LAS VEGAS -- As the senior vice president and general manager for the Hispanic market at Nielsen, Juan Carlos Davila hears a lot of talking points about the Hispanic population. Unfortunately, those talking points tend to be overly focused on the group's size and growth rate.
"I assume we all know by now that's a fact," Davila said during his 2014 NACS Show educational session in Las Vegas. "What I want to give you today is information that you can use tomorrow in selling."
Of the 55 million Hispanics in the United States, 64% are U.S.-born. Although that percentage is growing, Davila said U.S.-born have been in the majority since the 1980s.
There are, however, a number of things that are changing within the Hispanic market. Compared to when Davila grew up, more Hispanics embrace their heritage, whether it's proudly identifying as Hispanic or encouraging bilingual households.
"We're seeing not only a sustainability for the culture, but a growing awareness and pride over being Hispanic," Davila said, describing a group of people who identify as both 100% American and 100% Hispanic.
The population is also becoming more important to consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, thanks in part to shifting economic situations: the number of Hispanic homes making $100,000 a year or more has grown by 71%; those making under $25,000 a year decreased by 19%.
And yet, many companies are looking to streamline their marketing strategies in an effort to cut costs and be more efficient.
"Companies are moving away from a Hispanic-only marketing approach," Davila said, describing it as the "total market approach" phenomenon. "The total market approach is a great concept in terms of efficiency of reaching a wider audience."
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"The issue is that we treat Hispanics as if they are one thing," he continued. "They are not."
Just one example is the different between U.S.-born Hispanics and foreign-born Hispanics. Yes, the majority of Hispanics in this country were born here--but Nielsen data shows there's still 18.8 million Hispanics who immigrated.
"You're leaving a big chunk of the population out if you only market to U.S.-born consumers," said Davila. "One size fits all might not work for this population."
For example, there's a generalization about Hispanics being very young. This is true for the U.S-born population, 75% of which are under 35; however, almost 75% of foreign-born Hispanics are over 35. Another generalization is that all Hispanics come from big households, which tends to be true of the foreign-born population, but not U.S.-born (who tend to live in two-person households).
U.S. and foreign-born Hispanics are also living in very different parts of the country, thanks in part to the younger ages of the U.S. population. While the foreign-born populations often live in cities and regions that have historically been high-Hispanic, U.S.-born Hispanics are branching out into markets across the country.
"In very big numbers, Hispanics are attending college, often moving to less-traditional Hispanic cities," Davila said. "800,000 Hispanics enter adulthood every year, going to college or starting to earn and spend money."
The purchasing behaviors of these two groups are different too. This year, foreign-born Hispanics decreased their grocery trips by 8% and increased their convenience store trips by 25%. U.S.-born Hispanics, however, have decreased their c-store trips this year.
When it comes to advertising, however, these sects tend to both appreciate Spanish-language marketing: Davila said that although U.S.-born Hispanics are more willing to watch television in English than foreign-born Hispanics, ads in Spanish resonate with both groups, even with young and English-dominant speakers.
Davila encouraged companies to do their homework to understand the specifics of who's buying their products and whether to use a broad or specific marketing approach.
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