http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_2839870

Qwest website reaches out “en español�
With 5 million Hispanics in its service area, the telecom is trying to cater to a fast-growing market.
By Ross Wehner
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Qwest this month launched a new stand-alone website in Spanish with special offers tailored to the 5 million Hispanic consumers living in its 14-state territory.

It's the latest in a long list of strategic moves that Qwest and other phone providers across the nation are making to cater to Hispanics, the largest and fastest-growing minority in the U.S.

Qwest offers a 10-cent-a-minute calling plan to Mexico, gives about $3 million a year to Hispanic-related charities nationwide and operates "El Centro," a call center staffed with 300 Spanish-speaking sales reps.

"Phone providers are making a push to differentiate their marketing to Hispanics and other ethnic segments," said In-Stat analyst Amy Cravens, author of a recent report on trends in ethnic marketing. "But when it comes to Hispanics, Qwest has done the most."

Qwest's mostly Western and rural territory is heavily Hispanic. Colorado's Hispanic population has increased by 75 percent since 1990 to 800,000, or about a fifth of the state's population. Qwest estimates their annual purchasing power to be more than $10 billion. Arizona's Hispanic population is even larger and faster-growing. Other booming Hispanic markets in Qwest's territory include Boise, Idaho; Yakima, Wash.; and Minneapolis.

"Hispanics are a critical growth segment for Qwest," said Rick Werner, who headed up Qwest's Hispanic marketing until two weeks ago. Now he is rubbing shoulders with Qwest's top executives on Floor 50 of the Qwest Tower as head of Hispanic public relations, a new position.

Werner, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, said his new job is to "create a Hispanic voice for everything we do." His job gets harder every day because of a younger generation of Hispanics who listen to hip-hop music and speak English.

"Years ago, you could just do ads in Spanish," Werner said. "Now, it's getting very complex."

But Werner's job is somewhat simplified because two-thirds of the Hispanics in Qwest's territory are originally from Mexico.

BellSouth, on the other hand, serves Miami's more challenging mix of Latin immigrants from the Caribbean and all over Latin America. SBC has Chicago, which is split between mostly Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. New York's Hispanic population, covered by Verizon, is all over the map.

But what Hispanics have in common, Cravens concludes, is that they are "more influenced by recommendations from family and friends than by particular advertising initiatives."

Erubey Peinado, originally from Juarez, Mexico, proves the point.

Peinado and his brother, Esdrel Peinado, own a real-estate company in Aurora and struggled until last month with what they called "terrible" phone service from XO Communications.

One day, the phones stopped working and Esdrel reached his limit.

"We keep our office door open all the time," Erubey Peinado said. "And my brother is kind of loud. He was yelling big-time."

At that moment, Alex Alvarez, a Cuban-American employed by Qwest's "Feet on the Street" sales program, knocked on the door and offered his services. Alvarez's wife happens to work in the same building.

Alvarez is one of about 90 Qwest salespeople in Colorado who work the streets each day and focus on small, often Hispanic, businesses such as the Peinados' Top Producers Realty. Within 24 hours, Alvarez had the company's five lines and DSL high-speed Internet hooked up with Qwest.

"Qwest was way cheaper than anyone else," said Erubey Peinado, who plans to get Qwest cellphone service when his Verizon contract expires next year. "There were more features, and we didn't have to buy more equipment. And it came on one bill."

The two larger Bells, SBC and Verizon, also spend millions of dollars each year to cater to Hispanics. SBC has 1,500 Spanish-speaking reps, offers bilingual bills and, like Qwest, sponsors Cinco de Mayo events in its major city markets. Verizon even has its own Spanish- language magazine, La Voz de la Plaza.