Hispanic TV Summit: It's Great Content, Not Great Spanish-Language Content

Panel asks if "Video for Hispanics" a better title for the event

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/3/2012 11:16:15 AM

New York -- The marketing specialists on the Advertising Roundtable had some ideas about rebranding the very event they were speaking at, as Victor Parada, vice president of ad sales at Discovery U.S. Hispanic, suggested "Video" replace "TV" in the Hispanic TV title, and "for Hispanics" slide in place of "Hispanic."

"Hispanic TV" may be trending toward archaic, the panelists believed, as they repeatedly mentioned breaking down the silos that separate Spanish-language audience from general market. "I am a multicultural marketer," said Clint McClain, Wal-Mart senior director of marketing communications platforms. "We made the decision that everyone is a multicultural marketer, and we think that's the model to win."

The "Give it to Juan" approach of passing Spanish-language business off to the lone multicultural marketing rep down the hall doesn't fly anymore, noted Parada. Total market approach is the new paradigm.

Steven Wolfe Pereira, executive VP, MediaVest, and managing director, MV42, MediaVest Multicultural, moderated the salon. The marketers spoke of the new challenges in reaching consumers on the go.

Peter Hopkins, Time Warner Cable's director, business development, talked about "hyper-local targeting" through the cable operator's hundreds of geographical zones. McClain spoke of turning locally tailored commercials around inside of a week to keep Wal-Mart top of mind for consumers. "That's probably the biggest initiative for us in the past six months," he said. "We are seeing amazing results from it."

Having the tools to effectively measure engagement on these various platforms, including mobile, is key, stressed Carol Hinnant, senior VP, national television sales, Rentrak.

Paul Laureano, vice president, integrated sales and marketing at Fox Hispanic Media, played up the Content is King idea; consumers watch the best programming, he said, not necessarily the best Spanish-language or general audience programming.

The panelists echoed their agreement. Parada spoke of "great content that can transcend language," such as Discovery's own Shark Week franchise. "It's content first and language second," he said.