• by Tricia Despres , June 11, 2004

America, has always been a country of diversity, with the "melting pot" as one its most indelible images. And the ethnic group which has arguably added the most flavor and impact to our culture, from the food we eat to the entertainment we watch, has been Hispanics.

Yet it wasn't until the mid-'90s that marketers finally woke up and realized the importance of putting big dollars behind reaching this promising market. Media and marketing plans especially went into high gear after the release of the 2000 census, which outlined in solid facts and figures the explosive growth of the Hispanic population. "The census figures proved to everyone that Hispanics represented a true economic force," explains Ronald H. Furman, executive vice president/sales and marketing at Univision Communications.

Historically, however, misconceptions regarding the Hispanic marketplace have cost American marketers and advertising agencies a number of missed opportunities, through faulty translations and unfortunate but well-publicized advertising blunders. (Remember the car named Nova, which literally means "don't go," in Spanish, it wasn't exactly a huge seller among Hispanics.) "I see so many American companies act on the assumption they know the Hispanic consumer," remarks Ricardo Lopez, president of Hispanic Research Inc. "This is not a homogeneous group and has never been an easy market to understand."

Census figures show that Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States, with over 38.8 million people - a number that is projected to increase by 2050, to nearly 67 million.

It may be surprising to many that the term Hispanic is really just a marketing term coined by the United States advertising industry. In essence, the term lumps together people of Latin American and Spanish heritage under one ethnic classification. In fact, the 19 Latino subgroups under the Hispanic umbrella can be drastically different from one another.

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE HISPANIC POPULATION BY TYPE

MEXICAN 58.5% 
PUERTO RICAN 9.6% 
CUBAN 3.5% 
DOMINICAN 2.2% 
CENTRAL
AMERICAN 4.8% 
SOUTH AMERICAN 3.8% 
SPANIARD 0.3% 
ALL OTHER HISPANIC 17.3% 

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, CENSUS 2000

Hispanics primarily reside in major urban centers across the United States. This proximity allows people of Hispanic heritage to maintain their language and culture. Recent census statistics show that nearly half of the Hispanic population lives in two states, California and Texas.

REGIONAL HISPANIC POPULATION

NORTHEAST 5,254,087 
MIDWEST 3,124,532 
SOUTH 11,586,696 
WEST
15,340,503 

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, CENSUS 2000

Hispanics are relatively young, with a median age of 26, and generally are part of large families. Hispanics age 18 to 34 are by far the most exciting and evolving part of the demographic. Boasting nearly 12 million consumers, these trendsetters are on the verge of their prime purchasing years. In fact, the annual median household income for Hispanics in the United States has just recently surpassed $40,000.

Spanish is spoken in 89 percent of Hispanic homes. Two factors - their age and time spent in the U.S. - affect the amount of English media they will choose to consume.