September is the best time of year for leaf peepers and participation depends highly on ones distance from the equator. It is also an opportune time to glean learning’s for marketers from two major events just recently showcased: Hispanic Heritage Month and Summer Olympics 2008 celebrations.

The Digital Hispanic Diaspora by Country of Origin

Coverage celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month (9/15 – 10/15) abounds, either from Terra (http://www.terra.com/noticias/herenciahispana2008/) as well as excellent coverage updated daily by Ernie Villarreal from tpr.org (http://tpr.org/articles/2008/09/hhm.html). Latinos come from 20+ Spanish speaking countries, and the debate still abounds whether Brazil should be included since arguments can be made that there are more similarities to Brazil due to its location if nothing else, than Spain. Regardless, Hispanic Heritage Month is closely tied to Independence Day celebrations in Latin America such as: 9/15 – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, 9/16 – Mexico, 9/18 – Chile as mentioned by Mr. Villarreal.

When asked the question, ‘What is your country of origin or descent? If you were born in the US, we would also like you to choose the country or countries from which your Latino or Hispanic heritage originates.’, within Terra’s Hispanic Syndicated Study by comScore for Terra Networks USA (“Syndicated Study”), one of the choices made available is actually the United States. We are happy to provide USA as an answer option, as it does happen to be the most popular country of origin for US Hispanic Internet Users (48%). Next is Mexico (43%), followed by Spain (15%), Puerto Rico (13%), and Cuba (8%). The rest of the countries that comprise Latin America fall between the % composition ranges of 3% - 1% forming the tail of our Country of Origin Long Tail exhibited in Chart #1.

The fact that USA is #1 in the chart below indicates that perhaps Hispanic Heritage coverage will also need to refocus even more attention towards the impact of Latinos within and to the United States itself. One particular shout out that could not be more patriotic is the Mexican country of origin astronaut José Moreno Hernández! (http://www.terra.com/noticias/articulo/html/act1386537.htm) Finally, as Terra has recently nominated Perez Hilton Hispanic of the Year, perezhilton.com returned in gratitude (http://perezhilton.com/2008-09-17-hispanic-of-the-year).

Chart 1:

Marketers can now geo target Hispanic Internet Users by country of origin. As indicated in Chart #1, the highest % composition by DMA of Country of Origin Mexico can be found in LA, Chicago, and Houston, while Venezuelans and Cubans favor Miami and Puerto Ricans are largely represented in the New York DMA.

USA as #1 country of origin for Hispanic Internet Users may be explained because today births by Hispanics today outpace immigration. 1 Furthermore, there are almost 5 million Hispanics age 12-17 years old of which the majority was born in the United States. However, by 2014 almost 4 million more US Hispanics will become adults which does not affect the population numbers overall but does quantify the shift to an increase in US born Hispanics. 2 This shift directly implies that the English language will be the primary language of domestically born Hispanics, as nearly all are fluent in the English language. Terra.com’s English Channel (http://en.terra.com/) was recently created to continue to position Terra for the “now era”.

US Born vs. Foreign Born, Compare & Contrast Hispanic Heritage

It is noteworthy to observe differences in responses to traditions, beyond language, among US born and Foreign Born Hispanic Internet Users in our Syndicated Study.

Chart 2:

According to Chart #2, strong Latino Heritage means strong American heritage. When asked the question, ‘At home, to what extent have you kept the traditions from your country of origin and to what extent have you adopted US traditions?’, 58% of respondents concurred that they keep all/most/some ethnic traditions and 67% have adopted most US traditions.

Drilling down by US versus foreign born Hispanic Internet Users, of the 18% of overall respondents that keep all or most ethnic traditions: 33% of the foreign born indicate so while 12% of those born domestically agree, of which the foreign born response is statistically significantly higher than the US born. On the other side of the coin, not surprisingly, 76% of US born Hispanic Internet Users indicate that they have adopted most US traditions, which is a response that is statistically significantly higher than the foreign born of which 42% concur.

The big picture indicates that the Hispanic Internet User is predominantly born in the US. Of the 3,509 responses in Chart #2, 69% indicate that they were born in the US while 31% are foreign born.

It is incorrect, however, to assume that Hispanic youth being likely to be US born keeps few ethnic traditions.

Chart 3:

Terra’s Fan Zone Encourages Support from All Countries of Origin

A fitting way to summarize the findings of this article is to hear directly from our visitors who participated in Terra’s Olympics 2008 Fan Zone (http://en.fanzone.terra.com/olympics/2008/).

Good Vibe for Michael Phelps

Hi I am from Puerto Rico I admire you [Michael Phelps] a lot they sent me to do a project of the most notable athlete of the Olympics and I chose you I like you a lot [translation from Spanish to English by Terra Networks USA]

Good Vibe for US Soccer Team

IT’S GOLD FOR USA GIRLS VS BRAZIL FRIDAY!

Good Vibe for Argentina

I hope that we Argentines realize that we need to recognize that other sports exist besides soccer and that it would be very good to show support NOT ONLY WHEN WE WIN A MEDAL! [Note: Argentina won the gold medal for soccer.]

It is evident from the Good Vibes above that Hispanic Internet Users support the US and their country of origin seamlessly and with enthusiasm on Terra. Be a Smart Marketer, analyze both country of origin and ethnic pride to fine tune your message to the largest minority in the United States today and for the distant future, US Hispanics. Research now exists to fine tune messaging down to the DMA, age, or country of origin which can be leveraged to your brand’s advantage.

Terra Networks USA would like to congratulate all Olympians from the 2008 games, as well as US Hispanics who participate or where mentioned in Hispanic Heritage celebrations.

1.) Roberts, Sam. ‘In a Generation, Minorities May be the US Majority’. NYTimes. Aug 13 08

2.) Synovate. 2008 U.S. Diversity Markets Report. pg 25

Published by Natasha Funk. September, 2008.