A recent survey focused on US Hispanic movie-going habits and fielded on Terra by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), has recently concluded, and top line results are in. 1 This month’s Smart Marketer will briefly examine a handful of findings from the study, with some interesting twists for marketers to consider. We will leave the movie-specific findings for the MPAA to release later this year, along with their overall study. Instead, we will focus on the findings of the study in regards to audience demographics and lifestyle.

Survey Finding #1 - 72% of respondents prefer to speak Spanish most of the time while at home. Perhaps one of the reasons for this preference towards Spanish is that the vast majority of US Hispanics learned to speak Spanish as their first language.

Chart 1:

According to Synovate, Spanish, as the first language for US Hispanics, has remained constant since 1994 at just below 90% and is currently 87% as of 2006. 2 As we know, the Spanish language continues to be a unifying factor for US Hispanics.

Referencing Smart Marketer’s Aug. 2005 edition , ‘ Wikipedia defines Hispanic, as used in the United States, as one of several terms used to categorize native and naturalized U.S. citizens, permanent residents and temporary immigrants, whose background hail either from Spain, the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, or the original settlers of the traditionally Spanish-held Southwestern United States. The term is used as a broad form of classification for this wide range of ethnicities, races, and nationalities that have historically used Spanish as their primary language’.

We often encounter marketers who have a huge misconception in regards to Hispanics and language proficiency. The reality is that while a US Hispanic may have learned Spanish as his/her first language, it does not mean that one does not understand and use English in his/her daily life. An individual who prefers to speak Spanish in the home may just as easily also be fluent in English.

When the MPAA study participants were asked about the frequency with which movies are watched in English: 37% of respondents answered “always”, and 58% answered “sometimes”, while 40% of respondents answered “sometimes” in regards to the frequency of movies watched in Spanish.

The implication for marketers is clear. US Hispanics are largely bilingual and navigate fluidly in both Spanish and English, choosing entertainment content based on its relevancy, rather than the language. In recognition of this fact, Terra.com is making more and more content available in both English and Spanish, such as: World Cup Mega Site (http://www.us.terra.com/shared/worldcup2006/), 2007 Gold Cup (http://www.terra.com/gold-cup/) Viajes/Travel Channel (http://www.terra.com/travel/), Bienes Raices/Real Estate Channel (http://bienesraices.terra.com/ and http://www.condo.com/). User generated content (UGC) in our blogs, etc. is frequently found in both languages, as well.

While 26% of respondents claimed that the opinion of movie critics is very important when selecting a film to see, 40% responded that the opinion of family and friends is very important. Hispanics tend to maintain very close ties with their family, frequently communicating with them throughout the day, in person, or digitally through VoIP, IM, chat, email, etc. For Hispanics, familial and social relationships are very high on the scale of what factors influence a person’s behavior.

This particular study finding is very good news for publishers and marketers alike, as the Hispanic tendency to place high value on word of mouth (WOM) serves as an excellent basis for ‘going viral’. An interesting article, video, or a great advertisement has been known to reach epic exposure as source links are posted on user’s blogs or forwarded to friends and family.

34% of respondents use their cell phones as their primary phone, answering ‘I only use my cell phone.’ Combining the facts that 34% of Hispanics are under 18, plus 34% of respondents only use their cell phone as opposed to a fixed line, means that the traditional research approach of random digit dial (RDD) recruitment of A18+ is simply not adequate to represent Hispanics overall 3. Aside from standing on a street corner and asking for survey participation, akin to guerilla marketing, one way to adequately recruit and represent Hispanics is by live web intercept surveys online, such as the MPAA study.

As mentioned earlier, we are eagerly awaiting the release of the full MPAA study, which will detail movie-going habits of US Hispanics. However, it is certain that the movie industry is forever changed by the advent of online video.

Chart 2:

According to eMarketer, 87% of US Internet users will be online video viewers by 2011, a healthy increase from 63% in 2006. An exponential increase will be seen in online video advertising, moving from $410 million in 2006 to $4.3 billion in 2011.

Depending on business function, one has felt the pressure to deliver online video solutions either as a publisher, media buyer, or client. Moving beyond the ever popular pre-roll, Terra has developed an original, movie studio quality film project, known as Terra Shorts. We are currently finishing production on four 10 minute long short films by top Hispanic and Latino talent, filmed on location in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. With talent, like Guillermo Arriaga, Gaston Pauls and Angie Cepeda, among other high profile artists, attached to this project, Terra will provide a high quality, platform agnostic opportunity for marketers to align themselves with this project. Opportunities for our audience abound to become engaged through online screenings, podcasts, mobile video clips, promotions with tickets to Film Festivals, and offline premieres. Marketers have a unique opportunity to tap into this select audience in a number of ways. One special feature of this project is that it serves as the launching pad for a coveted user experience: the possibility of being selected for involvement in the next Terra Shorts film. More information can be found at http://www.terraknows.com/.

Terra is an active supporter of the independent film industry and has long worked, successfully, with the major motion picture studios, so we have gladly partnered with the Motion Picture Association of America on this study, so as to better understand the movie viewing habits of US Hispanics.

Be a Smart Marketer. Consider research findings when planning your online initiatives. Take into account some of the latest findings in regards to language, adequate audience representation, and the power of viral marketing when targeting Hispanics seeking entertainment content.

Terra Networks would like to thank the MPAA for including our Hispanic audience in their study, and also thank Safecount (http://safecount.net/) for administering the survey invitations on Terra.

1. MPAA/Terra Survey. Fielded May 4 th 2007 – July 23 rd 2007. 311 completes

2. Synovate. US Diversity Markets Report 2006. p. 153

3. Synovate. US Diversity Markets Report 2006. p. 30 (34% of Hispanics are under 18 years old)

Watch for even more exciting Terra initiatives in 2007! To learn more about how you can reach Terra.com's quality audience with your marketing message, call us at 212-354-2700. Visit http://www.terraknows.com.

By Natasha Funk Published August 30, 2007. If you missed past issues of Terra’s Smart Marketer Series and would like to obtain them, please send an email to: smartmarketer@terra.com.