Juan Tornoe

Embracing the Hispanic Opportunity

2010-03-10T02:42:24-06:00

Digging deeper to reach the nation's largest minority group

March 5, 2010
By Steve Holtz

LAS VEGAS -- The basic message of marketing to Hispanics is often too general to act upon: use bilingual signage and packaging; know your market; respect their culture. Well, yes, but there's more to it than that, and Juan Tornoe, speaking at the Tobacco Plus Expo this week in Las Vegas, urged retailers to go deeper.

"The Hispanic market is here to stay," said the partner in Culture Strategies, Austin, Texas, during a workshop titled El Enfante in Your Isles: What You Need to Understand About America's Largest Minority. "There's no one way that you can market to them, that you can sell to them in the same way" as the general population.

"It's not putting on a hat and talking in Spanish," he added. "It's understanding their culture."

Noting that Hispanic consumers wield $1 trillion in spending power in the United States, Tornoe offered these suggestions to reach that consumer.

    * Acknowledge the importance of family. "We do everything for our families," Tornoe said. "That doesn't mean every commercial has to include a 'family' message, just acknowledge it where it makes sense."
    * Note the importance of food. "We spend more per household than the general market [on food], and grocery shopping is an event. We dress up; we bring the kids. You need to be aware of this."
    * Realize that most Hispanic new Americans embrace U.S. products. Not everything needs to be a reminder of "home." "Hispanics know U.S. brands. They're exposed to them on U.S. network TV," Tornoe said. "And when they come to the United States, they're excited to be able to buy those brands, and now they have the money. It's aspirational."
    * On the other hand, recognize opportunities of "retro-acculturation." While most Hispanics take steps to assimilate into the U.S. culture and embrace its products, "there are many products in your business [for example, tobacco] that come from the Dominican Republic, come from Nicaragua. If you can send that message, you can gain some traction with those consumers.... It's like a little piece of home."
    * Go bilingual. "This is definitely the time to be reaching out to Hispanics. They're the largest minority in the U.S., and they're going to continue to grow," Tornoe said. He added a caveat, however: "The Hispanic message should be very straight Sapnish, unless you know of a dominant population in your market." As an example, he pointed toward Cubans in Miami or Mexicans in Los Angeles.
    * Use your Hispanic employees. If you have employees who can speak fluent Spanish, "train them to know everything about the products you sell," Tornoe said. If they can explain a product to an unsure consumer, you've just earned a customer for life.

Source: CSP Daily News

More coverage on Convenience Store News

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

2010-02-24T05:33:41-06:00

On February 7th I had the privilege of sharing at my local church the tip of the iceberg of what I've learned about God's Creation through my good friends from the Alpha Omega Institute and the local Precept Ministries chapter.

You can listen to it or download it here

It's "En Español."

Thanks and Glory be to God!

"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem

2010-01-26T01:11:11-06:00

A very cool Economy Lesson from EconStories

Filling Shopping Carts, and a Community Need

2010-01-15T10:24:57-06:00

“Markets like Mi Pueblo started by catering to an exclusive population,” said Juan Tornoe, of Hispanic Trending, a market research company based in Austin, Tex. “But now they have grown enough to compete with the big boys.”

Via The New York Times

It's an honor to have the opportunity to contribute with the New York Times again. Thanks a million to Sheila Himmel for reaching out!

Read the complete article here.

In This Decade, Every Room Is A Screening Room : NPR

2009-12-31T13:39:27-06:00

Consultant Juan Tornoe, who studies the Latino market in the U.S., doesn't see his phone as a screen, but as a "window to the world." He says cell phone usage is huge among Latinos — and their user habits are sophisticated.

"You're not only connected to friends and family, you get access to information," he says. "You get to send and receive e-mail. You get to participate in social media, listen to music, you name it."

Tornoe's window to the world is wide open, and that really appeals to Poniewozik. He says that 10 years ago, he'd write an article and have no idea what readers thought of it. No more.

via NPR's Morning Edition

Had the opportunity to chat with NPR's Elizabeth Blair a few days ago :-)

U.S. Population Projections

2009-12-17T16:35:56-06:00

Right out of the Census "oven" we've received an updated head count projection, which I summarize below (as it pertains to the Hispanic population's size). For more details, please visit the Census' website.

Hispanic Households and Consumer Durables 1998 - 2005

2009-11-19T12:50:13-06:00

Today I received a press release from the Census Bureau with the header, "Homes with Cell Phones Nearly Double in First Half of Decade." You can thank them for sending me down this rabbit trail... "Inquiring minds wanted to know" not only how HH cell phone ownership trended through time for Latinos, but hey, I could also find out how the % of ownership of other interesting (at least for me) consumer durables varied in recent times in Hispanic HHs, AND how they compared with the Jones' (non-Hispanic white HHs, that is). So after downloading a whole bunch of reports from the Census' site and playing around with the information for a while I came with some interesting graphs, which in the spirit of Thanksgiving (as in thanks for Juan's OCD), I want to share with you. You can download an excel file with all the raw data by clicking here. The numbers are quite revealing in regard to certain cultural nuances present within each of the groups, don't you think?

Engaging vs. Communicating with your Audience

2009-11-18T12:31:58-06:00

By Juan Tornoe

A few days ago I was approached by my good friends at [UNDISCLOSED NAME], an amazing Communications firm in Austin, TX who are looking for a “well seasoned, well rounded” Account Director and asked if I had any acquaintances who might fit the mold. Given my close relationship with their principal and the fact they gave me complete freedom on how to reach out to “my network” with an offer for the position they are trying to fill, I cranked up the following message based on their description of the person they are looking to hire, and sent it to facebook’s Hispanic Trending Group members:

Kick-ass Austin communications firm is looking for a super hero.
Are you:
•Vastly experienced in project management and have the scars to prove it?
•A great writer, as in reports, proposals, press releases, the works; we mean, can you do them in your sleep?
•Often accused of having OCD?
•Able to effectively switch from right brain to left brain and back again in the blink of an eye?
•A “veteran” of the PR, advertising, or marketing industries?
•A freakin’ awesome presenter?
•In your zone while babysitting (managing accounts, that is)?
•Enthused by generating results to your clients and believe you should get compensated for it?
•At least beyond, “Yo Quiero Taco Bell,” when it comes to speaking Spanish?
•Able to legally work in the U.S. (the lawyers made us ask this)?

If you have at least 7 years of working experienced and are ready for a wild ride, we mean a new challenge, shoot Juan your resume.

On top of the good response we’ve received as far as applicants goes, their feedback on the actual job description was quite telling to say the least.

Here are just a few quotes from the replies:

“You make me want to apply!”
“Me encanto la manera en que presentaron los requerimientos de la posición. Definitivamente se siente la energía de una excelente casa creativa!”
“The job you posted sounds very interesting…”
“I am interested in submitting my name to work for the communications firm who is looking for a ‘super hero’.”
“I believe I’ve sent you my CV before but was intrigued my your posting.”
“I am all these and so much more…”
“Yes - to all of that.”
“ La verdad me reí mucho con tu anuncio -- porque me identifiqué a mil..!”
“Interesting and amusing specifications!”

These people are looking for a job – or open to the possibility of a new one – and have read dozens, if not hundreds, of job descriptions that for the most part sound monotonously similar. Why don’t crash the status-quo and talk to them in a more colloquial, down to earth, real and to a certain extent, somewhat absurd manner? It might not apply for all situations, but it certainly resonated with the target audience – and we have the resumes to prove it! I mean, how many cover letters out there declare, and I paraphrase, “I’m interested in the super hero job.”

I knew exactly who I was looking for and I knew were I’d find him/her. That was the easy part; now I needed to capture their attention in the over communicated world we live in and have them conscientiously choose to open & read my message. That’s where the power of word comes into play… Yes, I am biased about it, but I believe I would be more willing to apply to the job described above than to the following cookie-cutter job description:

[Big Wig Agency] is looking for an Account Director to join our New York office. If you have the skills to make a significant contribution to our integrated direct marketing success, we'd like to hear from you!

Responsibilities:
The candidate will be responsible for account development, managing profitability, and providing clients with the most up-to-date direct solutions. The ideal candidate will be able to lead integrated marketing teams to accomplish set goals, as well as guide clients' direct response campaigns and marketing businesses. So on and so forth, yada yada yada…

Which was more engaging for you?

When Bad Translations Happen to Good People

2009-11-05T13:21:37-06:00

I was thrilled to learn earlier today that the Internet Innovation Alliance was launching an effort to reach out to Spanish speakers in the U.S. informing them about their efforts to achieve universal broadband availability and adoption, "Because every American should have access to broadband Internet".

Unfortunately, when I eagerly visited the site, I stumbled into a welcome message, in big bold letters which greets visitors to the Spaniard (as in from Spain) section of their site, rather than the Spanish Language one (as in "En Español"): Bienvenido a IIA Española.

There are other translation mistakes on this page snapshot, but the one mentioned above stands out because of how prominent it is, not to mention that it appears twice.

That's why I always say that a good translation is worth MY weight in gold!

Rising NFL viewership signals cultural shift for Hispanics - St. Petersburg Times

2009-10-31T22:48:09-05:00

Here's Juan Tornoe, an expert in marketing to Hispanics, on the phone from Austin, Texas: "This is the future. These kids are growing up in the U.S., following American traditions, and one of them is the NFL."

via www.tampabay.com

‘Hispanically’ speaking: translation and persuasion for Spanish-speaking America

2009-09-02T00:40:53-05:00

August 14, 2009

By Juan Tornoe

When marketing to a culturally & ethnically diverse audience in the United States, you really need to put your money where your mouth is if you want to secure a specific segment of the community as loyal, long-term customers...

Please visit Lingo24's International Marketing Blog to continue reading this post, which was my first contribution to their blog.

What Race Are Hispanics?

2009-08-07T00:38:38-05:00

August 6, 2009
By Juan Tornoe

"What race are Hispanics?" This, along with "Mexican stereotypes" is one of the phrases that generate a more-than-decent amount of traffic to my blog. Looking at it from the inside out, it is a somewhat nonsensical question, but if I put myself in the shoes of the average non-Hispanic American, I can somewhat understand where they are coming from. It is a somewhat intricate, not a black or white (pun intended) matter.

So what race are Hispanics? They can be Asian, Black, Pacific Islander, White, Native American, or any combination of two or more of these. The Latino community is nothing short of a genetic kaleidoscope. The answer to the question is, "Any of the above." Even the Census Bureau has stated that "Hispanics can be of any race, any ancestry, any country of origin."

Each one of the racial categories mentioned above "shares certain distinctive physical traits." When you begin to look closely at the Latino community as a whole, you begin to notice that you simply can't organize it by race; there's just too many of us who don't fit the finite number of races. Most of us fit in the last category, "a combination of two or more races." Yes, many of us are "mestizos" or of mixed racial ancestry. Still, there are some pure bred White, Black or Asian individuals who identify themselves as Latinos.

So the question now is, what are Hispanics? The best way to categorize them is as an ethnic group. An ethnic group is defined as "a group of those who hold in common a set of traditions that distinguish them from others ... such as a sense of historical continuity, a common ancestry, place of origin, religious beliefs and practices, and language." Please note that when defining an ethnic group, it is done not by a rigidly defined set of characteristics that you can't move away from, but as a combination of several traditions, which at the end of the day define a particular outlook in life, a state of mind, a way to interpret and respond to outside situations and stimuli.

Let's see how some of the characteristics of the Latino ethnicity intertwine.

    * Most Latinos can trace back in time an ancestor who came from México, Central or South America (I always include Brazil here), or the Spanish-speaking Caribbean; in many cases they came from there themselves.

    * Some who perfectly fit within the "Hispanic ethnicity," genealogically descend from Spain or Portugal as well. It all goes back to the conquering and colonization of the New World by the Spanish and Portuguese empires. They settled in America (yes, North America as well), bringing their culture, customs, religion, language, etc., and through cultural and racial cross-pollinating, started a brand new ethnicity and a distinct culture.

    * People from elsewhere migrated -- by free will or not -- to Latin America from all corners of the world as well; we can clearly identify people with Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and German heritage, as well as those from different parts of Africa, just to name a few. Through time, all the latter, although some still maintain most of their genealogical traits, have assimilated/acculturated into their host nations.

    * Individuals from Latin America who migrate to the United States have a shared connection to the history of their country of heritage, which in turn has many similarities with the history of the other Latin American countries. Then they share all these with their American-born offspring.

    * Without going into a religious debate, and looking only at the customs as well as the interpretation of outside stimuli, we can observe that Latin Americans through centuries of Spaniard/Portuguese colonization have a well-ingrained Catholic outlook, independently of the faith they profess.

With all this in mind, I'm sure you are now asking, "Who is Hispanic?" A recent Pew Hispanic Center report that emerged around the commotion about whether or not Sonia Sotomayor was the nation's first Hispanic nominated to the Supreme Court put it quite clearly: "You are if you say so."

Through my years living in the U.S. I've met and befriended many persons who neither physically or through heritage fit the "Latino stereotype," yet their state of mind, their outlook in life is much more Hispanic than that others I've met who "genetically" look Latino. The former, to me, are Hispanics.

Originally Published on MediaPost's Engage:Hispanics

Talking about "Hispanic" vs. "Latino" @ WNYC-FM

2009-07-28T12:08:12-05:00

A few days ago I had the opportunity to chat a bit about the Hispanic vs. Latino debate on New York's Public Radio, WNYC-FM.

Click here to listed to the audio clip.

So, what do you think?

Last Week for LIVESTRONG's Spanish Language Multimedia Campaign

2009-07-14T13:18:25-05:00

Dear friends,

Just one week is left of the campaign from the Lance Armstrong Foundation to make the Spanish speakers nationwide aware of the different resources available for them in regards to cancer, surviving it, and helping family members and care-givers of those who suffer it.

Please invest a moment of your time in sharing this information with all those in your life who might benefit from it.

Here are some of the many resources available:

Online Videos

Online Audio

Other Resources

Click here to visit their press release (in Spanish) with more detailed info about the campaign.

Thank you for our help.

Saludos,

Juan

Juan's Talking Latino Marketing on NPR

2009-05-28T17:24:14-05:00

I had the honor to share my thoughts on Hispanic Marketing on NPR's Tell Me More, with Jennifer Ludden. You can listen to it on NPR's site.