September/October 2009
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Diversity Matters
is edited by
Annette Merritt Cummings
Vice President,
Diversity Services
800.438.9911
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September: Hispanic Heritage Month
The Hispanic-American population continues to grow in importance for companies looking to market products, services, and jobs. They are the fastest growing minority (projected to make up one quarter of the U.S. population by 2050) and command nearly $1 trillion in buying power. They are also the fastest growing group on social networking sites and smart marketers are reaching out to them across the digital landscape.
October: National Disability Employment
Awareness Month
In 1945 Congress established the first week in October as “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week” in order to facilitate understanding about disabilities and the employment issues surrounding them. The name was eventually changed to include people with non-physical disabilities, and in 1988 it was expanded to a full month.
The Hispanic Population and the Changing
Digital Landscape
In the past year social media usage has become nearly universal, in America and globally. What many don’t realize, however, is that even if everyone is involved in social networking, not everyone is involved in the same ways or to the same degree. Now research on social media habits among minority groups, and especially Hispanic Americans, has shown trends that anyone trying to reach out to these groups should be aware of.
Who they are
Growing fast. Hispanic Americans make up 11% of the total U.S. online population, or 20.3 million users, and are growing as an online group faster than the rest of the country. (Time spent online increased 4 times faster than total population and total pages consumed increased 3.6 times faster.) According to Elena del Valle, principal, LNA World Communications, “We, the online Latinos, have a higher household income than any other online users group in the US, and simply put, we buy more than any other group, so we make a very interesting and potential costumer base that can not be ignored.”
Source: Captura Group
Leading the way. In a study by Felipe Korzenny and Lee Vann of Captura Group, Hispanics were shown to visit social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic Whites (above), with double the number of English-preferring Hispanics visiting MySpace and Facebook than Non-Hispanic Whites (below). Some of the reasons given by Korzenny and Vann for this trend are the more collective/communal emphasis in many minority cultures and the ability to communicate with friends and family around the world. (Read our interview with Felipe Korzenny for more insights.) In addition to traditional social networking sites, microblog site Twitter is gaining popularity as well. A study by bilingual market research panel SusOpiniones.com found that 33% of its Hispanic members use Twitter. Having a presence on these sites is a major step in connecting with target diverse groups.
Source: Captura Group
Minorities are mobile. Blacks and Hispanics are significantly more likely than Whites to use mobile devices to access the Internet (below) and are more likely to use a cell as a primary phone, according to the Pew Internet& American Life Project. They are also more likely to utilize mobile phones for a variety of communication and entertainment activities. Incorporating text messaging, for example, into traditional outdoor advertising can lead to more engagement from minorities.
Advertisers taking notice. Many companies have turned their marketing eyes to the online Hispanic population. According to Ad Age’s 2009 Hispanic Fact Pack, the top advertisers on Hispanic web sites, after Univision, were Sprint Nextel, CareerBuilder, InterActiveCorp, and Experian Group, all with over $2 million in ad spending in 2008. Major food manufacturers General Mills and Hershey have recently made their first venture into advertising on Hispanic sites.
Best practices
Reputation management. Before making new forays into social media you need a strong foundation to build on. Are potential candidates already talking about you on blogs and networking sites? What are they saying? A comprehensive knowledge of your existing online reputation can provide insight into what kind of social networking presence you need, and will allow you to better measure success. Learn more at hodes.com/listenin
Transparency and brand awareness. According to Martha Ceja, Manager, Diversity & Inclusions Solutions at Hodes, “Hispanics tend to be very family- and community-oriented and will share information about your brand—positive and negative—with friends and family, which is even easier to do now that social media has become so popular. If you understand your employees and engage them, they can be your greatest asset—as ambassadors for your brand to their friends and family.”
Understand attitudes. To ensure that you understand employee perceptions, motivators, and affiliations, consider internal research in these areas. Possible questions include:
- What attracted them to your company?
- What keeps them there?
- Do they view growth potential?
- Would they recommend you as an employer to their friends and family?
- What type of community and professional organizations affiliations do they have?
Read our interview with Martha Ceja and Laura Shanon on Digital Diversity >
Harnessing the Web. The power of social media lies in the open, conversational style and the ability of site visitors and members to build their own experience. Manny Miravete, VP, sales and strategy, MySpace and MySpace Latino, recommends that companies use social media as a way to brainstorm with their audience rather just advertising to them. Going even further, in 2008 Facebook asked its users to translate the site’s interface into Spanish. In the six months following the start of this project, the number of Facebook users in Spanish-speaking countries quadrupled, reaching nearly 10 million by July 2008. Online minorities may be especially receptive to getting involved, as traditional advertising often neglected their perspectives. According to Korzenny and Vann “There is a dearth of culturally relevant and in-language content available online. As a result, ethnic minorities tend to be proactive and create and share their own content and social networks are ideal platforms for publishing and distributing such original content.”
Spotlight on Minority Millennials
As part of the New Voices Project, Hodes examined responses among minority respondents in areas of social media habits and employer attitudes. Hispanic Millennials were the most likely to have visited MySpace (75%), but least likely to have visited LinkedIn (4%). Hispanic Millennials were most likely to feel it is important or extremely important that a potential employer values diversity (85%, followed by 84% for African Americans). Hispanics and Asians felt most strongly about a potential employer being “green” (47% each said important or extremely important).
Download the report for more information >
Media Event
Voces (Voices)
Beginning September 1, over three hundred public-television stations across the country will premiere Voces, a weekly series focusing on Latino culture in America, including documentaries and feature films. Presented by actor Edward James Olmos, the show will explore the experiences of Latinos in America, from the temporary laborers of the Bracero program to famous Latino musicians, athletes, and activists, and show their influence on American life.
Fall Conferences
National Society of Black MBAs
September 22-26, 2009 in New Orleans, LA
The NBMBAA® Annual Conference and Exposition attracts more than 12,000 professionals and hundreds of companies. Issues in education, diversity, professional development and career advancement for MBA’s are all discussed.
National Society of Hispanic MBAs
October 8-10, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN
Over 8,000 attendees and more than 300 corporate and academic sponsors attend to recruit top Hispanic talent.
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
October 28 – Nov 1, 2009 in Washington, DC
The SHPE Conference attracts over 5,000 engineering professionals and students. Engineering companies and corporations come to recruit top talent from SHPE membership.
RELEVANT DIVERSITY SITES
Hispanic Business
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/default.asp
MiGente.com
http://www.migente.com/
Latino Future Magazine
http://latinofuture.com/
AdWeek’s Marketing y Medios
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news-and-features/hispanic-marketing/index.jsp
LatPro.com
http://www.latpro.com/
National Council of La Raza
http://www.nclr.org/
LULAC – League of United Latin American Citizens
http://www.lulac.org/
Hispanic Yearbook
http://www.hispanicyearbook.com/index.php
Pew Hispanic Research Center
http://pewhispanic.org/
Yahoo en Español
http://espanol.yahoo.com/
iHispano
www.ihispano.com
Hispanic Target Magazine
http://www.hispanictarget.com/mediakit.php
RELEVANT CONFERENCES: September - October, 2009
9.16.09—9.19.09
Annual USHCC Convention and Business Expo
Denver, Co
www.ushcc.com/news-convention.html
9.22.09—9.26.09
National Black MBA Association
New Orleans, LA
www.nbmbaa.org
9.24.09—9.26.09
American Business Women’s Association
Kansas City, MO
www.abwa.org/Events
9.24.-09—9.24.09
National Society of Hispanic Professionals Professional Job Fair
Washington, DC
network.nshp.org/events/event/listByType?type=jobfair
10.8.09—10.10.09
National Society of Hispanic MBA’s
Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://www.goeshow.com/hispanic/annual/2009/sponsor_home09.cfm
10.19.09—10.21.09
American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.awscpa.org/
10.22.09—10.22.09
National Society of Hispanic Professionals
Professional Job Fair
Dallas, TX
network.nshp.org/events/event/listByType?type=jobfair
10.28.09—11.1.09
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
Washington, DC
http://oneshpe.shpe.org/wps/portal/national
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