Hispanicize 2015 Offers Insights, Networking and Latino Pride

By Rosalynn Vasquez

Growing up as an immigrant child in the U.S., I can remember how my father would often speak to me in English as a way to help me acculturate faster to our new life in Texas. Luckily (and in large part thanks to my mother) as I grew up watching Mister Rogers, Saved by the Bell and The Price is Right, I was also growing up with Sabado Gigante, Luis Miguel and salsa dancing. Spanish continued to be a part of my life. I lived in a bilingual, bicultural and soon-to-be ambicultural world, where over time I began to truly appreciate what this meant and how to thrive as a proud Latina.

In many ways, I was reminded of this and what it means to be a Hispanic in the U.S. when I attended the 6^th Annual Hispanicize Conference last week.

Known as the largest gathering for Latino trendsetters and newsmakers in PR, marketing and social media, I was excited to join more than 2,000 Latinos from across the country representing major corporate brands, PR/marketing agencies, journalists, bloggers, entrepreneurs, entertainers and some familiar celebrity faces such as Don Francisco and William Levy!

Here are some of key takeaways from some of the most interesting sessions I attended:

In “Harnessing the power of Facebook to target Hispanics,” Christian Martinez, head of U.S. Sales for Facebook, led a panel of experts who shared how to use FB to reach the Hispanic audiences in marketing campaigns, most notably Verizon Wireless “Gol!!!” campaign. Through this hugely successful campaign, we learned how important it is to make sure your strategy is not just focused on content, but on having fun and being social, which is highly important in the Hispanic community. It’s about finding something that is not only culturally relevant and universal (in this case soccer), but finding creative ways to be entertaining and interactive with the community.

L to R: Christian Martinez, head of sales, Facebook; Mike Valdes, CEO of Pinta; Joe Zubi, CEO of Zubi Advertising; Max Kelerstein, digital manager for Verizon Wireless; and Rene Barasoain, U.S. multicultural manager of Facebook.

Did you know?

FB is the most heavily used social media platform (after Google) by Latinos.
More than 27.6% Latinos are active monthly users; 22.1% are daily users.
They are the highest users of mobile technology- spending 21% of total mobile time on FB and Instagram, and 60% on FB messenger to stay in touch with their families/friends back home.

In Toyota’s Latino Digital Strategy presentation, Patricia Pineda, vice president of Toyota shared how she and her team used social media and creative storytelling to create the “Vamosjuntos” campaign featuring actor and heartthrob William Levy. Together with humor and an interactive component that allows users to choose their storyline, the campaign was a huge hit.

L to R: Hugo Balta, director of ESPN; Aaron Nava, social media manager of Conill Advertising; Patricia Pineda, VP of Toyota; and William Levy, actor.

Did you know?

Hispanics are heavily digitally connected- 79% have smartphones for texting, social media, apps, video and shopping, 37% use a laptop (compared to 41% general market) and 50% use a tablet (compared to 53 % general market).
93% of digital Hispanics who remember seeing an online ad took action!
66% of digital Hispanics pay attention to online ads compared to 47% general market
88% pay attention to online ads that are relevant to Hispanic culture regardless of content

In “Top Hispanic Trends,” a panel of experts from major brands such as Nestle, Cricket Wireless, Wells Fargo and Tabasco, shared their key insights on what is resonating within the Hispanic community and how to build long-term relationships with customers. As a best practice, the panelists recommend companies to seek relationships and partnerships that can live their brands authentically and become long-term brand ambassadors. This is done by being strategic and asking the question: can we bring a partnership that can truly bring value to the customer? For example, Wells Fargo partners with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Council de la Raza in order to support more Latinos in homeownership, education, entrepreneurial growth and financial success.

Did you know?

There are 57 million Hispanics in the U.S. today (17% of the population) and two-thirds are U.S. born
More than 85% of Hispanics identify themselves as both Hispanic and American (ambicultural), 71% identify as more American and 45% identify as more Latino.
Food, holidays, family and traditions are top four cultural elements that are most important to Latinos.
Upscale Latinos earn between $50K to 100K and are the most influential group since the Baby Boomers. They contribute 40% of the 1.5 trillion buying power!

Top Latina Journalists, L to R: Mercedes Soler, news anchor for CNN en Espanol; Myrian Marquez, editor of El Nuevo Herald; Shirley Velasquez, editor of Latina Magazine; Cynthia Hudson, VP of CNN en Espanol; and Maria Elena Salinas, Univision co-anchor.

In the “State of Hispanic PR” session a group of leading PR experts, such as Roxana Lissa, CEO RL PR, discussed the key challenges facing the industry and how to best address them. The central theme was the need to have consistency and education in how we present PR to others so that they can better understand what we do. It’s more than projects; we do total package PR and need to receive same budget, respect and access to the C-suite as marketing. Similarly, the “Top Latina Journalists” session provided the audience with a chance to hear directly from highly acclaimed journalists, such as Maria Elena Salinas. They each shared their personal stories, how the news landscape has changed and the need to be culturally relevant now more than ever. They reiterated that we live in a bilingual, bicultural world and Spanish will not go away. Latinos who are consuming TV, radio and online content are not going there just because of the language, but because of the culture. Therefore news must be culturally relevant.

Did you know?

PR is the 6th most stressful job after the general commander in an army on the Forbes 2014 list; journalism is the 8^th most stressful job on the same list.
PR is increasing in value in the overall marketing mix because we see the overall company picture and align with CEO.
According to the 2015 Hispanic journalists survey results, most journalists (73%) say that they still read and use press releases as a source of information for their stories. 79%, say they use social media, not just for distribution, but as a news gathering source, with 50% using Twitter.

After four days of immersing myself in Hispanicize, I came away with greater knowledge, influential contacts and a renewed sense of pride in my Latino roots. When it was all said and done, the conference was truly about recognizing our unique talents, supporting one another in our work and celebrating our achievements. I am excited to share this within my agency and with my clients.

Gracias, Hispanicize and city of Miami for a great 2015 conference and unforgettable experience….see you next year!