Univision, Telemundo, Fox Sports en Espanol and ESPN Deportes Tout Hispanic Market Growth

By MediaBizBloggers TV / Video Download Archives

Most of the Spanish-language networks held their annual upfront presentations this week and the common theme for all was the often-cited fact that the Hispanic population is growing at a much faster rate than the US population. A not-yet-fully-maximized market is at advertisers' and media buyers' fingertips, they say, with an extremely loyal and engaged audience who are much more likely to purchase a product than the average television viewer. These networks, including Univision, Telemundo, Fox Sports en Español and ESPN Deportes, are poised to be the next growth opportunity for advertisers. Hispanics' advertising attentiveness and brand preference are at the centerpiece of this argument and the numbers certainly reinforce that.

"[Univision] is riding the demographic wave that predicts a growing audience over time," said Univision CEO Joe Uvaat their Upfront on Wednesday. Appealing to advertisers and their media buyers to incorporate Spanish-language television into their budgets, he said "today's Hispanic consumers will be making or breaking brands for decades to come."

Fellow colleague and President of Advertising Sales and Marketing, David Lawenda, illustrated that marketing to Hispanics offers a distinct asset to advertisers. Citing Nielsen data, he noted that, "while only a small percentage of viewers are unique to the top English-language networks, 60 percent of Univision's adult 18 to 49 audience are unduplicated viewers who are not exposed to advertisers' messages anywhere else."

Those unique viewers are also more likely to pay attention to advertising messages.JackMyers Emotional Connections™ Consumer Research Studies establish that nearly 54 percent of Hispanic adults age 18 to 49 say they are likely, very likely or extremely likely to pay attention to advertising messages on Spanish-language television.*

Univision can prove to advertisers that its audience does in fact pay attention to its ads. Last year's Univision Upfront presented awards to ad agencies for the best viewer-rated ads of the year. Coined the Corazón Awards, the network held the vote again this year with Ford, Pampers and Cheerios taking the top honors.

Does that likelihood to pay attention to advertising translate to a propensity to purchase a product or service? Univision recently announced its Nielsen Fusion Project, aimed at correlating viewing and spending habits. Among Univision viewers 18-64, 51 percent agree or strongly agree that when they see advertising on the network, they consider it a recommendation and are more likely to purchase the product or service offered, placing it as the highest rated network among 60 broadcast and cable networks for ad impact.**

Advertising impact remains the key component for marketers. At all of the Upfronts this year, multi-platform integrated campaigns and branded entertainment were prominent features. These initiatives offer a potentially prosperous opportunity for Spanish-language networks. At the ESPN Deportes Upfront on Wednesday, SVP Jeff Siegel promoted their successful multi-platform content across the television network, its website, ESPN Movíl, ESPN Radio EN, and ESPN Magazine. "The more platforms we build for Hispanic sports fans, the more they will use them," said Siegel.

At Fox Sports en Español's Upfront on Tuesday, SVP Ad SalesTom Maney announced their new Broadband channel. He also announced what they are calling their new "one stop media" as they are fully integrating their sales forces.

*Data taken from JackMyers Emotional Connections Study 2007: Media Brand Equity, Emerging Television Networks, Advertising Attentiveness, Media and Technology Uses Among Ethnic Audiences

** Data taken from JackMyers Emotional Connections Study 2006: Advertising Impact on Viewers. Please note: Ad impact is a composite average of two attributes (ad attentiveness and likelihood to purchase)