Big-name brands have taken notice of the growing Latino population in the country and their corresponding masssive buying power.The new Gerber baby is a Latina, Sofia Vergara is a face of Suave and Covergirl, and Jennifer Lopez’s perfume is the highest-grossing celebrity perfume ever. Latinos are big consumers of cosmetics, shampoo, perfume and baby products, and a recent study by Nielsen found that if U.S. Latinos were their own country, their buying power would be one of the top 20 economies in the world, according to a recent ABC.com article.
Here are the top 10 companies that spent big bucks on Spanish-language advertising for TV, radio, and print media last year:
- Procter & Gamble — $225.6 million. Procter & Gamble is making a lot of money off the fact that 25 percent of children under the age of five is Latino and have advertized accordingly.
- Bancorp Inc — $193 million. Bancorp owns U.S. Bank, which has hundreds of locations in the Southwest and on the West coast, areas with high Latino populations.
- Dish Network — $161 million. The Dish Network found a niche with its Latino viewers by offering programming from Latin America.
- McDonald’s — $132 million. McDonald’s is well known for its Spanish-language advertising, including changing its “I’m Lovin’ It” catch-phrase to “Me Encanta.”
- AT&T and Verizon — $131 million and $126 million, respectively. These companies benefit from the fact that about 60 percent of Latino households own at least one video- and Internet-ready cell phone, compared to 43 percent of the general market, according to a Nielsen report.
- Toyota — $101 million. Toyota drummed up a lot of business last year with the “Somos Muchos” or “We Are Many” campaign, which highlighted the diversity of the Hispanic community. The car company gave out free car decals in Latin America and the U.S. with ethnic pride slogans.
- General Mills & Kraft Foods — $95 million and $92 million, respectively. General Mills started a website, “Que Rica Vida,” catering to Latina mothers and families.
- General Motors — $91 million. GM sponsored the Latin Grammys in 2007 and Chevrolets and Silverados are popular in the Hispanic market, according to HispanicBusiness.com.