In their Own Words

August is prime time for summer vacations and as such, this TerraSmart Marketer edition will also take a break from its quantitative nature, as well, and take a walk on the qualitative side. Terra Research embarked on a series of traditional and digital focus groups recently during Feb 08, of which findings are helpful for marketers and publishers alike.

Terra had commissioned Greenfield Consulting Group (“ Greenfield”) for traditional focus groups, and comScore Media Metrix (“comScore”) for focus groups conducted online called FocusSite TM. A FocusSite TM is a threaded online discussion moderated by comScore which allows participants to contribute to a threaded discussion over a 24 hour period resulting in hundreds of pages of open ended statements! Greenfield’s groups were held in Los Angeles, Chicago and NYC, age group 18-30 years old, while comScore’s FocusSite TM initiative, being digital, had national representation, age 13+. All focus group participants were self identified as Hispanic among other characteristics. Sessions were moderated in either Spanish or English. As such, all quotations are as originally stated except for those in Spanish which have been translated, misspellings and all! Publishers and brands have been omitted for sake of confidentiality, noted as [N/A].

In general, the qualitative work both enhanced findings from our recent Terra.com Hispanic Syndicated Study by comScore for Terra (Jan 31 08 – Feb 28 08) as well as explored new areas made available naturally by the flow of discussion. Findings from our Syndicated Study have been and will continue to be explored, archives available here: http://www.terra.com/advertise/research.htm.

Terra moved beyond number crunching and has literally heard from hundreds of Hispanic digital consumers nationwide – let’s hear what they have to say! Friendly reminder that qualitative research by nature is not meant to be representative, and for every comment below there could easily be others that disagree or offer a new angle.

On Fashion & Digital Design

One of the most immediately obvious findings is that the Hispanic Internet User dresses very fashionably and notices minute levels of digital design! Of course, fashion trends differed by city but the majority of these fashionistas were dressed in very fetching ensembles such as the latest trends in haircuts, sunglasses, jeans, shoes, hats and jackets. While the Hispanic Internet User is quantified as being a high tech early adopter trend setter, this tendency most definitely crosses over to their personal wardrobe as such.

Design is practically everything in the sense of both fashion and digital experiences, as usually there are so many options, both compelling content and communication services such as social networking, to compete for attention on portal environments. In addition, many respondents had multiple browsers or multiple tabs within a browser open and active, making appealing design all the more critical.

“Many times, I use different sites simultaneously with different windows? I buy and talk with family and friends at the same time.”

This respondent clearly feels very comfortable with our medium, and offers insight on how to minimize startup time, “I switch between sites mostly when one site is loading. Also, I usually know what 5 things I need to do in this session so I start all of those in parallel.”

As the front door is to a house, the home page is to the portal. When asked about Terra’s home page, respondents did not feel as if Terra.com’s home page was overwhelming or cluttered. Rather, it “offered the best of both worlds” – that is “lots of information presented in an intuitive, streamlined way.”

As for advertising, text links were secondary to appealing display advertising.

“The picture adds have it for me hands down! I dont eve notice the scrip adds, I never really Google much, unless its a name or something I really cant find, But the picture adds are by far the best! I think they say "a picture says a thousand words" in this case it says more then that, it says big money online!”

For all of us working on advertisement integration within content, rest assured that our efforts are noticed! “They [Terra.com] have ALOT of content and few ads, which is really nice. Also, the ads on Terra are integrated so they blend in to the content. They do a better job of ad placement than other sites for sure, especially [N/A]”

“On a site that is this big [Terra.com], they have hired a marketing team to place these adds in the the right places, no doubt about it. They know just the correct thing to do, and when to do it!”

“the display of their [Terra.com] page and the varity of subjets that they have,i like all of it,theres nothing to dislike”

On Credibility & Authenticity

Hand in hand in importance with design is credibility. One of the pillars to Terra’s credibility is our global perspective on news coverage, but with a focus on Latin America and relevant issues to US Hispanics. In particular, although it may not affect those born in the States, young Hispanic Internet Users follow news on immigration due directly impacting their parents, “I would like to see even more coverage on immigration and politics on the home page because it directly can impact my parents.” Also, the web holds the key for learning about the diaspora of cultures unified within the US Hispanic minority, “I think this is very cool because you can learn about other Hispanic cultures while you are there [Terra.com]. It's strange but Hispanics are so diverse in that we cook, dress even talk differently.”

As well, of course, Terra visitors leverage our high amplitude news coverage to keep in touch with their country of origin. Those with country of origin Argentina, for example, can easily partake in both Terra.com and Terra.com.ar (our Argentinean portal, headquartered in Buenos Aires) or any of our 19 regional portals located in 18 countries, Puerto Rico being a region within the United States.

“I like to read news from my country, Ecuador, on the pages from newspapers that have websites, among others…[Terra.com.ec]”

In particular, credibility or lack thereof is noticed within entertainment content. Many entertainment and celebrity gossip sites were cited as both lacking in information and rather kicking stars when they are down, while Terra’s exclusive entertainment content was noted as being more informative and fair to the situation at hand. As stated from Greenfield’s Executive Summary 1:

[N/A] was considered too gossipy and celebrity-oriented, and therefore did not seem to have any credibility in other areas (news, sports, community, etc.)

[N/A] was seen as too limiting in terms of its disproportionate focus on Mexico / Mexican issues. NOTE: Many Puerto Rican and Dominican respondents in Chicago and NYC felt a bit left out, and thus felt the need seek their information else.

On the other hand…Terra was seen as offering a breadth of topics that spans beyond "chisme" and beyond the scope of one particular country or region.

Greenfield goes on to differentiate Hispanic taste for celebrity news and how it differs from General Market, as well as the differentiators for Terra:

Many Hispanics viewed US celebrity gossip as malicious attempts at exposing and maligning celebrities, and they simply didn't want any part of it (e.g., constant barrage on Britney Spears' fragile mental state, the video on [N/A] of Pete Dougherty drinking). To the contrary, many felt that Hispanic celebrity gossip was far more humane and wholesome (e.g., I want to know about whether J-Lo had her babies and how she's doing, I want to know about the latest fashion). On the whole, respondents recognized celebrities as human beings, and while they enjoyed staying on top of current celebrity / entertainment news, they simply DID NOT want to feel as if they were contributing to the downfall of another human being.

On the other hand…Terra was deemed a more "authentic" and "genteel" experience. Terra was viewed as offering more than what a US-focused Web site / magazine translated into Spanish could, more than what a US-focused Web site written in English could, and more than what a Hispanic magazine written in Spanish could. Rather, it seemed to occupy that happy "middle ground" between the three…offering up a Hispanic perspective / tonality (more passionate and more humane) on both Hispanic and US issues. In short, compared to other Spanish language Web sites / magazines, Terra was deemed much closer to the desired concept of "the best of both worlds" 2

On Advertising

Our respondents offered plenty of suggestions to enhance advertising effectiveness, starting with the use of humor, particularly mentioned by respondents within the English groups.

“Any commercial that makes me laugh is very impressionable…”

“There is so much advertising everywhere. To really capture my attention, an ad has to be funny. If an ad is comical I tend to remember it and wait for that certain commercial to come back on…”

“…Those that are fun and quirky get my attention…”

“I seem to enjoy ads that involve everyday situations or are displaying some kind of humor...”

Although this comment is about Terra’s content, it holds valuable insight for advertisers as a suggestion to use the latest material available thus avoiding the infamously unforgiving designation of ‘so 5 minutes ago’ and rather have a more modern focus: “…It appeared as though it has topics of interest for individuals of the "now era"...”

Regarding language of advertisement and content, most Hispanics are bilingual to varying degrees: “Doesn't matter the language. Can be both.” Although it is noted that ads in Spanish tend to stand out from the clutter.

“Like I said before it does not matter if it is done in Spanish or English but I do take notice if it is in Spanish because all the advertising is in English, it tends to stand out from the rest. And I like the fact that they are including Hispanics on tv.”

“I pay more attention if I am not used to hearing it in Spanish.”

Now, a word about stereotypes – simply avoid them! “i love the creativity that the spanish adds involve. i find it very disrispectful when they are poorly done or stereotypical. I prefer adds in Spanish, since they'll catch my eye a lot more than english adds which i'm more conditioned to bloking all together.”

Interestingly, to drive the point home to avoid stereotyping, Hispanics ask pointedly exactly how they can be stereotyped, “Yea...I agree. I would be offended. I mean how can we be sterotyped? Aren't we just like everybody else? No...don't target me. I might be ticked off enough to not buy the product.” Additionally, stereotype offenders were mentioned by name and campaign, “I do not like ads that are intended for a hispanic audience. They tend to stereotype. ex. a [N/A] commerical showing latins driving around in a lowrider [N/A]. That doesnt make me want to drive a [N/A].”

On Engagement

As our research efforts as of late have been focused on the degree of interaction on our medium, online engagement, our respondents gleefully describe their lives with the Internet, and the Internet within their lives.

“I am an Internet addict and if there's a second half than mine is my computer!”

“i am always online and watching TV”

“I spend about 5 hours per day on the internet, I am not counting time I spend over my blackberry.”

Hear in their own words how the Internet is simply a vital part of their life, from communication to research for upcoming purchases.

“Well, I 'm always on the internet. I just do almost everything online. Since shopping to network. The best way to communicate with people nowadays is through e-mail. Also like to search, find new products or services. I can say that I go online many times a day.”

“…I like doing comparison shopping or researching things before I buy so I go to lots of review sites before I buy anything. Plus there's always coupon sites and freebie sites to explore!”

Time online is increasing for some respondents, “I am more online now more than before.” This may be due to increasing discussion on our upcoming presidential election, “…more online now to discuss the election with others.”

Frequency of usage is high, as many report checking email several times per day on multiple email accounts. Access to online communication is essential for US Hispanics as by definition they have an international outlook and tend to have family and friends outside of the country.

“I spend a lot of time checking email, several accounts several times a day…”

“…I check my E-mails during the day about 5 times a day, sometimes to check when I’ll be receiving something that I’ve purchased…”

Finally, from the viewpoint of the forest instead of the trees, friendly reminder that visitors inherently need to like their experience, content or otherwise, “also, i don't visit sites that i dislike, when surfing and wanting to condense my online time and not spend all day connected, i tend to only use sites i like.”

Be a Smart Marketer. Leverage insights from both quantitative and qualitative research to come to the best conclusions for your brand. The US Hispanic Internet User is a highly sophisticated digital consumer who is able to notice and discuss in great detail the nuances of our digital world as evident from the verbatim above. Please pay attention to detail and design as it is all noticed by the US Hispanic Internet User. Our walk on the qual side is a call to action, from their own words, to produce nothing but award winning caliber content, advertising and an overall interactive experience for our niche market. Rest up during summer vacation, as our audience is very demanding, in a good way!

Terra Networks USA would like to thank Greenfield and comScore Research for conducting focus groups on our behalf, as well as all participants across the nation.

1.) Zinober, Brett. Greenfield Consulting Group, (www.greenfieldgroup.com). Summary of Findings from Terra Focus Groups. Feb 2008.

2.) Zinober, Brett. Greenfield Consulting Group, (www.greenfieldgroup.com). Summary of Findings from Terra Focus Groups. Feb 2008.