SAY WHAT??

by Talia Leon-Villanueva

On Wednesday morning I received an industry alert, as always, with articles of interest in the Multicultural market.  I came across this article which recaps the Hispanic TV Summit focused on the topic of Ad Spending.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/474123-Hispanic_TV_Summit_Level_Of_Ad_Spending_Is_Disgusting_Vidal_s_Ruiz.php

I was taken aback by the mere essence of the discussion, as it has been a topic of conversation I recall listening to as a child, since before I can barely remember.  Fast forward, 25 years later I’m experiencing déjà vu, but this time I was jumping for joy to read how someone actually spoke up about Ad Spending in the Hispanic market, or lack thereof.

The thought that we industry folks can now access a panel discussion that would otherwise be a passing hallway conversation is exciting to say the least. Hearing the thoughts of such influential people on a topic so controversial was very refreshing, especially when I agree with most of what was expressed.  I certainly thank technology for the accessibility.

I often ask myself, how is it that we’re still battling with the same Hispanic marketing insecurities my mother struggled with over 20 years ago?  I consider myself fortunate to work with savvy marketers that understand the value of the Hispanic consumer to their bottom line and invest accordingly. However, I can’t believe that there are still marketers out there that consider their Hispanic budgets “supplemental” with flexibility to be used or taken away, as necessary, whenever there’s a shortfall elsewhere.  There are still those that wait for Census data before making Hispanic investment decisions.  Nevertheless, I found the Hispanic TV Summit discussion to be quite informative while questioning the progress we’ve really made.

As my day went on, I received another alert which led me to a blog responding to the words used in the panel discussion.  http://www.hispanicad.com/blog/?p=311

SAY WHAT??

Since when is speaking honestly or openly a bad idea?  Isn’t a panel discussion intended to provide a forum for people to express their views or to encourage thought provoking ideas that can ultimately lead to better business practices?  Yes, yes, I too was taught composure and “being cool” but does saying the word “Disgusting” really hurt our cause?  I don’t think so.  What hurts our cause is debate about the words used rather than the context by which the words were used.   If WE have to make a big deal about 50,000,000 Hispanics in the U.S. because no one else will, then WE must not have been using the right words for the past 20 years, maybe “Disgusting” will work…