Hispanics feel underrepresented, almost invisible, on TV — and that should be a concern for marketers missing out on what could be effective campaigns to Latinos, experts on the subject said Wednesday at the Hispanic TV Summit during NYC TV Week.

Carlos Santiago is a co-founder of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA’s) Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing. At the 20th anniversary Hispanic TV Summit Wednesday, he said Latinos have the strongest interest of any multicultural consumer group in seeing programming they feel authentically represents them. They also respond well to ads that feel culturally relevant to them, Santiago and a co-panelist, Veronica Hernandez, product manager of inclusion analytics, at Nielsen, said. 

Also: More Coverage from the 10th Anniversary NYC TV Week

“From all of the segments, the segments where culture has the most weight to the sales success of a campaign is among Hispanics,” Santiago said. “It explains 78% of the success of a campaign. For other segments, it’s a little bit below 60%. Hispanics, when they see culture, they make a connection that takes them to the purchase.”

Using the Spanish language in ads, he said, can add 22% to the success of a campaign, all of which means authentic and relevant content is key to return on investment. “The impact is not marginal. The impact is astronomical.”

Severely Under-Represented

Nielsen estimated Hispanics make up only 13% of on-screen casting on TV, and the figure drops to 7% when Spanish-language programmers are removed from the mix, Hernandez said. By contrast, Hispanics were about 19% of the population as measured by the 2020 U.S. Census.

Hispanics also are the multicultural consumer category (77%) most likely to feel stereotyped in portrayals on TV, Santiago said. And 59% of Hispanics, according to AIMM research, believe they are under-represented or not represented at all in shows on TV. “They feel invisible because they are invisible,” Santiago said of Hispanic TV viewers.

On English-language networks, there’s a scarcity of shows that feel culturally relevant to Latinos and not enough such shows being developed, Santiago said, citing the cancellation of shows such as Jane the Virgin (The CW), Vida (Starz) and Netflix’s La Casa de las Flores and Mr. Iglesias. Not enough similar fare is being developed, he said. “There really is nothing out there,” Santiago said.

Hernandez said Hispanics love to watch programming on streaming platforms: 44% of the content Hispanics watch is on streaming, 9 points higher than the general population. An increase in free ad-supported streaming channels in Spanish would give marketers more opportunities to reach those consumers with culturally relevant advertising, she said. For more about Latinos' preferences for streaming, read this Nielsen report released the day of the summit. 

She also said the U.S. Hispanic population is increasingly diverse. There are 3.8 million Afro Latinos, she said, and the Asian Latino segment has grown 23% since the 2010 Census. “We’re young, we’re queer, we’re differently abled, so there is just not enough content to capture all of the nuance that exists in the community,” Hernandez said.

U.S. Hispanics are mostly (67%) born in the U.S., she said. “This generation has also been really exposed to social justice and equity issues. That empowers us to demand more as consumers of the content that is being offered to us.”

“I think that the expectations from Gen Z is not just to see your identity but to see it in a positive light,” Santiago added. “It’s beyond having someone in the cast that is Hispanic. It’s to make sure that that representation is accurate. That you feel proud of that representation. When all of that is encapsulated in a great storyline, great series, then consumers, respondents, viewers are rating that at a high level. When combined with advertising that is in that context, that increases ROI.”

Not Enough Content

The summit began with comments from Gonzalo Del Fa, chairman of the Hispanic Marketing Council and president of GroupM Multicultural, urging TV executives in the room to insist that English-language programmers have Latinos represented more fairly before and behind the cameras. "Besides the Hispanic networks, is there enough relevant and authentic content? Not at all," he said. 

Among the growth statistics Del Fa cited about the Hispanic population was its spending power: $1.9 trillion, he said, compared with $495 billion in 2000 when the first Hispanic TV Summit was held. In 2025, he said, U.S. Latinos' estimated spending power will be $2.5 trillion. 

NYC Television Week also included the Advanced Advertising and Next TV summits. It ends tonight (September 15) with the 40 Under 40 Awards. ￭

Gonzalo Del Fa, president of Group M Multicultural and chairman of the Culture Marketing Council (CMC), delivered the opening address at the 18th annual Hispanic Television Summit on Tuesday (Sept. 22), declaring that “total market is totally dead.”

His comment about the previously popular media strategy, in which messages targeted to diverse audience segments were an inherent part of marketing communications, provided energy to his challenge for change within the multicultural marketing and media industry. 

He said, “one size does not fit all. Multicultural consumers want to watch content created by their community and for their community.”

Del Fa also addressed how the impact of current events like COVID-19, and the increase of violence, racism and hate, have shifted how brands communicate with their consumers. He said the industry needs to “evolve from where we are, to where we need to be,” in reference to an “emerging sense of a need for diversity in the work force … that there is a call to not just think about it, but to actually do it, and do it now.” 

He added that companies that do not have a diverse work force cannot understand why diversity marketing is important. In his perspective, they are missing the opportunity to tap different voices and to bring a different perspective to their advertising message.

Regarding the effect of the COVID shutdown on media budgets, Del Fa said, “I was afraid what was going to happen was what usually happens, that multicultural media budgets get cut first.” But he was surprised. When COVID started, all budgets were cut, not just multicultural. He added “this is a good sign that we are all rethinking how to plan to spend.”

Del Fa emphasized that “if a company truly believes in inclusion, it should then be a corporate requirement to have a multicultural marketing plan and budget.”

The conversation of multicultural media continued with a session moderated by Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) CEO Sean Cunningham, who opened with a presentation of findings from the organization’s study of video ad campaigns targeted to Hispanics. The study effectively proved the points made by Del Fa.

Cunningham said, “we wanted to see if brands that use cultural messaging in their advertising see a positive reaction from the Hispanic market, and then does this reaction result in sales?”

The VAB study reviewed 3,300 video ads, from 50 major consumer brands, and came up with 20 case histories. 

One history that Cunningham shared featured the Toyota RAV4, which had a $22.6-million Hispanic ad spend over four years, featuring 13 different culturally targeted ad spots that generated a 42% increase in sales and over 100,000 units sold in the Hispanic market. He encouraged attendees to log in to the VAB website to review the full report.

During the panel discussion that followed, Glenda Villanueva-Marchetta, Multicultural Lead, from Altice’s A4 Advertising, shared that Hispanics currently comprise the single largest spending consumer group at $978 billion in 2020 and expected to grow to $2.3 trillion by 2024. She emphasized the opportunity presented by the market by saying “it’s just nuts if you are not spending in the Hispanic market.”

Another panelist, Steve Mandala, Univision’s president of Ad Sales and Marketing, commented that he sees a “new energy in the last four months reflected by the opportunity to directly reach top decision makers at leading brands.” 

Sandra Alfaro, executive VP and managing partner at 305 Worldwide, added, “from the agency perspective there’s a growing interest by advertisers to be culturally responsible and relevant. They are recognizing that youthful Hispanic consumers have Influence that goes beyond buying power, to innovation.”

Mandala concluded by saying “There’s a pattern here. Whenever brands have a realistic recognizable consistent commitment … they see outstanding results.”

NEW YORK -- Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News today said  that Gonzalo del Fa, president, GroupM Multicultural, and Gary R. Stevenson, president and managing director, MLS Business Ventures, have been named opening and closing keynote speakers for NewBay Media’s 13th Annual Hispanic Television Summit. The premier one-day conference covering the business of Hispanic television in the United States, Latin America and around the world is set for Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Park Central Hotel New York.  

This year, for the first time, the Hispanic Television Summit will be one of the signature events that make up New York City Television Week, which also includes The Next TV Summit & Expo, The Content Show, Advanced Advertising and the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.

“The Hispanic Television Summit is always one of our most popular conferences of the year,” Louis Hillelson, VP/Group Publisher, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News, said. “By bringing it under the New York City Television Week umbrella, our attendees will be a wide cross-section of the general market with the Hispanic television communities. This will bring added value to their participation. It’s a great opportunity for anyone looking to learn from each other, network and be inspired.”

Hillelson continued, “Our keynoters represent two areas of greatest interest to our attendees, one being ad-spend targeting Hispanic viewers, and the other being the changes affecting the immediate future of televised soccer.”

Delivering the opening keynote, del Fa will discuss “Turning Loyal Viewers into Your New Customers.” As president of GroupM Multicultural, del Fa leads all aspects of the multicultural media and marketing efforts initiated by GroupM agencies including Mindshare, MEC, Mediacom and Maxus. Under del Fa’s leadership, GroupM Multicultural handles more than $600 million in billings from clients such as Nestle, AT&T, Unilever, Anheuser Busch, Mars, Colgate, Lancôme, Abbott, Netflix, Church & Dwight, Subway, Kimberly Clark and KFC. del Fa joined GroupM in 2003 as Managing Director of MEC Argentina. 

Last year, MLS received the Leadership in Hispanic Television Award at this summit, so it is fitting that Stevenson’s closing keynote will be “A Look Ahead at the Business of Soccer on Television.” An innovator in sports marketing and media strategies for more than 35 years, Stevenson was named president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures in 2013.  Stevenson oversees the commercial side of MLS, which includes Soccer United Marketing (SUM), media/broadcasting, club services, international, marketing, content and digital. 

In addition to launching and building OnSport, a highly successful sports marketing and television consulting firm in 1997 and selling it to the Wasserman Media Group in 2007, Stevenson has served as a senior-level executive at the NBA and PGA Tour. He also was the COO and oversaw the launch of two television networks, The Golf Channel in 1995 and the Pac-12 Networks in 2012.

The Hispanic Television Summit is the premier event for those in the business of television for Hispanic audiences and covers programming, advertising, online distribution technology and this year will especially feature the genre of telenovelas. Over 500 executives attend from the U.S., Latin America, Europe and other territories, representing broadcasters, pay TV providers, over-the-top digital providers, programming networks, production companies, advertisers, ad agencies, technology suppliers, research firms and investors.

The Summit includes the presentation of the Leadership in Hispanic Television Award as well as the Award for Achievement in Hispanic Television. Previous recipients of the Leadership Award include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Dish Latino and Major League Soccer, and the Achievement Award past recipients include on-air personalities Don Francisco, Andrés Cantor, and Cristina Saralegui; network news anchors Jorge Ramos, Maria Celeste Arrarás, María Elena Salinas and José Díaz-Balart; sports celebrity Oscar De La Hoya and advertising executives Monica Gadsby of SMG and Edgar Sandoval of P&G.

The Summit is produced by The Schramm Marketing Group, based in New York City. To inquire about speaking opportunities, contact Joseph Schramm at 212-983-0219 or jschramm@schrammnyc.com. For registration, please contact Rebecca Shottland at rshottland@nbmedia.com or 917-281-4782. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Charlie Weiss at cweiss@nbmedia.com or 212-378-0478.