Spanish-Language Video Ads Boosts Purchase Intent Among Hispanics

A new report being released today by Magna, in conjunction with NBCUniversal, suggests that the “total market” approach, which uses English language ads across networks and platforms, may not be effective at reaching Hispanic consumers.

According to research conducted by Magna, 71% of bilingual Hispanics in the sample chose to watch Spanish-language content, while 61% of Hispanics said that total market ads did not resonate with them.

“We tested a whole lot of different ads across right different industry verticals, and we found that the total market ads actually fall short, and are not effective among a huge chunk of Hispanics,” Kara Manatt, senior VP of intelligence solutions strategy for Magna told Digital News Daily. “The big finding for us was... if we do a better job of customizing creative to speak to [Hispanics] on a cultural level, and connect with them on this level that is important to them personally, that builds brand trust and ultimately helps drive brand KPIs.”

NBCUniversal, which has the Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo in its portfolio, has developed “CultureFirst” Spanish-language ads to try and fill that gap in the marketplace. 

Laura Molen, executive VP of Hispanic and lifestyle sales for NBCUniversal, tells Digital News Daily that the study “quantified the conversations” the company has had with marketers.

“There is a misconception in the marketplace that Spanish language TV is not as effective on consumers as English language TV. We were looking to understand, are your ads better or more effective in Spanish language than English language? And the study proves that yes, they are,” Molen says. “We want marketers to recognize that by advertising in-language, there is going to be a greater impact to their brand.”

The research also found that when messaging Hispanic consumers, in-language ads created stronger emotional responses and deeper cultural connections between the consumer and the brand, creating a “halo effect.”

The survey sampled English and Spanish-language respondents (with a booster sample for Hispanic respondents), and let them choose what content they wanted to watch, randomly inserting either total market ads or Spanish-language ads in the usual ad pods.

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