• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 1, 2010

This week brought a new mobile platform for multicultural marketing called Connect, courtesy of San Diego-based EPMG -- which specializes in print and digital outreach to the Hispanic, African-American and Asian markets -- and MobileEdgeMedia Group, which partnered to create the new service targeting mostly Hispanic audiences.

Connect's mobile marketing capabilities for Hispanic audiences include standard text message integration, mobile coupons and various video content options, including Web-to-mobile video and user-generated mobile video.

Connect also produces campaign analytics and results in real-time, which allows clients to create and maintain detailed databases for precise tracking.

Trevor Hansen, CEO of EPMG, said the initial response to Connect was positive, with about half of their clients requesting mobile integration in their RFPs and strategic planning. EPMG cited data from the Mobile Marketing Association showing that Hispanics are more likely to utilize various kinds of mobile data -- including text, mobile Web, and mobile apps -- than the general population.

In November 2009, a study presented at the Datos conference on Hispanic consumers found that Hispanic adults ages 18 to 34 use their cell phones for an average 1,200 minutes per month, versus 950 minutes for the overall population.

The Hispanic market's buying power is increasing in tandem with the size and average income of the U.S. Hispanic population.

Over the last half-decade, Hispanic buying power has steadily increased from an estimated $800 billion in 2006 to $850 billion in 2007, $950 billion in 2008, and $1 trillion in 2009 -- and it's on course to reach $1.3 trillion by 2013, according to projections from the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.

Separately, a survey published at Datos found there are more than 2 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S.