The race is on to capture the U.S. Hispanic market, with mainstream networks and their Hispanic counterparts battling for primacy. The result is an increasing cross-pollination of programs and a proliferation of networks, with Fox, Lionsgate and NBCU among those joining Hispanic allies to find and produce content aimed at the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the U.S.

New Hispanic channels are emerging, some in Spanish, some in English, in a bid to appeal to a mix of generations and language preferences that can exist under one Latino roof: The latest census reveals that of the 50.5 million Hispanics in the U.S., 30% are Spanish-dominant while the rest are either English-speaking or bilingual.

Broadcast leader Univision is now the clear No. 5 broadcast network (behind the Big Four) while rival Telemundo has been picking up steam.

“The number of networks focused on the Spanish space has increased from around 12 in 2001 to 100 just a month ago,” says Univision networks prexy Cesar Conde, who points out that Univision alone will have a dozen networks by year’s end compared with three last year.

These include Univision’s upcoming news and sports pay TV nets in addition to the telenovela channel now on Dish Network plus the six TuTV pay TV channels, jointly owned with Televisa.

One of the most anticipated new players is MundoFox, a joint venture between Fox Intl. Channels (FIC) and Colombia’s RCN, due to launch in the fall. The new Spanish-lingo network will showcase edgier Colombian telenovelas and look to build on Fox’s success in inserting itself into a market. Meanwhile, Fox and Univision recently bowed Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s pan-American talent competish “Q’Viva! The Chosen,” while Fox’s “Family Guy” airs on Univision sibling web TeleFutura.

Elsewhere, sister networks NBC and Telemundo share talent and resources in the exec ranks as well as on-air.

In the 2011-12 upfront season, an estimated $88 million of new business came to Spanish-Language TV, with Telemundo taking more than half (55%) of the new business, according to Lauren Zalaznick, chairman of NBCUniversal entertainment, digital networks and integrated media.

“The reported 2011/2012 upfront numbers were $1.75 billion for Univision, and $400 million for Telemundo, up 20% from the 2010/2011 upfront,” says Antonio Ruiz, partner-communications planning at leading Hispanic ad agency, the Vidal Partnership. Telemundo and its youth-skewed bicultural cable sibling Mun2 delivered more than 20% growth year-to-year, marking their best upfront season ever.

“Our Hispanic strategy is not limited to Telemundo (or Mun2) alone,” says Zalaznick, who points out that NBCUniversal’s theme parks, studio, cable and broadcast networks, digital assets and Comcast’s leading position among cablers in the U.S. allows the company to collectively reach 93% of all Hispanics. She adds that landing the Spanish-language U.S. rights to World Cup Soccer matches in 2018 and 2022 would not have happened without the joint efforts of NBC Sports and Telemundo Deportes.

NBCU parent Comcast has begun to fulfill its pledge to launch 10 independently owned channels on its cable systems over the next eight years. Of these, four will have Hispanic ownership.

Leading the initial pack is young-male-skewed El Rey from Latino helmer Robert Rodriguez and partners John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa of FactoryMade Ventures.

“When Fogelman approached me with the idea for this channel, I immediately said yes,” says Rodriguez. He’s building soundstages on his 25-acre property in Austin for the English-language channel, which will include animation, music, reality, scripted shows, movies, docus and sports programming.

“The key is to make it universal; I want viewers to watch it because it’s cool, not Latino,” adds Rodriguez.

Another upcoming Latino-owned Comcast network is BabyFirst Americas from Spanish-lingo TV exec Constantino “Said” Schwarz, which is slated to launch by April.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate and Mexican partner Televisa have expanded their joint film venture, Pantelion Films, onto the smallscreen as well. (Over the March 16-18 weekend, Pantelion scored big at the B.O. with “Casa de mi Padre,” which nabbed $2.4 million on 382 screens.) The partnership will include English-lingo format adaptations of TV content from Televisa’s library, and the development of scripted and unscripted English-language original programming.

The companies have set up a hefty development fund to enable them to attract top showrunners and talent for an average output of six to eight projects a year, including the sitcom spinoff of Pantelion’s debut pic, “From Prada to Nada”; “Badlands,” a scripted drama at ABC based on Televisa hit telenovela “Soy tu Duena”; Televisa’s drama skein “Terminales” for ABC Family; and “Teresa,” based on another Televisa telenovela.

Univision, an erstwhile strictly Spanish-language network, recently began providing English close-captioning for its primetime block of telenovelas and other programs, including long-running variety show “Sabado Gigante.” The network is a ratings winner, especially among adults 18-34, where its season average is double struggling English-language broadcaster CW (1.6 vs. 0.8) and is now within shouting distance of ABC, CBS and NBC. (No. 2 Hispanic-language net Telemundo has been offering English closed captions in its primetime block since 2004.)

“Forty-two of the top 50 shows are already watched by bilinguals on Univision,” says Conde.

But U.S.-partnered players aren’t the only ones gearing up to deliver Latino shows to the U.S.: Venezuela’s RCTV, once the oldest and most dominant broadcaster in Venezuela until president Hugo Chavez shuttered it for allegedly inciting rebellion, revived its production capabilities in October, keenly aware of the growing interest in Latino-themed stories.

RCTV Intl. head Jorge Granier is opening a Los Angeles office and has been meeting with showrunners and talent agencies to package English-language versions of RCTV telenovelas selected from its trove of 300 titles.

Latin America’s wealth of talent, formats, stories and programming innovations has not been fully tapped in the U.S., says Joshua Mintz, exec VP of Telemundo Studios, which is churning out six to seven telenovelas a year, mainly in Miami. Mintz points to ABC’s hit adaptation of Colombia’s “Ugly Betty” and, most recently, Fox Television Studios plans for an English-lingo version of “La Reina del Sur,” Telemundo’s biggest hit telenovela.

“If the U.S. TV industry needs new stories to tell, it doesn’t need to look any further than Latin America,” Granier says.”

via Networks target fast-growing Hispanic aud – Entertainment News, TV News, Media – Variety.

Walmart, Kmart, Target and Kohl’s Focus Programs and Advertising to Appeal to Developing ‘Total Market’

No one lives the “total market” — the term used to describe the blending of the general and multicultural markets — like Walmart.

Last month Gisel Ruiz was elevated to exec VP-chief operating officer at Walmart, and Rosalind G. “Roz” Brewer was named president-CEO of Sam’s Club, becoming the first woman and the first African-American to hold the CEO title at a Walmart unit. Ms. Brewer’s successor as president of one of Walmart’s three U.S. regions is Hispanic.

Walmart is also serious about diversity in its agencies, according to Steven Wolfe Pereira, who has a dual role as exec VP of MediaVest and managing director of MV42, MediaVest’s multicultural unit on the retailer’s account. “Ten percent of all Walmarts are in Texas, 6% in Florida, 4% in Illinois and 5% in California,” said Mr. Pereira, emphasizing that one-quarter of the stores are in heavily Hispanic states.

Walmart still works with the first U.S. Hispanic agency it hired 17 years ago, Lopez Negrete Communications. The independent survived Walmart’s review, started in 2005, in which it fired all its general-market agencies.

Lopez Negrete gets not just a seat at the table, but a good one. Tony Rogers, Walmart’s senior VP-brand marketing and advertising, said at the Association of National Advertisers’ multicultural marketing conference in November that the company planned to “blow up” its multicultural marketing budget, moving the money out of that silo and into the individual business units.

About 80 of Lopez Negrete’s 200 staffers are involved with the Walmart business, and one works out of its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. The agency now deals more with individual category leads. Walmart’s Hispanic Center of Excellence functions primarily as a consultant, which shifts more of the responsibility for growing Walmart’s multicultural business to Lopez Negrete.

The agency, for example, plunged into the humorous “Every Cart Tells a Story” TV campaign developed by the Martin Agency, Walmart’s general-market shop. Spots always start with items at the checkout counter, then cuts to how they’re used at home. One item is always incongruous. Lopez Negrete’s “Tea Time” includes a tea pot, a princess dress, cookies — and mouthwash. At home, a little girl entertains her father with a tea party, until he realizes that she has filled the teapot with water from the toilet (hence the mouthwash).

There are subtly different general-market and Spanish-language spots. The dad in the former version is goofier; in the latter he has more interaction with the daughter. The mouthwash brand is Listerine in the English version, Scope for Hispanics.

Walmart is the biggest-spending retailer in the Hispanic market, and No. 15 among all advertisers in Spanish-language media, at $66.6 million in 2010, according to Ad Age’s Hispanic Fact Pack.Sears Holding Co., which includes Kmart and Sears, is No. 19 with $53.9 million spent in 2010, followed by Target Corp. at No. 27 with $40.3 million. Kohl’s spent $14.8 million.

Sponsorship of Q Viva! The Chosen ties in with apparel lines.

Some of the discounters focus their efforts on collections with Latino celebrities. Kohl’s rolled out clothing lines with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony last year. It also sponsors their TV show, “Q’Viva! The Chosen,” which airs on both Spanish-language Univision and Fox.

Kmart is linking with Colombian-born Sofia Vergara of hit comedy “Modern Family.” Kmart launched Sofia Vergara lines of apparel, footwear, accessories and jewelry last fall, with TV and print ads in English and Spanish by PMH. A campaign featuring Ms. Vergara is expected midyear. “The general market and the multicultural market have merged,” said Mr. Stein. “She’s relevant to both.”

The four retailers aren’t big on Spanish-language websites or Facebook pages, although Kmart does have a Spanish-language web presence.

Kmart is continuing last year’s Kmart Latina Smart platform, built around a group of blogueras that has brought in more than 26,000 Facebook fans. And Sears Holding, which includes both Kmart and Sears, is a founding sponsor along with General Mills, General Motors‘ Chevy brand andProcter & Gamble of Mamas Latinas, a site for Hispanic moms started by CaféMom in late January and run by Lucia Ballas-Traynor, the former publisher of People en Español magazine. Kmart has built out a style and fashion area, and is running ads throughout the site for the Sofia Vergara collection and Kmart’s layaway program.

via Retailers Break Out of Multicultural Silo | Hispanic Marketing – Advertising Age.

Email currently most effective lead generation tactic

via B2B Marketers Optimistic About Social Media for Lead Generation – eMarketer.

Get the interactive map via Latinos by Geography | Pew Hispanic Center.

Research buried in a recent Forrester Research report on social media investments suggests the responsibilities of social media within an organization continue to shift. Marketing operations is becoming more involved in setting social strategies, while dedicated social media teams are becoming less common for large companies.  The follow-up Forrester Research report gleaned from The Forrester Research Q4 2011 B2B Marketing Organizations And Investments Survey identifies several reasons for the shift. For starters, 41% of the survey respondents indicate that marketing operations at their respective companies hold the primary responsibility for social media activities.”Although corporate marketing still plays an important role in the direction of social media strategy for branding and awareness, marketing operations is better positioned to ensure that strategies and technologies are coordinated and integrated across various marketing functions,” according to the report.Aside from marketing operations, corporate marketing or marcom takes 15%, followed by brand or product marketing at 11%, Web and interactive marketing at 9%, customer support at 6%, social media team at 6%, executive team at 4%, field marketing at 4%, and events at 3%.The research shows the disappearing act of social media teams, according to the report. Only 6% of the high-tech companies said their social media teams own the social media strategy and execution. Companies seem less likely to have a dedicated social media team in place, as social becomes part of other campaign strategies, such as search.Despite the disappearance of social media teams, marketers said they will continue to invest in social media campaigns.Branding and awareness are two areas where marketers can reap the most benefit from social media campaigns, according to the study. More than 52% of survey respondents plan to increase social media investment in branding and awareness. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents said product marketers will increase investment in social media in 2012, attributing the uptick to listening platforms, ideation and customer collaboration communities that incorporate customer feedback into product development processes.Investment will also increase in social media for customer community management, according to half of respondents. Forrester expects tech marketers will add community strategies to social marketing campaigns, as online communities become a more effective way to communicate with consumers. There has been interesting cross-project collaboration in recent years, namely the Mountain Dew campaign through the DEWmocracy project.

via MediaPost Publications Social Media Responsibility Shifts In Marketing Organizations 03/19/2012.

Among the most-discussed topics at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference held in Austin, Texas, was the increasing interaction between television and social media.

Jonathan Carson, CEO of Digital for Nielsen, kicked off a panel discussion by sharing the latest insights on how consumers are engaging with television programming via social media. Social buzz about TV content is widespread, evolves over the course of a season, and spikes around premieres and finales, which can result in a rise in ratings, Carson noted. Two weeks prior to a particular finale, for example, a 14 percent increase in buzz volume correlated to a one percent increase in ratings for people 18-34 years old. Carson also said that increased smartphone and tablet penetration will likely boost simultaneous usage between TV and mobile devices through real-time social conversations.

Following Nielsen’s insights, the panel, which included media executives from ESPN, Oxygen Media, MTV Networks, and Adweek, discussed ways advertisers should engage in the social TV ecosystem. Several key themes emerged.

1. Recognize and Reward Increased Engagement

Advertisers and networks can work together to reward a program’s most socially engaged fans. MTV’s Kristin Frank recommended more incentives for fans to actively express their interest. For example, an advertiser could sponsor a contest among fans to win a trip to see a filming or to interact with a program’s stars. Advertisers can also get involved with programmers during production stages to prepare and create unique social media experiences when content goes live.

2. Sponsor Smartly for Social

Savvy brands must craft their sponsorships for the social ecosystem. Oxygen’s Jennifer Kavanagh detailed a successful case study where a brand sponsored a social prize voted on by fans—a fan favorite. Because the moniker was short and sweet, it didn’t consume too many characters, allowing it the chance to resonate in the social sphere.

3. Leverage Event and Live Television

While time-shifting is an increasingly popular way to watch TV, certain events and programs are still best viewed live. ESPN’s Michael Cupo said that sports programmers have a slight advantage because sports enthusiasts like to watch in real-time, commenting online along the way. ESPN is launching real-time, interactive social accounts to discuss games with fans and will likely be sponsored. But, this approach isn’t exclusive to sports. Popular reality shows, awards programs, and serial dramas have also inspired notable real-time social buzz.

Clearly, the social TV ecosystem is evolving, and network and brand interaction will likely evolve as well. As Carson pointed out, “TV is still the first screen, by far,” with TV consumption continuing to grow every quarter. “The social component just magnifies the engagement opportunity for advertisers that television has always offered.”

via SXSW Buzz: Integrating Brands in Social TV | Nielsen Wire.

Did you know that 1/3 of overall revenue growth for Consumer Product Goods companies comes from the Hispanic segment? Thats quite a number! In a recent market research report commissioned by (AHAA) The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, results indicated that CPG brands who invested much of their marketing dollars to the Hispanic segment resulted in a top line revenue growth compared to the general market.

Lets take a look at some stats from the study on the Hispanic consumer to better understand why CPG companies are targeting this segment today more than ever.

• $1.2 trillion in buying power
• More brand loyal
• Place less emphasis on price point compared to national average
• Spend more time and more money per shopping trip
• Bring more family members with them to shop
• Hispanic households’ food at home expenditures are estimated to grow at a 5.7% average annual rate over 10 years

Major CPG companies such as General Mills, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Walmart, etc., have already tapped into their marketing dollars towards this segment. They value this segment as a household and therefore see the invaluable investment this segment brings in terms of revenue growth. I’ve already seen companies such as Kraft foods (Comida Kraft) and General Mills (Que Rica Vida)  establish successful marketing campaigns and programs to attract this audience.

The report goes on by stating that over 39 CPG companies were included in the study and that some of the top brands came out “best in class” for driving the highest overall organic revenue growth.

“CPG companies not only want to gain market share among their competitors but they also want to provide growth and stability for their investors – investing in Hispanic marketing is a clear strategy in achieving the two-fold objective.” -Roberto Orci, Chair of Ahaa and CEO of Acento Advertising.

Source: www.foodproductdesign.com

via The Hispanic Consumer: A High Demand Segment for CPG » Hispanic Market Info.

The study identifies emerging platforms that women use to gain information about products and services. It also traces the connection to specific media channels and analyzes the influence of each on purchase behavior.

Seventy-seven percent of women use Facebook for fun, while 87% turn to Facebook to remain up to date with with family. More than 61% of active blog readers admit to making purchases based on a blog recommendation, nearly double the rate of Facebook and Twitter active users — 33% and 31% — respectively.

Purchase conversion among the BlogHer community was 87%.

While Facebook ranks the highest for fun and keeping up with friends and family, blogs rank the highest in learning about new products and research recommendations that can turn into purchase decisions. Some 41% seek out blogs to learn about new products, 39% look for product recommendations, and 36% use blogs to make purchase decisions.

Aside from Facebook, the BlogHer community tends to gravitate toward emerging tools. Some 43% use Instagram and 77% use Pinterest, compared with the general population at 11% and 19%, respectively.

Women don’t rely on mobile devices to access social sites when they are shopping. Only 9% of the general population, daily blog readers, compared with 17% of the BlogHer community, access social sites on a mobile phone when shopping in a store.

When asked to determine the up-and-coming media, 78% of the BlogHer community participating in the survey said mobile apps, 75% said Twitter, 39% coupons, and 22% location apps such as Foursquare. These results compare to the general U.S. population, at 40%, 21%, 41%, and 14%, respectively.

Where do women go to find online and offline inspirational sources for cooking? Some 82% of BlogHer community members go to food blogs; 80%, recipe Web sites; 58%, Pinterest; 60%, cookbooks; 44%; magazines; and 17%, TV shows. This compares with the general U.S. population at 15%, 63%, 8%, 52%, 32%, 30%, respectively.

BlogHer worked with market research and analysis firm Vision Critical and its network of 37 million unique visitors in February to ask 2,000 members how and why women use social media tools.

via MediaPost Publications Blogs Influence Women’s Shopping Experience 03/15/2012.

Premium publishers, content seen offering focused audiences and greater brand safety

Offline branding buys have long centered on gaining access to the greatest number of eyeballs. But with digital’s more precise targeting ability has come a greater emphasis on delivering the right message to the right audience.

In December 2011, 61% of US advertisers and agencies surveyed by ValueClick Media said audience targeting was the most important type of targeting for online marketing campaigns, followed closely by demographic targeting (59%) and contextual targeting (57%).

Similarly, publisher-solutions provider Maxifier found US ad agencies it queried in Q4 2011 were most concerned with audience targeting capabilities when measuring a publisher’s effectiveness in disseminating their brand-awareness campaigns.

Offline, content such as TV programming or print articles have long been used by advertisers as a proxy for finding the right demographic or audience. Online, however, buying display ads typically requires a trade-off between audience and context. Brand marketers, it seems, want the best of both.

May 2011 data from Collective and Advertiser Perceptions showed the equal importance of audience targeting and content targeting to US marketers when building online brand campaigns.

As more brand dollars migrate to digital, premium publishers and premium content owners are beginning to offer advertisers the benefits of targeting alongside brand security, something Legolas Media co-founder Yoav Arnstein said is absolutely essential.

“There’s a wealth of audience data that can be very relevant for brands and can drive a lot of efficiency and value, but the platforms need to allow brands to feel comfortable by knowing who they are buying from and of what quality the content will be,” said Arnstein in a February 2012 interview with eMarketer.

For now, many brands are analyzing data in-house through the use of data management platforms, or DMPs.

“Brands are creating their own DMPs to manage brand data in real time, rather than handing it off to someone else to manage or analyze once a quarter,” said Doug Bryan, vice president of analytics at digital advertising agency iCrossing in a February 2012 interview with eMarketer. “They’re managing these audience profiles either through an agency or themselves, so they can make real-time decisions about campaign targeting. Brands are getting clearer and clearer on the targets they really want.”

via Brand Marketers Home In on Online Target Audiences – eMarketer.