Marketing to Latinos

Our class discussion yesterday about Latinos, Inc. by Arlene Dávila (who happens to be another one of my professors) tied in perfectly with an article in the New York Times Magazine this past weekend, called "How Do You Say 'Got Milk' en Español?", by Cynthia Gorney. It focused on Grupo Gallegos, a Spanish-language advertising firm, and the difficulties they face, like their efforts to create a Spanish-language milk advertisement that wouldn't seem lame in comparison to the English ones. "The real challenge, for Grupo Gallegos, was how to sell more milk to as many kinds of Hispanics as possible without alienating any of them or boring all of them," Gorney wrote. (You can see the results here and here.) She also wrote about how Grupo Gallegos is trying to get away from the typical family-oriented ads featuring smiling grandmothers, nicknamed "Abuelita advertising." As principal John Gallegos put it, "Latinos are more family-centered than the population in general. But is that the beginning and end of us? No. And if that's the only thing you put into a commercial to make it Latino, the commercial is boring."