Hispanic Insights: Myth or Reality

Clients often ask, "What makes that spot Hispanic?" Not all of them and not all the time. What they're looking for is generally some stereotype that reassures them that their message will be identifiable and relevant to the Hispanic target: jalapeños, piñatas and salsa (either the dancing or the music kind will do), kids playing soccer, etc. Things that are obviously Hispanic. They often mistake those stereotypes for Hispanic "insights".

Most of the time, it's not even our client's fault.  (I don't want to alienate anyone.)  They've been trained to expect that these typically-Hispanic elements will be in the ad.  And, many times we've trained them that way.  (I mean our industry, not me specifically but really we're all guilty.) For years, many Hispanic marketers have perpetuated the need for stereotyping. We've told advertisers to trust us because we're Hispanic and we "know". And, it's still happening today.  People within the industry are still part of the problem.

We've used stereotypes to sell, not to Hispanic customers, but to generally non-Hispanic brand managers. They may not understand the market, but they know a good stereotype when they see one.  They just think it's an insight.

Insights are important.  But, insights are simply facts: facts that make a difference, facts that help determine direction, facts that inspire the creative. Insights can be about the consumer, the brand, the category or product, or even about the people or things that influence consumer behavior.  Every target group has some relevant fact that we can mine relative to these topics that affects what we do in terms of advertising and marketing. And yes, we do find insights that relate to our Hispanic targets, but they're not necessarily specific to the culture.  

We have to move beyond "Hispanic insight" stereotypes to "Human insights".  We need to stop thinking of the Hispanic market as a segment by itself, one big chocolate flavored box to check off.  We need to start thinking more about Hispanic market segmentation and focusing on groups WITHIN the market.  Our Hennessy target is very different attitudinally, behaviorally and socio-economically than our Bud-Light target.  And, both are really different from our Chef Boyardee target.  Do you think there's one Hispanic insight, related to music or food or family or passion or aspiration (classic stereotype fodder) that covers them all?    Our Hispanic Hennessy guy has much more in common with the General Market or Af-Am Hennessy drinker than he does to a Chef mom.  Many times we're dealing with a similar insight and nuance of the same message. What's different is the context in which the message, the brand story, is told.  

Would you put American flags, hot dogs and apple pie in a General Market spot, just because we're in the good ol' U.S.of A.? Does every execution developed regionally have to reflect that specific region?  Do Chevy and Dodge and Ford have to put cowboys with 10-gallon hats and dusty boots in every "Texas Tough" commercial?  (Well, maybe yes in that case.)  Still the point is, if you wouldn't put an American flag in every General Market ad just because we're in the U.S., why do you think you need red, white and green in every ad targeting Hispanics?  It's not the right thing to do for the brand.  It's disrespectful to our consumer audience.  And, it's time to move on.