Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! … what?  Happy Seis de Mayo

Spanish version - ¡Feliz cinco de mayo! … ¿Qué? … ¡Feliz seis de mayo!

After I moved from Colombia to the United States, I began to immerse myself in this new culture. I could barely communicate with Americans. I had next to no English skills. People were friendly and always trying to make me feel welcomed.
To my surprise, in the month of May people began to ask me how I was going to celebrate May 5^th – Cinco de Mayo.  I didn’t know what to answer. “Celebrate?” … I asked myself. Then on May 5^th people seemed to be very excited and were shouting “Happy Cinco de Mayo!” I was very surprised but thankful for their friendly gestures.  I wondered if it was an American tradition to shout on the fifth of every month ... or perhaps on all the days in May.  I ran to the library to find out why people would do that. There I found how big the "Cinco de Mayo" celebration was. I learned that this is primarily an American celebration. It is also regionally celebrated in the state of Puebla in Mexico. The celebration originated in Mexico after the French occupation. On May 5, 1862, the Mexican army obtained a victory over the French forces in the Battle of Puebla.  All this seemed very interesting to me. Even more interesting was the way Americans celebrated.

Now, let’s talk about marketing to Hispanics. When you decide to market to this segment, you will need to remember many facts. Cinco de Mayo is not a Latin-American celebration, or Mexican Independence Day, or it is celebrated by every Spanish speaker you encounter.  Promotional campaigns featuring big hats, piñatas, and colorfully dressed dancers, designed to reach Spanish speakers in the US during these festivities, will not work as smoothly as you might expect. Those types of campaigns could potentially make your brand seem insensitive to cultural differences.  It may be almost insulting to those who come from any of the other 20 countries in the Spanish-speaking world.

So, what could work? you ask me … Feature the history of the celebration –the why– or, giving tips about the celebration. Educational campaigns are one of the approaches that might work. Cinco de Mayo is mostly a commercial celebration that allows people to enjoy, drink and eat out in May. 

So, next time that you feel the urge to shout “Happy Cinco de Mayo!” to a multitude of Spanish speakers, have in mind that, maybe, the next day you will have many of them shouting back at you, “Happy Six de Mayo my friend!”

US Hispanic Market Size

How big is this market? – Are they going home any time soon?

Spanish Version - ¿Qué tan grande es este mercado? - ¿Cuándo se van a ir a sus países?

Many of us have heard how some uninformed people try to group every person who speaks Spanish and/or looks Hispanic, in a big pot called “The illegals”.  Well, the Spanish speaking market in the US is more than that.  It is made up of about 50 million people based on the PEW - 2010 Census, 39 million citizens and authorized residents, and 11 million unauthorized immigrants.  Three quarters of these 50 million have Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban roots.  The other quarter has roots in Latin America and Spain.  You mostly will find them in the southern and western states of California, Texas, and Florida. Next in line after Florida is New York, which exceeds by far any other northern state.  By 2050 this market will have reached the 130 million mark. So the next time you inadvertently hear the statement “they need to go back to wherever they came from”, Stop and Think … What does this person mean by this statement?  This is my market.  Most of these people were born here.  They are Americans.  They are not going anywhere.  This is home for them as much as it is for me.  Let’s embrace them and make them feel part of us.

Spanish speakers - Marketing

How to understand this market – Hispanics? Latinos? By country?

Spanish version - Hispanos / Latinos / por país - ¿Cómo podemos entender este mercado?

Every time someone asks me, Are you Latino?  Lots of things come to my mind, and then I ask myself: Are they asking me if I speak Spanish?  Are they asking me if I eat spicy food?  Are they asking about my origin?  What are they actually asking?

One might think, “Hey! Just answer yes or no and let the speaker decide by himself/herself”.  We’ll for us, people who come from Latin America, the Caribbean, or the Iberian Peninsula, this is not an easy question to answer.  As for many Americans when they are abroad, our homeland is closer to our heart when we are away from it.  In our minds the answer is always, “No.  I am not Latino/Hispanic. I am from Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Cuba, or any other country among the many located south of the US or the farthest southwest of Europe.”. Then what would be an easier and simpler question?  Voilà! Where are you from?  One might find a friendlier answer, possibly with extra information about the origin of the person.  The responder will be more willing to communicate with you if he/she feels you empathize with him/her.  We all know there is always a need for market segmentation as a show of respect for the differences within the target market.  Why would someone think that this market should be treated any differently?