Hispanic cool

Editor’s note: Horacio Segal is president of Planet Latino Market Intelligence, Inc., a Miami qualitative research firm.

For many decades, Hispanics in the U.S. have felt rejected by the mainstream because of the way they look, live and the language they speak. For many Hispanics it has always been mandatory to assimilate into the culture as soon as possible, and their children have retained very little of their cultural background.

But now, based on what respondents tell me in focus groups across the country, Hispanics are starting to feel that they don’t have to be ashamed of who they are and where they came from, and they are seeing that many Hispanic customs, like food and music, are becoming cool for the general market.

Acculturation vs. assimilation

For those of us who conduct research in the U.S. Hispanic market this is not news. We have observed that Hispanics are not assimilating in the same manner as previous immigrant groups that came to the U.S. Assimilation - replacing one’s culture with a new culture - is happening less and less, while acculturation - the learning of a new culture while still retaining your own - is what is happening to most Hispanics.

Access to media has been a key factor to fuel acculturation. Decades ago it was difficult to read the news from one’s country of origin and Spanish-language radio and television were just starting. On television, Univision and Telemundo used to be the two main channels. But cable TV has brought a myriad of Spanish-language channels that originate in both Latin American and the U.S. In many areas, Hispanics can now watch newscasts live from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile to be up to date with what is happening in their country of origin. The Discovery Channel, as well as Disney, CNN, MTV and VH1 have 24-hour Spanish-language channels available in many areas of the country, and HBO recently debuted its new offering, HBO Latino.

The Internet has also brought about a revolution in media access by making it possible for Hispanics in the U.S. to read newspapers and magazines from their country of origin everyday. Spanish-language radio, one of the key media for Hispanics, now has a national network that broadcasts from coast to coast, Radio Unica. Spanish-language radio beats its English-language counterparts in both Miami and Los Angeles in ratings, as well as in many other areas of the country. There are many successful magazines and newspapers published in the U.S. in Spanish, including La Opinion in Los Angeles, El Nuevo Herald in Miami and People en Español.

Hispanic teens are influencing the mainstream market

In recent years, I have conducted a lot of research with bicultural teens and they have told me about the influence they have on their mainstream counterparts, which I have been able to verify by talking to general market teens.

Dominican teens in New York speak about their African-American friends who use Spanish words in their everyday conversations and who feel as comfortable dancing merengue as they do hip-hop when they have a party. Cuban teens in Miami teach their non-Hispanic friends to dance salsa, so they can dance together in a party where songs in English and Spanish follow each other seamlessly. Mexican teens are as comfortable listening to hip-hop and alternative music as when they switch to rock en Español, rancheras, norteña and cumbias. The resurgence of break dancing is led by Hispanic youth, and many Anglo kids throughout the U.S. learn new moves from Hispanic teens, whom they also imitate in the way they speak and the clothes they wear.

American teens are now much more comfortable than their parents with people from different ethnic backgrounds. These teens state that they are interested in diverse cultural influences, spirituality and family ties, things that Hispanic teens already embrace. American teens admire the involvement of Hispanic parents in their teen’s everyday life, the strong connections to relatives and the emphasis on religion.

Hispanic teens value the sacrifices their parents have made to come to the U.S. and make it possible for them to have a better future. They tell me that because their parents work very hard every day, they now have the opportunity to complete high school and get a college degree, something they say it would have been hard to accomplish if they had stayed in Mexico or Central America, where often young children have to work to contribute to the financial support of the family.

Hispanic teens often do not feel they are a minority anymore. The percentage growth of Hispanic youth is very fast, and in many areas of the country, they are the largest group. It is expected that by 2005 Hispanic youth will be the largest youth population in the country. So it is very possible that this trend of Hispanic influence in mainstream culture will continue to grow in the upcoming years.

Music leads the way

Ever since Ricky Martin made everybody dance at the 1999 Grammy awards, singing in Spanish and English, there has been a resurgence of interest in Hispanic artists and music styles by mainstream consumers. Martin’s crossover was not the first by a Hispanic artist - Desi Arnaz and Gloria Estefan did it before - but it is different because it appears that mainstream consumers, especially teens, are more open to experiencing different cultures.

After Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias have also been extremely successful crossing over, and even a major mainstream artist like Christina Aguilera is also crossing over but in the opposite direction, coming out with a Spanish-language record.

American pop culture has embraced Hispanic rhythms and artists, from Santana, who dominated last year’s Grammy awards by picking up the most awards for his latest album (which included Spanish-language songs), to Jennifer Lopez, the first artist ever to have a #1 song and #1 movie the same week in the U.S. Just recently, Chayanne, the Puerto Rican singer, made Ally McBeal nervous with his passionate dancing in prime time television.

Food is trendier, fashion starting to change

Hispanic food is already very popular throughout the U.S. Besides tacos and Mexican style salsa, there now are trendy restaurants, like Patria in New York, where young non-Hispanics flock to try a new Latino cuisine, eating empanadas (meat pies) while having a shot of a premium brand of tequila.

Mexican beer brands, especially Corona, have become a staple for trendy consumers around the country, while Chilean wine is sold in most supermarkets, even in the ones located in Napa valley. In HBO’s popular Sex and the City series, the protagonist was recently shown drinking Cristal, a Colombian aguardiente, at a party where only the “in” crowd in Manhattan was invited.

Fashion is also been influenced by Hispanics. Young cool Americans are often seen wearing guayaberas, a Cuban shirt, in super hip South Beach in Miami and the trendiest nightclubs in Los Angeles and New York. Major clothing designers like Versace and stores like the Gap started recently to include Hispanic inspired designs with great results.

Mainstream brands with Hispanic flavors

Hispanic consumers see that major companies are communicating with them in their language, using icons from their culture, and emphasizing values that are part of what it means to be Hispanic. Some participants in Los Angeles told me recently that finally major corporations are talking to them directly. “We spend money on their products like everybody else and it’s about time they pay attention to us. Our dollars are as green as anyone else’s.”

Another recent indication of the rise of the Hispanic culture is the successful introduction of Hispanic-influenced flavors and products by well-known brands. The best example of this is Haagen-Dazs and its flavor dulce de leche. Dulce de leche, which is made out of milk instead of butter, like caramel, is well known throughout Latin America and it has become a very popular ice cream flavor with mainstream consumers, becoming second only to vanilla for Haagen-Dazs.

On its Web site, Haagen-Dazs explains that it went to Argentina, where dulce de leche ice cream is the number one flavor, developed its product there, and, once it had become a top seller, introduced it in the U.S. It positioned the product as a premium flavor and have had great results ever since, coming out with frozen yogurt and low-fat versions as well.

The interesting part of this particular product is that not only was the inspiration for the flavor in Latin America, but that Haagen-Dazs came out with packaging in which the name of the flavor is in larger print in Spanish, and the English translation is below in a smaller copy. This usage of Spanish by a major ice cream manufacturer signals to Hispanic consumers what they have known all along: that Hispanic foods have flavors that appeal to people outside of the Hispanic culture. Other ice cream companies have followed Haagen–Dazs’s lead and have come out with dulce de leche, such as Starbucks and Edy’s. Other examples of major brands coming out with Hispanic flavors are Kool-Aid and Gatorade, which have a flavor called mandarina, again in Spanish on the label, with the translation “tangerine” below and in smaller print.

Changing landscape

Hispanic populations have emerged in many areas of the U.S. No longer are they only found in New York, California, Texas, and Florida. Hispanic communities have sprung up in states like Georgia, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, and Massachusetts, among many others, forever changing the demographic landscape in those markets.

Hispanics number approximately 36 million in the U.S., and are supposed to become the largest minority in the five years. Their purchasing power has grown approximately 67 percent since 1990, to $365 billion. Though some companies like Toyota, AT&T, and Pepsi are already talking to Hispanics, there are still many companies that do not take them into consideration and barely spend any research and marketing dollars talking to them.

For other companies, it has become crucial to address Hispanics with advertising, products and services that appeal to their cultural background. As the influence of Hispanic culture continues to increase, these companies will earn a worthwhile return on their investment in communicating with Hispanic consumers.