Any way you slice it, America is becoming more Latin. There are approximately 43 million Hispanics currently in the United States. According to Jose Cancela, founder of the marketing and research firm Hispanic USA Inc. and author of “The Power of Business En Español,” they will represent $1 trillion in spending power by 2010.
Jose Cancela |
Readers who follow the current immigration debate might be under the impression that this trend could be reversed by immigration policy changes. However, according to Cancela, who spoke to Furniture Style in December 2007, “In the 1990s, the number of Hispanics born here overtook foreign-born immigrants as the leading source of Hispanic population growth.”
Indeed, the current wave of anti-immigration sentiment could actually amplify the benefits of outreach to Hispanics, Cancela said. The more Hispanics feel marginalized, the more loyalty they’ll show to companies that try to speak to them.
Cancela said that communicating with Hispanic consumers in Spanish is an important key to unlocking the Hispanic market. “Even for third-generation Hispanics, who are English-dominant, Spanish is still the language of passion, family and heritage … of emotion,” he explained. “And, in the end, what you’re looking for as an advertiser is how to push emotional buttons.”
Cancela also pointed out that the purchase leader in a family usually is the grandmother. While her grandchildren may be successful, college-educated, luxury consumers, they still show loyalty to the brands that have won their grandmother’s traditional heart.
When asked if the furniture industry is serving the Hispanic market well, Cancela held out the Casa Cristina Collection by Pulaski Furniture as a step in the right direction. He pointed out that not only are Hispanics very brand loyal—85 percent will pay more for a familiar brand—they also tend to put greater weight on trusted resources, whether it’s their abuela (grandmother) or a TV personality, such as Cristina Saralegui.
Brazil Baroque’s President and principal designer, Andrea Fonseca, said that her company’s Imperial and Rosewood Collections are especially popular with the Hispanic community. “Hand-carved pieces and Jacobean legs have great appeal for the Spanish population,” said Fonseca. “We only work with recycled antique woods. Rare, antique hardwoods with dark finishes appeal to our Hispanic clients. Rosewood is a deep, unique brown. We also use some gold finishes that are very popular.”
By Thomas A. Prais [at] FurnitureStyle.com
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