographic represents a radical number for companies just beginning to feel at ease with the idea of marketing to Hispanic adults in the United States. Now multicultural marketers are faced with the need to be hip with existing Hispanic teen trends. However, as with all teens, this segment is not easy to reach due to their continuously changing trends. Primarily, they must feel a genuine connection with the brand. Also, they must know that their values and concerns are being taken into consideration.

According to a detailed study conducted by the Intelligence Group on Latino youth, these teens take pride in their Hispanic values and strive for American success. Today’s Hispanic teens will be the most educated and affluent generation ever in the market, they have an enormous desire to succeed while making their parents proud of all their sacrifices. For them, being Hispanic is about having a set of values, priorities while keeping their cultures’ identity. They want the best of both worlds and feel they can achieve it.

Compared to their mainstream counterparts, Hispanic teens share a common interest in lifestyle and entertainment activities such as television shows, music, video games and consumer trends. Hispanic teens tend to look at their parents or relatives as role models where mainstream teens tend to look at celebrities.

Interestingly, these teens do not define their culture by language. It really is about culture and values. Three-fourths of this segment proudly speaks Spanglish, and most say they equally prefer to speak both English and Spanish.

Hispanic teens’ perception of how the world looks at them is that they are pioneers setting the pace for generations to come. Many will be the first in their families to graduate from high school, college and also to pursue a graduate education. Recent data points to the high school drop out rate among Hispanic teens to be just under 36 percent—far higher than other minorities groups. Consequently, Hispanic teens main concerns consist of dropping out of high school, gang related violence and teen pregnancy.

When marketing to this segment, it is important to bear in mind the question of identity, which varies from city to city. It is different growing up a Hispanic teenager in Los Angeles, Miami or New York City. The sensibilities in consumer trends and social issues vary in each regional market.

Overall teens today share a universal perspective of the world, to grow closer as a community, feel closer to a brand that supports a cause and the importance to succeed. As marketers, it is important to base a brand strategy on universal truths rather than cultural truths as the key approach to reach out to this rapidly growing segment.