Thread: Spanish-Language Publications See Growth

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Spanish-Language Publications See Growth
Friday, August 25, 2006 6:10 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By DAVE CARPENTER

CHICAGO (AP) — Here's some good news for the beleaguered U.S. newspaper industry: Hispanics read newspapers much more faithfully than the general population. They just prefer to do it in their native language.

Despite the overall circulation decline of U.S. newspapers, Spanish-language publications are thriving due partly to a burgeoning population whose impact is growing. Advertisers were advised at a conference Friday to take note of that expansion and to discard outdated perceptions about how to connect with Hispanics.

"Hispanic publications are an incredibly effective tool in reaching your target consumer," said Bob Shamberg, chairman and chief executive of Newspaper Services of America, a print media planning and buying agency.

Shamberg said there's been huge improvement in the quality of Spanish-language information and a better understanding in recent years of Hispanic consumers and how they use media. But long-held perceptions that radio and TV — or, now, the Internet — are the best way to reach them are slow to change, he told the advertising summit of the National Association of Hispanic Publications.

He cited survey data that found:

— Newspapers are the medium most frequently used by Hispanics to check advertising information, according to the Newspaper Association of America poll, singled out by 56 percent compared to 14 percent for direct mail, 11 percent for the Internet and 8 percent TV.

— Spanish-language newspapers are the most influential on purchasing decisions.

— Ads in Spanish are 61 percent more effective and 4.5 times more persuasive than in English.

Alejandro Sanchez, a Chicago-based media strategist for the San Jose Group ad agency, said cultural reasons explain why Hispanics, or Latinos, read newspapers more than other groups.

"They trust the paper," he said. "They can see it on TV, they can see it online, but ... the paper has that sense of ultimate authority."

The trend of low newspaper readership among Americans age 18 to 34 also does not apply as much to Hispanic consumers, he said.

"Our time is a little different from other cultures," Sanchez said. "We take time to do these things. We like to sit down and read the papers because 'That's what my dad did.'"

Carl Kravetz, chairman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, said ads have moved beyond the simplistic archetype of the "safe Hispanic," when they uniformly portrayed conservative, family-oriented, not-too-dark immigrants who didn't read. But he cautioned advertisers to not "try to turn Mexicans into Germans" — recognizing the different priorities and mores of different cultures.

"Our success depends on our ability to create expressions of culture which people deem authentic and wish to identify with," he said.

With the proliferation of new media, he noted that for an advertising message, "Today, more than ever, where you say it is as important as what you say."

The publications are not the only ones finding success as the radio stations and television stations are thriving in South Florida. They have taken over some good English speaking radio stations and us non Hispanics are being made to suffer. There are also more TV stations coming on the cable system where they already have close to one third of them. The large Russian population does not have a TV station on cable maybe they should start one as several cities have a majority of Russian citizens or Hebrew stations to satisfy the large Jewish community in South Florida. We could also have daily newspapers cater to other major ethnic groups rather than the several weekly or monthly publications they currently have. After all whatever is good enough for the goose is good enough for the gander.

What burns me in my city is that the local hispanic newspaper is free but we have to pay for ours!!!