Archive for the ‘Lucía Tovar-Matthews’ Category
Move over Fútbol, the NFL Scores Big with Latinos
By Richie Matthews, Managing Director of DIÁLOGO for Fox News Latino
More than 33 million Hispanics have watched professional football so far this season, making it the most-watched NFL season among Latinos. Professional football, not fútbol, delivered two of the most-watched professional sporting games in 2011 among Hispanics.
Generation Ñ
As a group, Hispanic children are growing faster than any other. History suggests today’s Latino kids eventually will become the parents of fully Americanized descendants whose only link to their cultural heritage is a surname, religious practice or holiday, said Hernán Ramírez, a sociologist at Florida State University who specializes in Hispanic assimilation tells the Tampa Tribune.
More and more NFL teams are courting the lucrative Latino market in attempt to tap into an aggressive and young fan base ready to shell out consumer dollars. Since Hispanic football fans spend nearly 15 hours engaged with the NFL each week during the regular season and because more Latinos watched the Super Bowl than the World Cup Final, it is easy to understand why the NFL’s strategic marketing efforts for this season’s big game should enable them to make unparalleled inroads with young Americans of Hispanic descent.
“There is a prevailing sense of ‘family’ in football,” said Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle Anthony Muñoz said in an interview with the web site USA Football. “You get that in the Hispanic community, and that’s what you want in a football team.”
According to the NFLHispanic.com, last year’s Super Bowl was the most watched TV program ever among Hispanics, averaging ten million Hispanic viewers.
Latino Influenced Super Bowls
The NFL played its first regular-season game outside the United States in 2005 and drew over 100,000 people in Mexico City. Over the last five years, the NFL has aggressively sought to connect with Hispanics, a fan base that is large and growing at rapid pitch. The 2011 season saw one of the most aggressive positioning strategies by NFL members as more than half of the teams celebrated Hispanic heritage events at various stadiums.
The NFL vamped its push towards U.S. Hispanics in recent years. Last year’s big game in Dallas offered a definitive Latino flair. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Texas grew more than twice as fast as the nation, thanks largely to a surge among Mexican Hispanics. Dallas has the fifth largest U.S. Hispanic population that are from Mexican decent and over 1.5 million Mexicans in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex are the third largest foreign born Mexican population in the U.S. per Metropolitan Statistical Areas.
There is a prevailing sense of ‘family’ in football. You get that in the Hispanic community, and that’s what you want in a football team.
- Anthony Muñoz, Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle
On one level, the choice to host the game in Dallas was rational–the weather is ideal, the atmosphere is fun and the tourist industry can accommodate the crowd. On another and most likely more influential level, the choice is strategic. What better way to captivate the Hispanic market than to bring the game to the famed Latino football hotspot?
In an interview with the Phoenix Business Journal, Victor Villalba, head of Spanish language broadcasting for the Dallas Cowboys, stated “most games are on Sunday, which meshes with traditional Latino family get-togethers and social gatherings.”
Super Bowl XLVI will showcase a full on attempt to captivate Hispanic audiences. The NFL is pushing its NFLHispanic.com website even more than ever. This site is designed as a tool to attract potential marketers to buy into their 360-degree platform approach to reach the Hispanic demographic. This approach allows brands to reach the segment at every angle from television, online, radio, print, calendar events to grass-roots efforts. Viewers can expect a markedly overt Hispanic overtone for this year’s championship game.
‘Show Me the Money’
The big push toward Hispanic consumers is in part due to the quality of fanship. Latinos tend to be ardent fans with strong home team convictions. High levels of extreme revelry coupled with abundant consumer dollars have motivated sports leagues to seriously re-evaluate their efforts toward the Hispanic population.
Hispanics in the United States tend to be predominantly male, on average younger that the non-Hispanic population, and tend to have higher viewership of sports. Marketing, advertising, and sponsorship dollars as well as innovative grassroots public relations initiatives have all been cultivated with the new target demographic in mind.
With the average cost for a 30-second commercial in the U.S. during the last World Cup costing $250,000 versus $3 million for the last Super bowl, professional football is an arena that marketers and media heavyweights are investing big in.
Latin Food = ‘Latin Lite’
Tamales, tortillas, gordillos, for example all use dough made from pure grounded corn. Now, that’s a relief from the common corn syrup and enriched flours used in ninety percent of our foods today.
Latin American foods revolve around vegetables, fishes, grains, meats and exotic fruits. Fast food restaurants have demoralized and commercialized the amazing healthy Latin dishes into heart attack inducing meals. Latin food cooked at home is in most instances, healthy.
By Lucía Tovar-Matthews and Chef Portillo
READ STORY IN THE AMERICANO
When many Americans think of Latin Cuisine, an image of a fat, stuffed, beef burrito or enchiladas plunged in red sauce and cream comes to mind, let’s not even mention how spicy it may be. So many diet watchers simply disregard Latin foods to stay slim and healthy, but little did they know that Latin cuisine goes so much further, and healthier, than the stereotypical greasy burrito.
Latin America as a whole is comprised of Central, South America, and various islands along their coasts. With such tropical weather, traditional meals incorporate the use of the variety in exotic fruits and vegetation. Countries next to bodies of water, such as Costa Rica, Cuba and Puerto Rico for instance, tend to have a higher intake of fish and legumes. Those with a lot of cattle, such as Brazil and Argentina, have a higher intake of red meat. However, when we think of “Latin Cuisine”, the type of food that comes to mind varies depending on where we live here in the United States. If you ask a citizen in California about Latin Cuisine, they will probably think of Mexican food, while someone from Florida would respond with Cuban food and equally someone from New York might respond with Puerto Rican foods. Let’s explore some of these little well-known Latin American dishes.
The island of Cuba commonly eats lean fish meats, topped along with sweet potatoes, yuca (a starchy potato-like root) and pineapples. A popular Cuban food is sofrito, a combination of green bell peppers, onions and garlic all sautéed in olive oil. Super healthy and simple. Although a Cuban diet cannot be complete without pork, fried bananas and starchy vegetables, all Cuban dishes incorporate the citrus tangy fruits of the Caribbean.
Puerto Rican cuisines have the influence of African, European and indigenous cultures due to its history of colonization. A country diverse in fruit and vegetables, their dishes are light, heart healthy and nutritious. Puerto Rican dishes revolve around plantains, a type of banana only edible if cooked, and other humid friendly vegetation. From crabmeat stew to empanadas, breaded beef, and alcapurrias, a combination of ground squash, plantain, and other tropical fruits alongside fried fishes and shellfish. Last, but not least, pork is one of the main attractions to Puerto Rican cuisine, popular to special events and holidays, Puerto Ricans love pork, from its white meat to actual blood ball sausages; pork is a symbol of festivities.
The classic burrito is not only the image of Latin cuisine, but also the image for all Mexican foods. Mexico’s dishes go way past the simple burrito, from the hundreds of spices to the creative use of corn, tortillas, red/green salsas and meats. Mexican cuisine has much to offer other than the stereotypical burrito and fajitas, and by the way, fajitas are not even Mexican, they were created here in the U.S. All authentic Mexican dishes revolve around corn and beans, made fresh without the use of unreadable, unknown chemical ingredients. Tamales, tortillas, gordillos, for example all use dough made from pure grounded corn. Now, that’s a relief from the common corn syrup and enriched flours used in ninety percent of our foods today. Even chocolate, the indigenous produce of Mexico was originally used by the Aztecs in ancient times.
Fast food restaurants have demoralized and commercialized these amazing healthy dishes into heart attack inducing meals. Latin American foods all revolve around vegetables, fishes, grains, meats and exotic fruits. There are so many dishes that are, in fact, healthy for you. Next time Latin American foods are brought to mind, think of the fruits, spices, grain, meats and the unique flavor behind these dishes rather than assuming everything is bathed and fried in oil. It is time to appreciate, and enjoy, the traditional and healthy forms of Latin cuisine dishes.
Nutritionist and “Latin Lite” chef, Denise Portillo and Lucía Tovar-Matthews, member of the San Diego Community College District board of directors have recently collaborated with TUCOCINA (www.tucocina.net ) for the launch of “La Salud en Tu Cocina,” an initiative developed by the kitchenware maker to encourage Hispanic families to come back around the dinner table. For more information, and to find out how to participate in the initiative, email mariana@dialogo.us.
Plug in the Hispanic Internet
Working models for communicating with Hispanics through online venues can guide businesses over the threshold into the new age of technological advancements and a way to connect to online Latino shoppers.
By Lucía Tovar-Matthews, for Latin Trends Magazine
I’ve seen it before and it still surprises me. The insights of an underdog open unexpected doors for Internet consumers and yank the rug right out from under the dominant providers of the day. Remember – AOL, Microsoft, MySpace, and Yahoo. Falling prey to their own complacency about a fast changing Internet culture these powerhouses failed to address the needs of their own audience. And in walked – Apple, Facebook, and Google – providing services that consumers didn’t even know they wanted. Well, you know the rest of the story … for now.
Online Latino Shopper
The Internet audience is changing – fast. More than many other groups, Hispanics go online to socialize, find good deals and purchase new products. Latinos are the fastest growing demographic on the Web, the heaviest users of wireless access to mobile phones and laptops, and 80 percent of Latinos socialize online.
According to Nielsen, Hispanic shoppers spent $125 billion on consumer packaged goods products last year. This shopping power will soon translate online, as the buying power of Hispanics in the U.S. and Caribbean will increase twice as fast as the U.S. general market in the next few years.
These factors create a lucrative opportunity for businesses that want a closer connection with online Latino shoppers.
Cultural Relevancy
Businesses targeting online Hispanic consumers should take into account specific cultural differences and ethnic preferences. For example, according to the Pew Hispanic Center’s National Survey of Latinos, more than half of Latinos ages 16 to 25 identify themselves first by their family’s country of origin, and an additional 20 percent generally use the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” first when describing themselves. They are satisfied with their lives, optimistic about their futures and place a high value on education, hard work and career success. A valuable market indeed.
Digital Divide No Más
In walks CompraLatino. Founded in 2008 by online technology entrepreneur Eddie Batiz, this e-commerce company has strategically planted its Internet roots in the fertile soil of the online Latin shopping culture.
Batiz foresaw that Hispanic would consume more Internet than the general market. Through a partnership with Casiano Communications, they have built CompraCaribe (www.compracaribe.com), a uniquely Hispanic online marketplace forum where shoppers can find and purchase top-branded products and services from Latino Businesses.
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Casiano Communications is the island’s number one media company online and in print. The company publishes several newspapers and magazines, which are distributed throughout the Caribbean, United States and in twenty other countries.
Batiz has formed the leading edge of the next wave through cyberspace by addressing an underserved and fast growing online community.
Casiano and Eddie Batiz’ CompraLatino did not need to wait for the release of the Census data to understand that the Internet is important in Hispanics’ daily lives. This year, 29.6 million Hispanics—nearly 60% of the Hispanic population—will go online at least once a month. By 2014, 39.2 million Hispanics will be online.
“Mercado Central Meets Amazon.com”
CompraCabibe.com focuses even more on simplifying and enhancing the user’s shopping experience by offering a bilingual market populated with personalized e-stores that sell products and services from brands.
Based on the “Mercado Central” Hispanic shopping tradition, CompraCaribe’s Latino-focused marketplace helps businesses find customers and each other. The bilingual online community offers businesses a way to sell worldwide and offers an easy creation of business directories and online stores.
More businesses are incorporating online communities within their corporate strategy. As these arenas increasingly become a fundamental component for professional success, businesses should look to experts like Eddie Batiz on the forefront of this industry to understand the extent of the benefits e-commerce tactics have to offer.
Batiz created the first live cyber recruitment platform for the U.S. Navy and quadrupled their online recruiting efforts. The chat technology that he developed and implemented is so popular with the armed forces that the Marines, Army and Air force soon added their own online recruitment platform. This technology attracted the attention of companies such as 1-800-Mattress, which generated over $7 million in sales the first year, the fastest growing sales channel in the 30-year history of the company.
A Brave New Web
Eddie Batiz pioneering development of the Latin E-Commerce Internet and to create the largest Hispanic online market place on the Web earned him national recognition. He was selected businessperson of the year in 2008 for the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the largest Hispanic chamber in the U.S. representing over 600,000 businesses in the state of California.
Recognized as one of the Latin Internet’s e-commerce pioneers by business groups and media across the nation, Batiz has been at the forefront of online communities and e-commerce.
Entrepreneurs such as Eddie Batiz have been aware of the vitality of communicating with Latinos through technology for years. He has built his career around empowering people through technology, and information particularly among Hispanics.
Online Hispanic shoppers will continue to be an important part of the economic system. Latinos’ affinity for technologies that ease communicating across geographic boundaries, allow interaction, build communities for like-minded individuals will affect the way businesses approach e-commerce.
Experts such as Eddie Batiz with established working models for communicating with Hispanics through technologies, such as CompraCaribe, can guide the business world over the threshold into the new age of technological advancements and a way to connect to online Latino shoppers.
Lucía Tovar-Matthews is a Board Member for the San Diego Community College District Oversight Committee and the Executive Director at DIÁLOGO, an award-winning public relations firm that focuses on the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets.
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