The Hispanic Business Community is alive and well, in fact many Latino businesses are thriving even in these tough times. Why? Well, because generally they have not gone out and borrowed tons of money, and they go low-cost high volume in a recession, competing for price. They are able to do this due to their cost structures, labor costs, and wise choices to not get too far extended. And to top it off they are not quitters and they work hard.

Now days, the Hispanic Business Community is quite united, and to confirm this why not check out your local Latino business groups. I did recently, when I was invited to one. The groups was gung-ho and they were serious about doing business. I smiled because I remember when I ran my company and started out, that I was just like that. Of course, I noted some other common themes as each member went up to speak.

I noted that some stood up and said “Latino Pride” and another said; “We Latinos Must Stick Together” and they were serious and meant it. Of course, as the token white guy at the meeting I considered what might happen if a White Man’s business group were to say; “White Pride” or “We white business people must stick together.” Can you imagine what would happen if a statement like that ended up in the newspaper? It would be labeled hate speech.

Although this double standard is troubling most people do not have a problem with it, as they believe that Latinos or Hispanic minorities have had a tough time overcoming various barriers to entry into the business world. Still, I’d like to make a note that Hispanics are not a minority, not anymore; in many cities in the US they are the majority.

Now, I do recognize the fervor of the entrepreneur, and I want all entrepreneurs to succeed, with equal opportunity for all, even white minorities. But, at the same time we must keep balance and not give an advantage to any group. Nor should one group gang up against another. You see, it’s not about fighting against your competitors of a different race; it’s about servicing the customer. I hope everyone remembers that.

Should a white person go to a Latino business networking group? Absolutely! You need to see it for yourself and do a little thinking and come to your own conclusion about how best we can all get along without it becoming a; them versus us scenario. Think on this.

If you are a lawyer, you can make tremendous improvements in your marketing strategies if you can strive to avoid some of the mistakes discussed below. Keep away from these things especially when carrying out Hispanic marketing for attorneys because they are a guaranteed recipe for failure.

The first thing to avoid is relying entirely on referrals. Those lawyers who tend to be over-reliant on referrals as their main source of new business are making a big mistake and also encouraging exploitative go-betweens to control their flow of new clients. The remedy to this problem is making sure that, other than the referrals, a lawyer puts in place a vociferous marketing program that draw inquiries directly from the prospects. This will give direct control over your marketing program thus obviating the need to have to depend on third parties over whom you do not have control over.

Another mistake is over-depending on the exposure by the media. It is without question that the media is a very important way of enhancing Hispanic marketing for attorneys. Interviews on radios and television as well as newspaper articles are a good means of getting yourself known to the public. However, it has been argued frequently that exposure itself is not enough because they do not necessarily translate into clients for attorneys. The remedy to this is to aim at a marketing program that makes you interact one-on-one with your prospective clients. This will enable you to respond to any queries they may have.

Another mistake is competing by lowering your prices. You may think that by reducing the fee you charge for legal services you are attracting more customers but this may in fact prove counter intuitive. This is because of two reasons, one of which is that you will be losing credibility as your clients are likely to think that you have been previously overcharging them for inferior services. The other reason is that your clients are likely to abandon you when your competitors reduce their prices to those lower than what you are charging. The solution is to compete on the quality of the service offered rather than the fees charged. It is better to be he most expensive lawyer in town and the most knowledgeable than being the cheapest but whose services are substandard.

In the process of Hispanic marketing for attorneys, either through a seminar or a talk, you may, as a lawyer, be tempted to think that common marketing methods do not work. The truth however, is that it is not the method but rather the incomplete message delivered that is the missing link. You must define a specific message that encapsulates your entire marketing plan, something that all potential clients will hear and carry with them. Your message should not lack any important elements because your efforts will fail because of it. Ensure, before implementing your marketing plan that it has a competent marketing message that will make your customer interested in wanting to make an appointment with you. If you do not have a powerful marketing message, you may not even get an appointment for free consultation. A well crafted program of Hispanic marketing for attorneys will, without doubt, reward you handsomely in terms of the clients you are going to get.

If you are trying to make the case for your organization to begin targeting the Hispanic market, here is some data from the U.S. Census Bureau which may help you:

• The average size of households defined as Mexican is 4.1. There are 3.2 members in all households surveyed by the Census. If you sell packaged goods, this means Hispanic households will need to buy more of your product.

• Half of Mexican households own the home where they live. If you’re in real estate, the other 50% represent a big opportunity for you. The number of new home buyers may be even larger if you sell homes in states like Georgia, North Carolina, or Tennessee.

• The Hispanic population skews younger than the rest of the population. The media age of Latinos in the U.S. is 27.6, compared to 36.6 for the total population. As a marketer, reaching out to these consumers will help develop your brand develop long-term relationships. When it comes to brand loyalty and Hispanic consumers, it is important to understand that Hispanics have very high brand loyalty during the initial stages of acculturation.

• Hispanic-owned businesses grew by 31% between 1997 and 2002, and they generated $222 billion in revenue during that period. This is triple the national average. Don’t forget these entrepreneurs when marketing your business services. Do some research to learn if your competitors are addressing Hispanic business owners. You may find that the door is wide open for your business.

Imagine how will the increase in the Hispanic population could affect your business. What are you waiting for?

What is the link between Hispanics and obesity? Are people of Hispanic origin more prone to obesity than others?

Respected Hispanic trend watcher Jaun G Tornoe feels there is enough anecdotal and scientific data supporting the link between Hispanics and obesity to raise warning flags…

One of the culprits he identifies is the huge choice of cheap, fast food and sugary drinks on offer to newly arrived Latino immigrants, many of whom come from extremely deprived backgrounds…

Fast Foods and Obesity – a Warning From a Friend…

In a recent blog, Tornoe recounts how, as a new immigrant himself, a friend had warned him of this danger…

“(He) told me right after I moved into the U.S. to be careful with the junk food… He noticed that many new immigrants went crazy with the excessive food offerings this country offers.

“If they are not careful, they will watch their waistline be a victim of over choice in just a couple of months.”

Victims of Good Intentions…

Second and third generation Hispanic families are also at risk. Ironically, they’re largely victims of their parents’ good intentions.

“Generally speaking, back in Latin America, a chubby baby or little kid is the obvious sign of healthiness (compared with the unfortunate scars malnutrition leaves on many persons South of the Border),” writes Torno.

“What better way for parents to feel like they are doing a good job taking care of their offspring, than to show all those around them their chubby kids… then the bad eating habits just take control over the little kid’s life and all the adversities obesity brings begin to show up in the kid’s life.”

The “Bigger is Better” Myth

This point is reinforced by an article in another authoritative source of Hispanic news, Hispanicbusiness.com…

“It doesn’t do to tell a mother her chubby baby isn’t healthy and to cut the fat early for a lifetime of health.

“We have to change the perceptions of a community where the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are overweight and don’t consider that a problem… We need to help the community see that bigger isn’t necessarily better,” says the article.

Hispanics are Not Alone

It’s worth mentioning that Hispanics are not alone in this. In my home country, South Africa, many of my countrymen and women struggle with obesity and its associated ills, like diabetes and heart disease.

The chief culprit is the readily available processed food and the rapid spread of fast food outlets. The past decade has brought long-awaited political freedom and increasing prosperity. The flipside is a growing obesity problem.

In people for whom poverty and near starvation still loom large, combating the “bigger is better” myth is extremely difficult.

Research into Hispanics and Obesity links

There have also been several academic studies of Hispanics and obesity. A survey conducted in May 2004 for Kellogg by La Opinión/El Diario de la Prensa Market Research Center, shows Latino families not exercising at recommended levels resulting in rising obesity rates among them.

Hispanics and obesity links are also under the spotlight in a five-year study at the University of Texas at El Paso. UTEP has received a $4.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study and reduce health disparities among Hispanics.

The five-year grant will establish the Center for the Advancement of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research at UTEP. The grant will also help recruit and train faculty and will be used to disseminate research results to the community.

So while its clear that Latino Obesity is a large and growing problem, there is also growing awareness of the problem.

In any business, the more you expose your business to the world, the more likely you are to gain clients. This article will explore the notion of Hispanic marketing for lawyers. There is so much competition in the law industry these days that it is becoming imperative for every lawyer to launch marketing campaigns in order to even stay afloat. This just means that in order to increase your business, you should market your services to as many people as possible. And this includes the much-overlooked Hispanic community who form a huge client base that is often taken for granted. This article will explore the possible ways that you can attract this usually neglected group of potential clients.

The first thing you should do is creating a Spanish language website. A website in the Spanish language will enable the Hispanics to quickly get access to important information about your law firm and also about the services that you offer. Also, your clients from the Hispanic segment of the population will feel personally attached to you as a lawyer because they feel you share certain things such as their culture. So if you give the option of an English-based website and a Spanish one, you will attract both Hispanic and non-Hispanic clients alike. For the best results, make the website look like it was primarily intended for the Hispanic community. Apart from making a website in Spanish, this can also be done by adding information and images that have significance to the Hispanic people.

Another thing you must do is incorporating Search Engine Optimization (SEO). After successfully setting up a Spanish-based website, the next thing to do is incorporate Search Engines Optimization techniques. This will bolster the chances of the Hispanic community seeing your website and services. You also need to know keywords in the Spanish Language most likely to be typed in on Google when people are searching for services. This will be sure to increase the success of any Hispanic marketing for lawyers campaign

You should also intensify the use of direct mail. In Hispanic marketing for lawyers, it is suicidal to underestimate the potential of using direct mail to reach prospective clients. You will be able to stand out from the rest of the lawyers by sending customized and personalized mail to your chosen segment of the Hispanic population. However, for you to succeed in Hispanic marketing for lawyers, you first need to have background knowledge on some important information on the Hispanic community including their customs and traditions. This will guarantee you an edge in tapping this market.

In general, effective Hispanic marketing for lawyers demands that you put special emphasis on respecting the Hispanic community. This means understanding their customs and showing them that you understand their specific needs, care for them, and also that you are ready to offer solutions for them. To make this a reality, you may want to consult people who come from this community for the best way to provide for their problems.

Before every exam he gave us, a professor of mine would repeat his mantra: “read the question, answer the question.” His intent was to remind us of the basics: When he wrote the question, he was looking for specific information. The question is designed to trigger a specific response, answer it in the context in which it is being asked.

When it comes to brand advertising there is no difference; everything is designed to generate a desired response from a targeted group. Respond to our request, buy our “widget”. When we refer to Latino advertising, the principal is identical, but the question/request must be formed with the cultural market segment in mind. The question or in this case the proposition has to be drafted differently to get the same expected response as the general market.

Consider the beer market in which we are bombarded by ad messages regardless of the brand. How do we create meaning that can connect with the targeted Latino audience? Think about a TV ad you must have seen, remember the commercial in a Latino nursing home, a Latina old woman watching a Latino soap opera? You see her picking up a beer and the brand of it, she drinks it and after her grand son leaves, she turns young and starts dancing to Latino music. The context of the commercial is Latinized through Latin Americans celebrating, speaking in Spanish jargon and wearing Latino clothing, while you’re seeing the beer brand and its motto in Spanish at the center of the screen. The commercial symbolically recreated a magical moment, something called in Latin American literature “magic realism,” in which myth comes live. The commercial ends, with the old woman, now an attractive Latina saying “señorita, no señora” and holding the product: beer.

In one minute, the commercial captures the targeted audience by recreating a moment unique to Latinos through a mythical cultural experience which the consumer identifies with regardless of the country.

You see! The most successful ad campaigns identify the cultural segment to which the targeted audience belongs. They create promotional pieces that resonate with their market and encourage them to connect and engage with the offerings in their own cultural terms.

Adapt Brand Communication Strategy to Latino Culture

Reaching a targeted ethnic market doesn’t have to shake up your world. Existing strategies can be adapted to meet a market demand in various segments. It can be done from the product to the promotion mix in order to appeal to localized cultures. In this case, we’ll focus on the promotion mix to illustrate how a brand should communicate in a Latino market segment.

When we refer to cultural branding, we are addressing a consumer’s localized historical experience to connect with in a defined group or society independently from another. The historical experience is a culture variable that will always change depending on who the targeted segment is regardless of culture and language. Now for the sake of making my point clear, we are not going to modify a brand’s design but the communication process as to how a brand should transmit its meaning and/or proposition while resonating with a Latino targeted audience.

Latinos are accustomed to use most of their senses when evaluating an opportunity or simply celebrating. Consider two women, one Anglo American and the other one a Latina (female) consumer going to the produce section at the grocery store. Watermelon for lunch! What a perfect idea. The Anglo American woman realizes that the watermelon is big and green and buys it, while the Latina woman taps on it, holds it, looks for white spots on the surface, examines its coloring and lastly asks a clerk to cut out a piece for tasting. Once the Latina consumer has evaluated each stage of the purchase, and is satisfied with the results, she buys it. The point to be made from this purchasing experience is that the typical Latina consumer relied on the sense of sound, touch, sight and taste to make a decision, while the typical American consumer evaluated the opportunity only through the visual aspects of the watermelon.

Latino Branding: The Process

If a marketer wants to Latinize a brand, he/she will have to identify the consumer, the consumer’s nationality, cultural background, customs and thought process in relationship to the place of origin (country).

Consumer

The process of identifying and determining who the targeted Latino consumer will be is no different than that used for the general market. However, two essential factors must be considered as part of the data collection among Latino consumers: nationality and respective cultural background.

Nationality

We can get by saying that, for the most part, Latin American consumers share a similar experience pre-independence. From that date forward, however, a unique identity emerges regarding political and economic development of each country. The latter making a significant impact on demographic and socio-cultural characteristics which affect the thinking process of each individual.

Cultural Background

One of most relevant facts to unveil among Latinos is their cultural background as a factor of differentiation from one person to another depending on the country of origin.

This cultural background is influenced by localized environmental elements, such as:

Arts: music, literature, painting, dance and cuisine
Myth: Folklore, legends, rituals and celebrations
Language: Colloquial versus academic Spanish
Visuals: Colors, dressing codes and symbols

This is what Latinos follow in their country of origin, which in marketing, we refer to as an “experience,” something of their own that can’t be replicated and/or blended with another Latin American society.

Cultural Elements in the Latino Consumer’s Branding Process (Diagram not included in this article). See bullets below.

Nationality
Cultural Background
Customs
Thought Process

Customs

Life is filled with customs and rituals, patterns of behavior and interaction that are learned and repeated, something historical that is passed from one generation to another. When Latinos immigrate to the US, they bring these customs with them. The most successful Marketers will learn how these customs vary from one Latino society to another and design promotional programs that resonate with each group. As stated in the example above, the Latino female consumer relied on a customary approach to buying watermelon in the grocery store. If the clerk at the store did not allow her to taste the product before purchasing it, she would likely have gone somewhere else to have her needs met. This is the very reason as to why US grocery stores have a Hispanic section, that is, retail marketers know that the evaluation and thought process in Latino consumers are determined by customs.

Thought Process

Latinos have a tendency to examine the big picture and are not focused on a particular detail until they take in the opportunity as a whole. This affects the deliberation process. As opposed to snap judgments in the general market, a decision process might take minutes, hours or days depending on the product or the nature of the offerings. Once again, consider the example of the watermelon purchase.

Collectivism

I have pointed out the differing elements within the Latino culture, but as a consumer group, collectivism is also a key cultural factor to consider as Marketers construct the question for the desired response

A marketer must be cognizant of the fact that Latinos are group oriented and the thought process might be influenced by one or more participants in the decision making process. This will most likely occur when an offering is intended to serve more than one individual in a family or group. Consider the banking and health care industry in which the services offered reach beyond a single person. When this happens, there will be a family/group discussion to evaluate the opportunity and make a final decision.

Conclusion

If you are a marketer interested in this growing market, take your time to learn who the targeted Latino consumer is all about. Design your proposition/questions focused on his/her localized experience. When these components consumer, nationality, cultural background, customs and thought process are blended into an advertising piece, then you will capture their attention. When you do, you can truly say that brand Latinization is taking place.

Get the Latino consumer to “read the right question within a targeted cultural context, and they will answer the question.” By doing so, your question (proposition) will get your desired response.