Hispanics still a growing market furniture

Buying power will top $1 trillion, AHFA members learn

ATLANTA — Hispanics number 44 million in the United States and represent $928 billion in annual buying power, according to Jackie Bird.

She is president and CEO of Winglatino, ranked by Advertising Age as one of the fastest growing Latino ad agencies in the U.S. in 2006, and spoke to an American Home Furnishings Alliance marketing meeting here about how to reach the Hispanic consumer.

Bird said that the Hispanic population is growing rapidly, and its buying power is expected to reach to $1.2 trillion by 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2020, the U.S. Hispanic population will reach 60 million, or 18% of the country’s population.

Bird said that selling to Hispanics has moved from mass marketing in the 1970s to specialized marketing in the 1990s, with companies like Procter & Gamble, Citibank, H&R Block and others targeting messages to that population.

Other trends Bird cited:

+ Seven of the 10 fastest-growing states owe their population gains largely to Hispanics, and some 665 U.S. cities have Hispanic majorities.

+ Hispanic consumers are becoming more affluent as U.S.-born Hispanics strive to become educated and achieve. “They know what their parents went through coming here,” Bird said, “and they’re going to show they appreciate it.” Because of that, Hispanics will be buying more luxury brands, she said.

+ The average age Hispanics leave home is 28, which may have some effect on buying. But Bird said they have more disposable income at that age, and are likely to buy furnishings for their parents.

+ Hispanics still trust newspapers and other traditional media, but in any given day some 18 million are online. Sixty-eight percent use instant messaging, 63% share photos and 52% read or post blogs.