Web Campaign 2.008

The publiser of "niche social networking communities," Community Connect Inc., has been busy promoting its new clients and alliances. CCI claims 19 million members on its sites. As a PR professional I certainly appreciate the effort the company is making and I am impressed with the reputation some of its properties have achieved.

CCI says Senator Barack Obama approached the firm about its work and subsequently arranged for profiles to be placed on each of its major websites (BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, AsianAve.com, GLEE.com, and Faithbase.com). Now here's the impressive result:

"Since the profiles went live on October 5, 2007, the success of the campaign has become evident with Senator Obama's profiles garnering over 200,000 friends. In one week, his profile on BlackPlanet.com garnered more friends than his MySpace and Facebook profiles."

I'll be really interested in seeing what those sites can achieve during a general election effort. I believe Facebook and some of these other social networking sites can provide a massive two-way connection between people and the campaigns. Am I naive enough to believe that Obama will have a connection to hundreds of thousands of people? Of course not, but imagine if his campaign staff connected with these people and moved them to action (donation, volunteer, recruit, etc.). New tools on Facebook are popping up everyday, and lots of them have political and campaign '08 tie-ins. I hope the people and the campaigns find ways to make use of them.

Univision's Meet the Press

Next Month Univision television Al Punto (To the Point) the new Sunday morning "newsmaker discussion program" hosted by our friend Jorge Ramos the prolific author and anchor of the network evening news program "Noticiero Univision." (I know an intelligent, well-spoken and respected expert who'd be terrific for a regular panel of discussants!)

Univision is hosting a bash to launch the show at a prime location in DC. The program itself is likely to attract presidential candidates and leading figures in Washington.

The promotional website has a nice promo video which I presumed was utilized during this year's up-front presentation in New York.

Univision is scheduled to host a historic presidential forum series. The first is with the Democratic candidates on Sunday, September 9th in Miami. The Democratic candidates participating in the forum, in alphabetical order are: Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Mike Gravel, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Senator Barack Obama and Governor Bill Richardson.

The Republican forum will be held Sunday, September 16. John McCain has said he will particiate, though Univision has not announced the participants yet.

Here's my analysis:

These events are historic for Univision and for the nation. They are, more than anything else, an opportunity for the Spanish-language juggernaut to flex it corporate muscles, draw more attention to its value as a political advertising destination, and of course provide the candidates with the best free connection to the nation's Hispanic voters...well at least the segment that watches Spanish-language television. There will also be a flood of mainstream media attention that will likely help the candidates' messages reach the English-dominant Hispanic voters who may be more likely to tune into English media.

Majority Minority America

It is no surprise to those of us who live in the Washington, DC region that minority community growth and migration is changing the demographic make-up of communities and entire counties here.

But it was still big news, just as it was in other places, that 1 in 10 counties are now majority minority or in other words there is no longer a single ethnic majority population in those areas. For example, for the first time, minorities are now a majority in Denver.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its latest report which captured tremendous national media attention.

The bottom line, as I see it, is that the U.S. continues to undergo dramatic demographic changes, is on track to become a majority minority nation by the middle of the century, and the movement toward that projection is being expressed more and more each year.

Click on the newspaper links below to read their coverage of the new census findings:
The Washington Post
The New York Times
Associated Press
Houston Chronicle
Dallas Morning News
Denver Post
USA Today

WILL DEMS HIT THE HISPANIC VOTE JACKPOT?

It looks more and more likely that the next Democratic presidential candidate, no matter who they are, will be able to count on the Hispanic vote jackpot. Two new stories out today are really in line with this thinking.

First, skilled political writer Susan Page at USA Today reported from San Antonio for a cover story on "Hispanics turning back to Democrats for 2008." The headline itself is somewhat misldeading -- My sense is that Democrats have historically enjoyed 56% or more of the Hispanic vote (if you think the exit polls are usually wrong you start at 60% or more). But the premise of the piece is absolutely accurate: Democrats are poised to receive the largest share of the Hispanic vote in years if all goes in their favor in the walk-up to the 2008 presidential election. And with the immigration bill blocked in Congress -- by the GOP is you ask Democratic Party leadership in Congress -- it'll be a very big up hill climb.

Page reports on a new USA Today poll which finds: "A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll indicates that Hispanics, by nearly 3 to 1, say they're Democrats or lean that way. Of those, 59% support the New York senator [Sen. Hillary Clinton] over her presidential rivals — her strongest showing among any major demographic group and a huge potential asset for early contests in Nevada, Florida, California and other states with large Hispanic populations."

Page writes that Hispanic New Mexico Governor Bill "Richardson still has to introduce himself. Six in 10 Hispanics polled say they've never heard of the former congressman and Cabinet member, the first Hispanic to seek the Democratic presidential nomination."

Page gives the kicker quote to San Antonio advertising super-star, and a friend of mine, Frank Guerra. Guerra says Hispanic brand loyalty -- and political loyalty -- is up for grabs. We'll see.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports today out of Orlando, Florida that "Republican presidential candidates made a major miscalculation this week by skipping the nation's largest gathering of Hispanic elected officials, local party representatives and event organizers said."

Can you say intra-party problems: "The Republican candidates have blown off Hispanics in Florida," said state Rep. Juan Zapata, a Republican who helped bring the NALEO event to the state.

More: "With many Hispanics already concerned about some of the candidates' opposition to a bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants which failed in the Senate Thursday and anti-Hispanic rhetoric accompanying the debate, top candidates can ill-afford to alienate those loyal to the party, especially in a swing state like Florida, they said."

Right on. Ok, sure most Hispanics never hear anything out of this conference but if you're a supporter and your candidate is doing little to stimulate interest among influentials, particularly Republican Hispanic elected officials, you're really upset they're skipping the NALEO conference.

Update: I just heard from Alex Burgos at the Romney campaign. He says the former Governor will speak at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly's National Convention in Washington, DC on the morning of Sunday, July 22,2007

Now for your added enjoyment, here are some recent articles that quote me or reference my research on Hispanic voters, Hispanic political outreach and immigration issues:

- Agence France Presse (AFP)
- The Washington Post
- The Washington Post (II)
- National Public Radio (NPR)
- U.S. News & World Report
- Christian Science Monitor

Minority Population in U.S. Passes 100 Million

The minority population in the United States continues to grow rapidly, and while the nation is still headed for an enormous demographic shift by 2050, the shifts identified by the Census Bureau this year have big implications in the very near-term.

USA Today reports: "The nation's minority population has topped 100 million for the first time and now makes up about a third of the USA, a symbolic milestone that signals more challenges for communities adapting to diversity."

Lot's of regional implications according to these reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times. Also reports by Reuters and UPI.

Is the Digital Divide Narrowing?

BusinessWeek reports on a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project which appears to show a shrinking digital divide that for years had left African Americans at a disadvantage. The sub-headline of the article reads: "African Americans are snapping up broadband -- and closing the digital divide"

According to the article, "Surprise. In the past two years, African Americans have been devouring broadband technology--and the digital divide has shrunk significantly, at least for this group. The share of black households with a cable modem, DSL, or satellite Internet connection climbed to 40% this year, Pew says. That's almost twice as fast as the growth of broadband penetration for the general population, which grew to 47%."

ABC News Reports on the Health Environment Action Network

ABC News science reporter Ned Potter has an outstanding report on the new "Health Environment Action Network (HEAN)" launched by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (a client of The 2050 Group), four regional partner organizations, and environmental countdown. See the launch press release. HEAN is empowering citizen scientists who will be researching and reporting on air and water pollution in four different regions of the country.

Uncle Ben "Gets a New Identity"

Today's New York Times has a fascinating Business section cover story on Mars company's effort to reintroduce Uncle Ben's rice and side dish products to the American consumer. The article points readers to a new website, unclebens.com, where the company has repositioned Uncle Ben as the chairman of the company.

I explored the site and found a calendar on Ben's executive office desk that has him speaking to the National Institutes of Health and meeting with a Senator You-Know-Who on a Friday in March.

It is a notable transformation of a brand character that has always carried with it the baggage of racial insensitivity that has also been associated with the brand and other brands such as Aunt Jemima's pancake syrup.

The Times was right to front-page this story. As advertising reporter Stuart Elliott writes in the story:

"The previous reluctance to feature Uncle Ben prominently in ads stood in stark contrast to the way other human characters like Orville Redenbacher and Colonel Sanders personify their products. That reticence can be traced to the contentious history of Uncle Ben as the black face of a white company, wearing a bow tie evocative of servants and Pullman porters and bearing a title reflecting how white Southerners once used “uncle” and “aunt” as honorifics for older blacks because they refused to say “Mr.” and “Mrs.”

Before the civil rights movement took hold, marketers of food and household products often used racial and ethnic stereotypes in creating brand characters and mascots.

In addition to Uncle Ben, there was Aunt Jemima, who sold pancake mix in ads that sometimes had her exclaiming, “Tempt yo’ appetite;” a grinning black chef named Rastus, who represented Cream of Wheat hot cereal; the Gold Dust Twins, a pair of black urchins who peddled a soap powder for Lever Brothers; the Frito Bandito, who spoke in an exaggerated Mexican accent; and characters selling powdered drink mixes for Pillsbury under names like Injun Orange and Chinese Cherry — the latter baring buck teeth."

This will certainly add a new layer to the discussion I initiate with students in my ethnic marketing course at Johns Hopkins University.

Click [here] to read the NYT article.

Asian Americans in U.S. Pop Entertainment?

New York Times writer Mireya Navarro had a Style-section cover story in the Sunday Times that delved into what some say is American pop culture's avoidance of potential Asian American stars; she writes some refer to it as "the Asian thing." It's an interesting article and worth reading.

Click [here] for the article.

FCC Penalty Demonstrates Spanish-Language TV Must Abide by Same Rules as Other Networks

According to a major front page story in Saturday's New York Times by media writer Stephen Labaton, Spanish-language television leader Univision is about to get hit with "the largest fine the Federal Communications Commission has ever imposed against any company."

And it appears Univision is ready, and in fact quite eager, to settle the issue and move on. The NYT piece, available through a permalink [here], is quite thorough and places the entire issue in the following context:

"Once the full commission approves it, as expected, Univision will be able to complete its $12 billion sale to a consortium of private equity firms."

So, while this is a major penalty and sets a historic precedent for the FCC, $24 million is a small amount to concede in order to ensure the government's support of a speedy sale of the company.

Some background... The Los Angeles Times' Jim Puzzanghera reports on the issue in Sunday's paper [here]. The Times' reports:

"Los Angeles-based Univision, the country's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, has agreed to the fine to settle complaints against 24 stations over a 116-week period from 2004 to 2006 for airing the children-focused soap operas, known as telenovelas, to fulfill the requirement for at least three hours of educational programming a week, according to a commission official who spoke on condition of anonymity because only the FCC staff, not the full commission, had approved the settlement."

The Times report from Saturday quoted Rep. Ed Markey:

“As the prime House author of the Children’s Television Act, I am pleased the commission is pursuing serious and vigorous enforcement of violations,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. “This is a particularly egregious case and the level of the proposed fine reflects it. Rather than giving kids programming that is educationally nourishing, Univision elected to give them the Spanish-language equivalent of a soap opera.”

And the Times also reported that a politically active church filed the original complaint that led to the penalty:

"The case dates to the summer of 2005, when the United Church of Christ raised concerns about Univision’s programming lineup, complaining that it was failing to provide adequate children’s programs. The network claimed it was meeting its obligation by repeatedly rebroadcasting the same episodes of the telenovela. The commission’s staff found that 24 stations had violated the programming guidelines over a two-year period."

Finally, the Times identified the research of one of my academic colleagues Professor Federico Subervi of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Texas State University (who I've collaborated with on Hispanic voting research):

"In an affidavit accompanying the United Church’s complaint, Federico Subervi, a media consultant to such shows as “Dora the Explorer” and “The Misadventures of Maya and Miguel” said that “Complices” contained many adult plots and complex themes that were hardly suitable for young children."

"As further evidence that the program did not comply with the rules, Mr. Subervi noted that 80 percent of the advertising during the show was geared toward adults."

Here are some possible "lessons" that could come out of this case:

First, Spanish-language media must live under the same rules and regulations as all other media companies in the United States (for many reasons this was not clear before). And yes the FCC has finally realized it can effectively police the format. But for too long the FCC ignored Spanish-language media -- I remember the organization cracking down on indecency in English radio programs and then getting blasted for not doing the same for Spanish radio programs that were doing the same of worse.

But questions remain: Why was it outside research, and not the FCC's own original research and analysis, that convinced the commission there was a problem?

Every semester I teach my ethnic marketing course I share with my students a terrific Newsweek article about all the phrases that are lost in translation and how the FCC was essentially unaware of the the content of many Spanish-language radio programs.

Second, if you're a big media make sure you do good for the country and follow rules that were established to ensure you do. Profits often get in the way of this. And even now, it raises the question: Will a $24 million fine finally force a change at Univision?

The company has not commented publicly yet (best I can tell and according to the L.A. Times today), but might Univision announce, as one friend recommends, that it will invest at least $24 million in the development of new educational children's programming for U.S. Hispanic children? It would certainly be the right thing to do.

Third, if you're a big media company, make sure that you don't anger citizen groups who will file complaints as the UCC did. Groups that have gripes are more likely to spend the time and money on efforts to punish you if you have upset or wronged them in the past. If they work hard enough eventually they will find something that will stick.

ImpreMedia Buys Hoy's New York Edition from Tribune Co.

I just received the e-mail announcing the following development in the Spanish-language media business:

"ImpreMedia, LLC, the nation's leading Spanish-language newspaper and online news publisher, announced today it has agreed to acquire Tribune Company's New York publication, Hoy, and its related weekend publication in New York, Fin de Semana. The pending acquisition does not include the Hoy publications in Los Angeles and Chicago."

Hoy, which was plagued by the Tribune Co's circulation scandal a few years ago, has struggled to compete with the larger El Diario/La Prensa in the New York media market. Plus, ImpreMedia's leadership is driving one of the most energetic campaigns to create a national Hispanic print media empire, and so far it appears to be very successful.

Another rationale: "Based on Scarborough research, the combined readership of Hoy New York and El Diario La Prensa will allow ImpreMedia to deliver nearly twice the number of Spanish-preferred adults as New York's leading Spanish-language TV station, owned by Univision, and nearly three times more than New York's leading Spanish-language radio station."

As long as the quality of reporting and resources for consumers remains strong, perhaps the consolidation of the two papers is a good thing from the perspective of advertisers in the New York media market looking to reach the largest number of consumers.

I'll be on the look-out for reactions to this sale and will share them here on the blog.

Click [here] for the full press release about the sale.

- Adam

Goldman Sachs May Sink $50 Million into Agencies that Reach Hispanics

BusinessWeek magazine's Burt Helm reported this week on the Goldman Sachs plan to gobble up Hispanic marketing shops and may spend $50 million.

There are some unique and effective PR shops, including my own The 2050 Group, that specialize in reaching Hispanic media on behalf of clients and would be wise investments as the market and business demand continues to grow.

Click [here] to see the article on their site or see below:

BusinessWeek

February 5, 2007

MARKETING
It's Fiesta Time At Goldman

Every year at Hispanic street festivals across the country, millions of immigrant and U.S.-born Latinos throw back beers, enjoy live music, and feast on everything from empanadas to fresh mangoes. Now Goldman Sachs wants to join the fiesta. Over the next five years the company's merchant bank plans to spend as much as $50 million buying up marketing and advertising companies that cater to the growing Hispanic population in the U.S., even acquiring street fair operators along the way.

Virtually every ad conglomerate has a Hispanic unit. But Goldman will be the first to unite a group of Hispanic marketing and entertainment outfits into a holding company that will serve as a single stop for big brands hoping to navigate the promising but increasingly complex market. Even some competitors concede Goldman is on to something. "Clients are all asking for integrated services," says Carl Kravetz, president of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies and CEO of Los Angeles-based cruz/kravetz:ideas.

At the outset, Goldman is looking to snare one of the 30 to 40 independent Hispanic ad agencies that annually generate between $25 million and $100 million each in billings, plus a research firm and a festival producer. Goldman will be majority shareholder with management handled by Latin Force, a marketing consultancy. The idea is to tap into second-generation Latinos. Young and bilingual, they consume mostly English-language media but still retain aspects of their parents' heritage.

By 2010 the number of these "New Generation" Latinos could reach 15.4 million, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. Practically all growth in the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic comes from Hispanics, according to Pew. "The Hispanic market is getting so complicated and confus-ing," says Goldman Managing Director Kevin Jordan. "That's the reason to build a company like this."

Mexican Regiona Hits New York

One of the nation's top-rated Spanish-language morning radio programs has hit the NYC media market. “Piolín por la Mañana” (“Tweetybird in the Morning”) has hit the Univision-owned WZAA, which according to Saturday's edition of The New York Times, became "the first FM station in New York offering a format known as Mexican Regiona, which includes genres like ranchera, banda and norteña music."

Times reporter Seth Kugel reports that, "In most Hispanic hubs of the United States, the arrival of another Mexican regional station would have been nothing unusual. According to the Arbitron ratings service, the format attracts a 19.4 percent share of the Hispanic market, making it the most popular Spanish-language format by far. A recent Arbitron report shows that it is also the fastest-growing and that there had not been a single station playing a Mexican regional format from Maine to Pennsylvania in 2005."

Each semester I devote an entire class session to ethnic radio in my Master's course in Ethnic Marketing. It's great that the Times continues to shine light on the power of radio programming that reaches deep into ethnic communities better than other media forms.

Click [here] for the full article.

Hispanic Ad Spending Continues to Rise

ADWEEK reports on the announcement from media tracking agency TNS that they're projecting 5.4% growth for Hispanic advertising this year.

According to the article posted [here] on ADWEEK's site: "The Hispanic market is continuing to look very strong," said Steven Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. "The overall outlook for 2007 is relatively conservative at 2.6 percent, and the growth forecast for Hispanic media is more than double that.

Hispanic media buys have been smart investments for so many companies who have effectively reached into the Hispanic consumer market.

And many of the major investors behind Hispanic media ventures have seen their investments swell. This is exactly why Univision was able to sell itself for an astronomical amount of money to a team of investors. The Hispanic market continues to grow both in dollars and consumers and this is part of what makes tracking this market so exciting.

The Story Behind Pepsi's Early Marketing to African Americans

The Wall Street Journal today ran a lengthy excerpt from the new book by Stephanie Capparell titled "The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business." The Journal, which is published by the Journal and Free Press (a division of Simon and Schuster), published the excerpt on the front of its Marketplace section.

Capparell writes that Pepsi hired an all-black marketing sales division to go after the Black consumer market which she reports was valued at more than $10 billion. Her narrative covers the experience and historical significance of this sales team and reports on the ethnic marketing strategies they and the company employed.

She writes, "The mission of the black sales representatives at Pepsi-Cola was to win over loyal new customers - first by making personal appearances, then by placing ads in the black press and setting up displays at mom-and-pop stores in black communities."

The marketing team "visited bottlers, churches, 'ladies groups,' schools, college campuses, YMCAs, community centers, insurance conventions, teacher and doctor conferences, and various civic organizations."

[Here] is a link to the book on Amazon and [here] is the description on the Simon and Schuster site.

I'm excited to be able to alert to this and share it, in the form of a case study, with my ethnic marketing students at Johns Hopkins University.

Pizza for Pesos at Texas Restaurant Chain

In a killer publicity stunt, Texas based pizza shop chain "Pizza Petron" announced it will begin accepting Mexican pesos as currency at its U.S. shops along with U.S. currency.

Pizza Petron launched as the pizza chain that aimed to attract unprecedented numbers of Hispanic American consumers to the popular American food and it has not been shy in trying to attract Spanish-dominant consumers. The company says its stores are "based in Spanish speaking or predominately Hispanic neighborhoods."

The Dallas Morning News reported on the announcement [here].

Ethnic marketing exec Juan Faura, whose book I have assigned in past semesters for my graduate course in ethnic marketing, tells the Dallas paper:

"If you're not in a border town, I don't see the functional benefit," said Juan Faura, president and chief executive of Cultura, a Dallas-based marketing and advertising firm.

He and others saw the program more as a marketing effort than a badly needed service.

"I would see it as a move by the chain to communicate unequivocally to the Hispanic market that they are for them," Mr. Faura said.

"I don't see any other reason for it."

He's exactly right. This is a huge publicity stunt more than anything else. A good publicist might squeeze an extra couple days worth of attention out of this by helping attract a protest outside corporate headquarters or the various store locations. Free publicity can be enormously valuable.

Click [here] for the company's official announcement.

Guess the Quickest Way to Anger Asian American Consumers?

Can you guess the most expedient way Toys R Us could pick to turn off and anger Asian American consumers and other customers?

This is a good one: choose an Asian American for an enormous prize and then revoke the award because her mother is not a legal resident of the United States. Oh and do it a month after opening the first store in Shanghai, China which is in the same coutry where the vast majority of the chain's products are made.

As far as ethnic marketing disaster case studies go, this is one of the best.

Saturday's New York Times has the full story [here - permalink] by immigration writer Nina Bernstein. The Times report - which is accompanied by a photo from the World Journal because the Times could not reach the family - comes after the story hit the bigtime in popular Chinese-language daily The World Journal and made its way around the Internet via a e-mail notification campaign.

Can a major corporation win by being perceived as anti-immigrant? I doubt it, that's why I think this was strange business decision and applaud the Times for reporting on it. By the way, the Times says the winner was a "black American" and that another runner-up mother, whom I presume was disqualified as well, was born in El Salvador.

Southern Blacks in Major Leadership Roles in Congress for First Time

The Wall Street Journal published an article by staff writer David Rogers on Wednesday on "Southern Blacks' Ascent to Top Posts in Congress." Great piece and it's a reminder that a change in the control of Congress not only can shift policies and priorities, but it can also change history. African Americans and Hispanics have great allies and stronger direct representation with this new Congress - and I hope this translates into greater progress on many important issues.

Click [here] for the Wall Street Journal piece.

Historic: First Black Governor in Massachusetts

Deval Patrick was sworn in yesterday as the Governor of Massachusetts. It makes him the first Black to lead the state government and it makes me proud of my home state.

Click [here] for a Boston Globe story on what this means for African Americans.