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Hispanic Acculturation Secrets Unveiled

At the Governor's Mansion Claudia Goffan with Gov. Sam Brownback after Hispanic Day on the Hill

At the Governor’s Mansion Claudia Goffan with Gov. Sam Brownback after Hispanic Day on the Hill

Hispanic Acculturation secrets were unveiled at the Keynote Speech given by Claudia Goffan, Hispanic Marketing expert and Target Latino CEO, at Hispanic Day on the Hill and she reveals some of them on this article.

As you may be aware, the Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, with the office of Governor Sam Brownback, proclaimed Hispanic Day on the Hill at the Capitol in Topeka, Kansas that this year took place on April 1st- a day wherein Hispanics from Kansas come together to obtain updated information on key policy and meet with their legislators at the Capitol, and I was called to deliver a keynote speech on Hispanic marketing.

First of all, I’d like to thank the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission with the office of Governor Sam Brownback for selecting me as their keynote speaker for such an important event for both their Latino and political communities. I was truly honored by the request.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to Adrienne Foster, Executive Director of KHLAAC and Mayor of Roeland Park, for organizing such an outstanding and highly attended event and for making me feel so welcome and introducing me to such a distinguished group of people.

I was positively impressed by Governor Sam Brownback who opened his home to us, for his eagerness to learn and understand the issues that concern the Kansas Latino community and Latinos in general.

I was overwhelmed by the impact my presentation made and the number of positive comments received from the audience. I hope the understanding of cultural differences and similarities continues as I see the impact it could exponentially have in the immediate future on the improvement of relationships with Latinos in Kansas and in the rest of the United States.

The audience was entertained and surprised when they found out that every 30 seconds a U.S. Hispanic turns 18 years old. Happy birthday!!! By the sheer numbers alone, the Hispanic market has become a key demographic, not just in states like California, Florida, Texas and New York but in Kansas as well.

The Kansas landscape has changed dramatically since the 2000 U.S. Census. The state’s Hispanic population grew by 59 percent over the past decade. There are over 301,000 Hispanics that reside in Kansas – the 17th largest Hispanic population share nationally- and more than 37% of them are eligible to vote (higher than North Carolina with only 24%). And while U.S. Hispanics have a purchasing power of $1.2 trillion as of 2012, Kansas Latinos purchasing power is $5.6 billion and Kansas Hispanic businesses generated $1.3 billion in 2012.

Hispanic households spend almost as much as general market households and they earn about 70% of what these earn. Therefore and in relative terms, Hispanic households spend more. (Hispanic households spend approximately $40,123 each year, compared to $46,409 for general U.S. households. This gap is shrinking at a very fast pace)

Unfortunately, many of America’s corporations – and it is definitely not limited to them – hang on to stereotypes instead of learning about the Hispanic culture and how it shapes the identity of Hispanic consumers and their communities. This disconnect makes it difficult for these companies to build trust, truly engage with, and begin to value U.S. Hispanics as viable consumers. After all, the ability to identify with an advertisement or a message is affected by identification with a society or the culture of that society.

And what is culture but a mental map which guides us in our relations to our surroundings and to other people? It may be tied to ethnicity on occasions but not necessarily so. Thus, the culture of people that live in the city will be different that the ones that live in a farm and so on. Understanding Hispanic acculturation becomes crucial to understanding the Hispanic culture tapestry that has been weaved in the U.S. and makes it different from the ones in their respective countries of origin.

Several years ago, I shared an article on the Hispanic Acculturation process and understanding segmentation on this same blog. Today, these circles still represent culture more than ever. Not segments. Not slices of the population. Cultures. Everybody in the Venn diagram below is Hispanic and depicting today’s reality that about 70% of Hispanics are bi-culturals (and bilinguals to a certain degree) why are we still debating on what language to address this population and not concentrating on what message will resonate better depending on the level of Hispanic Acculturation? Bi-culturals have two sets of cultures, two sets of maps with which to interpret behaviors, messages, thoughts and everything they do as members of a society.

Hispanic Acculturation Process

Hispanic Acculturation Process

Bi-cultural Hispanics have two sets of codes and they can switch between them just as they can switch languages but only one can be prevalent at a time. Culture works in the same way than language. It can even be mixed and matched, conjugated, re-invented. Understanding Hispanic acculturation is one of the elements to understanding U.S. Hispanics. But remember that no one knows their own culture fully and to understand culture, you have to understand other cultures and their similarities and differences.

Of course, these are just a few of the Hispanic acculturation secrets. I promise there will be more in the future. Meanwhile, I hope that what has begun here is a long lived effort and the example is followed by many others.

Thoughts of the Day

To be kind is more important than to be right

To be kind is more important than to be right

all the secrets in the world are contained in books

all the secrets in the world are contained in books

Next Quote? funny inspirational quotes on every post! | Latinos in Kansas to Have Hispanic Day on the Hill

Latinos in Kansas to Have Hispanic Day on the Hill

Claudia Goffan, Hispanic Marketing professional and CEO at Target Latino, named expert keynote speaker by the Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission with the office of the Governor Sam Brownback.

Atlanta, GA – March 27, 2013 – The Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, with the office of Governor Sam Brownback, is proclaiming Hispanic Day on the Hill at the Capitol in Topeka, Kansas that this year will take place on April 1st- a day wherein Hispanics from Kansas will come together to obtain updated information on key policy and encouraged to meet with their legislators at the Capitol.

The Kansas landscape has changed dramatically since the 2000 U.S. Census. The state’s Hispanic population grew by 59 percent over the past decade. There are over 301,000 Hispanics that reside in Kansas – the 17th largest Hispanic population share nationally- and more than 37% of them are eligible to vote (higher than North Carolina with only 24%).

Claudia Goffan - Target Latino CEO

Claudia Goffan – Target Latino CEO

Claudia Goffan, CEO at Target Latino, Hispanic Marketing expert and Latino community advocate, has been named keynote speaker where she will address the main factors to consider when reaching out to this key demographic.

Claudia has been the Hispanic Marketing expert on Soledad O’Brien’s VIP Panel for the launch of CNN’s major documentary, “Latino in America.” She has been featured in Adweek, Univision, Telemundo, Huffington Post, and is a public speaker in Social Media and Multicultural issues at Emory University, CNN, Columbia University, Georgia State University, and AARP Viva, among others.

“I am honored to have been selected as a keynote speaker for this event.” Goffan said “When I was invited by Adrienne Foster, the Executive Director of Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, Mayor of Roeland Park and a truly impressive Latina, to speak in the same state that has seen the birth of such important Hispanic figures as Janet Murguía, President of the NCLR, and Juan Sepulveda, Democratic National Committee senior adviser for Hispanic Affairs, my heart skipped a beat.”

Goffan will also attend meetings at the Topeka Chamber of Commerce with businesses interested in reaching out and serving this increasingly influential community.

###

For more information regarding Hispanic Day on the Hill or Claudia Goffan, please contact Target Latino at +1 866 600 7030. You can also follow us on @targetlatino for our latest updates.

###

Hispanic Day on the Hill

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Hispanic Acculturation Secrets Unveiled

At the Governor's Mansion Claudia Goffan with Gov. Sam Brownback after Hispanic Day on the Hill

At the Governor’s Mansion Claudia Goffan with Gov. Sam Brownback after Hispanic Day on the Hill

Hispanic Acculturation secrets were unveiled at the Keynote Speech given by Claudia Goffan, Hispanic Marketing expert and Target Latino CEO, at Hispanic Day on the Hill and she reveals some of them on this article.

As you may be aware, the Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, with the office of Governor Sam Brownback, proclaimed Hispanic Day on the Hill at the Capitol in Topeka, Kansas that this year took place on April 1st- a day wherein Hispanics from Kansas come together to obtain updated information on key policy and meet with their legislators at the Capitol, and I was called to deliver a keynote speech on Hispanic marketing.

First of all, I’d like to thank the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission with the office of Governor Sam Brownback for selecting me as their keynote speaker for such an important event for both their Latino and political communities. I was truly honored by the request.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to Adrienne Foster, Executive Director of KHLAAC and Mayor of Roeland Park, for organizing such an outstanding and highly attended event and for making me feel so welcome and introducing me to such a distinguished group of people.

I was positively impressed by Governor Sam Brownback who opened his home to us, for his eagerness to learn and understand the issues that concern the Kansas Latino community and Latinos in general.

I was overwhelmed by the impact my presentation made and the number of positive comments received from the audience. I hope the understanding of cultural differences and similarities continues as I see the impact it could exponentially have in the immediate future on the improvement of relationships with Latinos in Kansas and in the rest of the United States.

The audience was entertained and surprised when they found out that every 30 seconds a U.S. Hispanic turns 18 years old. Happy birthday!!! By the sheer numbers alone, the Hispanic market has become a key demographic, not just in states like California, Florida, Texas and New York but in Kansas as well.

The Kansas landscape has changed dramatically since the 2000 U.S. Census. The state’s Hispanic population grew by 59 percent over the past decade. There are over 301,000 Hispanics that reside in Kansas – the 17th largest Hispanic population share nationally- and more than 37% of them are eligible to vote (higher than North Carolina with only 24%). And while U.S. Hispanics have a purchasing power of $1.2 trillion as of 2012, Kansas Latinos purchasing power is $5.6 billion and Kansas Hispanic businesses generated $1.3 billion in 2012.

Hispanic households spend almost as much as general market households and they earn about 70% of what these earn. Therefore and in relative terms, Hispanic households spend more. (Hispanic households spend approximately $40,123 each year, compared to $46,409 for general U.S. households. This gap is shrinking at a very fast pace)

Unfortunately, many of America’s corporations – and it is definitely not limited to them – hang on to stereotypes instead of learning about the Hispanic culture and how it shapes the identity of Hispanic consumers and their communities. This disconnect makes it difficult for these companies to build trust, truly engage with, and begin to value U.S. Hispanics as viable consumers. After all, the ability to identify with an advertisement or a message is affected by identification with a society or the culture of that society.

And what is culture but a mental map which guides us in our relations to our surroundings and to other people? It may be tied to ethnicity on occasions but not necessarily so. Thus, the culture of people that live in the city will be different that the ones that live in a farm and so on. Understanding Hispanic acculturation becomes crucial to understanding the Hispanic culture tapestry that has been weaved in the U.S. and makes it different from the ones in their respective countries of origin.

Several years ago, I shared an article on the Hispanic Acculturation process and understanding segmentation on this same blog. Today, these circles still represent culture more than ever. Not segments. Not slices of the population. Cultures. Everybody in the Venn diagram below is Hispanic and depicting today’s reality that about 70% of Hispanics are bi-culturals (and bilinguals to a certain degree) why are we still debating on what language to address this population and not concentrating on what message will resonate better depending on the level of Hispanic Acculturation? Bi-culturals have two sets of cultures, two sets of maps with which to interpret behaviors, messages, thoughts and everything they do as members of a society.

Hispanic Acculturation Process

Hispanic Acculturation Process

Bi-cultural Hispanics have two sets of codes and they can switch between them just as they can switch languages but only one can be prevalent at a time. Culture works in the same way than language. It can even be mixed and matched, conjugated, re-invented. Understanding Hispanic acculturation is one of the elements to understanding U.S. Hispanics. But remember that no one knows their own culture fully and to understand culture, you have to understand other cultures and their similarities and differences.

Of course, these are just a few of the Hispanic acculturation secrets. I promise there will be more in the future. Meanwhile, I hope that what has begun here is a long lived effort and the example is followed by many others.

Thoughts of the Day

To be kind is more important than to be right

To be kind is more important than to be right

all the secrets in the world are contained in books

all the secrets in the world are contained in books

Next Quote? funny inspirational quotes on every post! | Latinos in Kansas to Have Hispanic Day on the Hill

Latinos in Kansas to Have Hispanic Day on the Hill

Claudia Goffan, Hispanic Marketing professional and CEO at Target Latino, named expert keynote speaker by the Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission with the office of the Governor Sam Brownback.

Atlanta, GA – March 27, 2013 – The Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, with the office of Governor Sam Brownback, is proclaiming Hispanic Day on the Hill at the Capitol in Topeka, Kansas that this year will take place on April 1st- a day wherein Hispanics from Kansas will come together to obtain updated information on key policy and encouraged to meet with their legislators at the Capitol.

The Kansas landscape has changed dramatically since the 2000 U.S. Census. The state’s Hispanic population grew by 59 percent over the past decade. There are over 301,000 Hispanics that reside in Kansas – the 17th largest Hispanic population share nationally- and more than 37% of them are eligible to vote (higher than North Carolina with only 24%).

Claudia Goffan - Target Latino CEO

Claudia Goffan – Target Latino CEO

Claudia Goffan, CEO at Target Latino, Hispanic Marketing expert and Latino community advocate, has been named keynote speaker where she will address the main factors to consider when reaching out to this key demographic.

Claudia has been the Hispanic Marketing expert on Soledad O’Brien’s VIP Panel for the launch of CNN’s major documentary, “Latino in America.” She has been featured in Adweek, Univision, Telemundo, Huffington Post, and is a public speaker in Social Media and Multicultural issues at Emory University, CNN, Columbia University, Georgia State University, and AARP Viva, among others.

“I am honored to have been selected as a keynote speaker for this event.” Goffan said “When I was invited by Adrienne Foster, the Executive Director of Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, Mayor of Roeland Park and a truly impressive Latina, to speak in the same state that has seen the birth of such important Hispanic figures as Janet Murguía, President of the NCLR, and Juan Sepulveda, Democratic National Committee senior adviser for Hispanic Affairs, my heart skipped a beat.”

Goffan will also attend meetings at the Topeka Chamber of Commerce with businesses interested in reaching out and serving this increasingly influential community.

###

For more information regarding Hispanic Day on the Hill or Claudia Goffan, please contact Target Latino at +1 866 600 7030. You can also follow us on @targetlatino for our latest updates.

###

Hispanic Day on the Hill

Uncovered Facts About Online Hispanic Women and their Media Usage
Benetton WOM Campaign - Obama & Chavez Poster
hispanic market forecast trends
body language meaning in Colombia
The meaning of gestures Puerto Rico
live in such a way that if someone spokje badly of you nobody would believe it. #quotes

live in such a way that if someone spokje badly of you nobody would believe it.

Next Quote? funny inspirational quotes on every post! | First Latino Pope Francis I: History in the making

Why SMX Echo is the Leading Multicultural Social Media Monitoring Tool

I had the great pleasure of meeting Claudia Havi Goffan about a year ago. I quickly realized that Havi was an incredibly talented and driven person. She has been in the marketing space for more than 25 years — specializing in strategic planning. Havi has been recognized as an expert in Latino Marketing by CNN and more importantly she has been named one of the top 48 Public Relations Professionals by American Express.

Form relationships with other local businesses that cater to your customers. Ask them to offer a discount to their customers if they mention coming from their store when they purchase from you. Feel free to reciprocate. — Havi Goffan

When Havi is not busy with the Board for Latin Success or with the Argentine American Chamber of Commerce — she is busy running her company — Target Latino. As CEO, Havi has feverishly promoted the importance of the U.S. Hispanic market to American companies. She has worked with many top brands ranging from AT&T to XEROX. One of the most exciting partnerships that Havi and her team are working on is with SocialMetrix — developers of SMX Echo.

Read more of Ramon Nuez‘s article at the Huffington Post

Claudia Havi Goffan is the CEO of Target Latino and she specializes in generating Word-of-Mouth via Grassroots strategies online and off-line always with outstanding results.

Watch Out! Hispanics Rate Products Significantly Higher

I find it interesting that some market research agencies recently discovered what Hispanic marketers have known for quite some time. Give Hispanics a product to be rated, and you will get much better marks than with non-Hispanics. Ask them to tell you what is wrong with it, and you may end up getting a list longer than a mile! That is the reason many good Hispanic Market research specialists will add open-ended questions to help qualify the close-ended ones or take different approaches to research altogether.

Why the contradiction? It’s in the culture. Read more about it in the following article:

Results Could Have a Significant Effect on the Products Targeted to Hispanics in the Future.

Hispanics, especially those who are more recent arrivals, give higher ratings in product surveys than their non-Hispanic counterparts, according to a study designed by Jeffry Savitz, President of Savitz Research Companies and Professor of Marketing Research at the University of North Texas. The study found that Hispanics rate products significantly higher than what they may actually feel. In the study, Hispanics and non-Hispanics were asked to assign a numeric value to five rating labels using a scale of 0-100 with 100 being the best. The rating labels, “Excellent,” “Very good,” “Good,” “Neither Good nor Poor” and “Poor” are common in survey research. Hispanics consistently gave higher marks than their non-Hispanic counterparts to each label except “poor.” The average difference was 5.9 making it statistically significant.

In this landmark study, Professor Jeffry Savitz a graduate of Columbia University, found that Hispanics rated Tylenol 85.7, significantly higher than non-Hispanics at 80.6 implying Hispanics favor the brand. However, after the adjustment of 5.9 points, the ratings were at parity. Among cellular providers, ratings of Verizon, 65.4 and 68.1, were similar. After the adjustment was applied, however, the ratings indicated that Hispanics do not like this provider nearly as much, 59.5 versus 68.1. In the soft drink category, Hispanics rated Fanta 80.0 versus non-Hispanics at 57.6, a highly significant difference. Even after the adjustment the result was still significant implying Hispanics are more favorable toward Fanta.

Hispanics Rate Products Significantly Higher than non-Hispanics

The results of the study have significant implications on multicultural advertising and marketing as well as which products and services should be offered to Hispanics. “This study finally sheds light on the reason some Hispanic research ends up with faulty conclusions or results. This ‘cultural lift’ must be taken into account,” says Juan Faura, author of two books on Hispanic marketing. “Hispanics are taught from an early age that it is in poor taste or inappropriate to openly criticize or berate when asked their opinions.” Savitz says, “The article discusses levels of acculturation, consumption of Hispanic media and country of origin, but more research is needed to measure the effect of the ‘cultural lift’ on various categories and other factors.”

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Source: Savitz Research Companies

Interview with Lilian de la Torre-Jimenez, Publisher of Bodas USA La Revista

By Havi Claudia Goffan
TL: Tell us about your professional life before launching Bodas USA Magazine.
Lilian: I was working as a senior reporter for La Opinion, the Spanish-language daily from Los Angeles, writing mostly for the front page. Most of the stories I covered were the political and immigration beat as well as human rights stories. Therefore, when I left the paper to launch Bodas USA La Revista, I made a huge transition from covering the breaking news of the day to launching the first Spanish-language bridal magazine in the United States

TL: We know you are a philanthropist and strong supporter of the Latino community. Can you tell us about those initiatives?
Lilian: I think it is very important to give back to the communities we live in. As a full-time journalist I spent a lot of time in the newsroom or gathering the news, that I never had the time to get involved in community organizations or in human rights causes as I do now. Having covered human rights abuses for many years—the anti-immigration movement, the plight of undocumented worker, women and children and legal resident discrimination—I felt those issues close at heart. Before, when I was working for La Opinion, I had to be objective and include both sides of the story, even if it meant interviewing a member of the KKK. Now, I feel very fortunate to be able to participate as a volunteer in the Orange County Human Relations Council as part of their Marketing and PR Committee. It is very fulfilling to actually be able to take a stand and contribute to fostering a better understanding of ethnic groups. This organization produces an annual hate crime report that brings to light and keeps track of hate crime incidents, thus helping to reduce the numbers.
I’m also a Board Member of the National Hispanic Business Women Association (NHBWA) that recently awarded educational scholarships to 16 college students from all parts of California. It felt so good to be part of that event and be able to contribute somewhat to their higher education goals. That is why I’m donating parts of the profits of the magazine to the NHBWA Scholarship Fund.
Our honorary board members are made of Top Latinas from Southern CA, like Maria Lourdes Sobrino, CEO of Lulu’s Desserts, who made history in the United States in her industry by being the first one to introduce ready to eat gelatins, many years before Jello launched their products into the same market. So, it is very exciting to be part of an organization where everybody is so willing to share resources, contacts and know-how. They have been a tremendous support in the launch of Bodas USA La Revista and share with me the success of the magazine.

TL: How did you come up with the idea for the Bodas USA magazine?
Lilian: I was assigned by Nuestra Gente Magazine a story on Latino weddings in the U.S. back in 2000. I was shocked back then by the lack of websites, magazines or other resources in Spanish online and print content for U.S. Latinos; there are many wedding sites and wedding magazines in Spanish but they are from Latin America and Mexico and cater towards the upper middle class. I felt a total disconnection from their stories having grown up in the United States, so I decided to register the website name and started working on concept, research, demographics. It took seven years of dating this idea, but finally we wed!

TL: Was it hard to implement? Did you encounter any obstacles?
Lilian: Yes, it was hard to implement. From conception to implementation it took seven years, because I didn’t have the courage to resign a prestigious job. I graduated with a degree in Political Science, so working for La Opinion and covering political stories was a dream come true. But in the end, I felt the need to explore other areas such as publishing a magazine.
In the two years of the start-up, I encountered every possible obstacle. I have quickly learned from my mistakes and moved ahead, and learned not to waste time dwelling on those obstacles, because time is precious for an entrepreneur.
Financing was an obstacle too. It takes a lot of money to launch and print a magazine.

TL: What is your method to dealing with bumps on the road?
Lilian: I have had and continue to have bumps on the road. I think a business is much like life itself, not perfect. Yes, there are days when everything is great and others when things don’t happen as expected. I concentrate on the positive aspects and the many accomplishments our new publishing company is having.
I do a lot of meditation and constantly remind myself of the rapid success the magazine is having with only two issues under our belt. Thus, all the bumps and obstacles become little bumps and little obstacles.

TL: To what do you attribute the success of your magazine? Is there a formula or advice you can give us?
Lilian: I attribute the success of the magazine to a combination of factors:
1- Filling a market need
2- Top editorial quality
3- Implementation of a multi-media approach: we are trying to close the digital divide and therefore, we also have a digital issue that is growing in popularity, given that Latinos are spending more time online. We also have how-to videos, podcasts and will be launching a TV pilot in the Fall of 2008.
This July we are launching the first phase of our new-redesigned website that includes magazine content, as well as special content for the site.
4- Written with a cultural perspective: takes into account the differences of Latinos from different countries. For example, the Summer Issue features a traditional wedding cookie and cake recipe from Mexico, and one from Costa Rica. We are featuring Latinos from many countries.
5- Up to date on trends
6- We are featuring Latino weddings like nobody else has done it before: we shed a light on this important consumer. We also feature weddings of successful Latinos.
7- Instilling a sense of pride in our editorial team that translates into our readers: the feedback is tremendously positive, they have literally thanked us for putting together a magazine about Latino weddings.
8- Positive Hispanic media coverage: we have radio stations in New York, Miami, Texas and Los Angeles talking about the magazine. We have been on the national Spanish TV networks. Mainstream media is learning about us. NPR’s Marketplace, PR Week and radio host Hugh Hewitt have done stories on our publication.

TL: Tell us about Bodas USA: What does it feature? Where can people purchase the magazine? Can they read it online?
Lilian: Our Summer issue 2008 (second issue) is available at select Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, about 180 of them, as well as major Hispanic supermarket chains in CA, TX, NV, FL, and in New York and other parts of the East Coast as well as in Baja California, Mexico. Cover prices of the 160 page magazine is $4.99. We have digital editions available via our website http://www.bodasusa.com/
The Summer issue 2008 features Mexican dress designers, famous Latino weddings, fashion, nutrition, music, Latino wedding photographers, Green weddings, travel and honeymoon destinations, a bridal gown gallery and many more.

TL: Companies are always looking for more targeted media venues. What can you tell them about Bodas USA target market?
Lilian: Our target market is Bilingual and Spanish-dominant Latinas 18-34 age cohorts. Just in CA by the year 2010, the 18-34 age cohorts will be 10 million powerful.
The weddings that we hav
e featured in our two issues, demonstrate clearly that there are no expenses spared when it comes to Latino weddings.
Our target market is nationwide; we have web visitors from all parts of the U.S., made-up of affluent Latinos.
Also, please keep in mind that mothers are an important consumer: they will purchase the magazine for their daughters that are soon to wed; and they too, are willing to spend big on the preparations for the wedding.
We are featuring high-end weddings in every issue, but also cover the weddings of Latinos who on average spend more than $30,000 if not more, on their weddings.
We will target the brides to be directly at major bridal shows in Southern CA, Northern CA, Florida, Texas and Mexico.

TL: What companies would benefit from advertising in your magazine? And how would they be most successful in reaching your core audience?
Lilian: There are a huge number of companies that can benefit from advertising in our publication; they will get their ad exposed directly to the bride to be via the print issue, digital issue and our website.
Companies that can benefit from advertising with us come from all areas of the wedding industry, such as catering, photography services, invitations, spas, beauty salons, bridal shops, bridal online shops, accessories, favors, travel, beauty products, hygiene products, home products, furniture, tourist sites, honeymoon destinations, cruise lines, flower shops, etc.
Our core audience is becoming more dependent on technology, so we encourage advertisers to showcase their ads in our print issue as well as our website for added value and a higher ROI.
We also recommend, if you don’t have an ad in Spanish, create one, it is better to reach your target audience in their language. We also accept bilingual ads.
We make exceptions to accepting English only ads when the message is very clear, regardless of language.

TL: What are your plans for the future, personally and professionally?
Lilian: Professionally to establish media partnerships that will help us catapult our publication nationally and internationally and establish a successful distribution system of Bodas USA La Revista in major departments stores like Target and Wal-Mart.
Our publishing company has been commissioned to put together a custom-publication for a major Boxing event taking place on July 26 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. We hope to secure other contracts for future sports publications in the U.S. as we are already publishing Boxeo La Revista in Mexico.
Personally, to continue to grow as a human being and to enjoy being a publisher, entrepreneur, a mom, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend and a dog owner.

TL: In conclusion, what is the single most important marketing or media message you can give us?
Lilian: Advertisers need to be aware that the Hispanic consumer is very different than mainstream consumers. Hispanics are very loyal to brands, so that is a plus for them, but they need to reach them with culturally sensitive messages that are targeted taking into account their language and their culture.
Also, the number of Latina women-owned businesses in the U.S. has grown dramatically over the past few years and companies need to understand that this group of women has a tremendous purchasing power. For the professional Latinas that have not wed, when the times comes, they will “throw the house out the window” or again leave no expenses spared.
Latinos that are acculturated still incorporate many cultural elements into their wedding, so culture and language continues to play a major role in newer generations who will not dare for example, have a wedding without Latin music or leave out some traditions as part of their big day.
For example, my niece which is the first generation of US-born Latinos in my family is having her wedding on July 12, she is a college student, a professional Latina a business owner and soon to graduate from a four year college with a Teaching Credential, yet her wedding is the typical Latino Mexican wedding of the newer generations, she will have the DJ, but also Mariachis and, of course, a million bridesmaids, but she is making sure the decorations and the reception site look like magazine material taken out of Bodas USA La Revista, which by the way inspired her to tie the knot, because like many professional Latinas she is going out of her way to have her dream wedding, even if she (and her parents!) is going in debt for a while.
She is the perfect example of my target audience; she is 23 years old, talented, professional, business-owner and relies on Spanish- language magazine content -even though she is bilingual- for planning her wedding, in this case Bodas USA La Revista. The reason: we speak her language and understand her culture and she can see herself reflected in the many Latinas whose weddings we feature.

That is our Motto. Your Language, Your Culture, Your Wedding.
Bodas USA La Revista

We are fortunate the Hispanic wedding industry is recession free!

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