11 Jul /13

Advertising in Modern America

Spanish marketing translationsIf advertising in the 21st century has taught the business community anything, it is that the “Golden Age” of classical advertising is behind us. No longer can a business count simply on consumerist euphoria to drive their sales, and catchy advertisements and colorful signs will only carry sales so far. In order for businesses to successfully advertise in modern America, a lasting connection with the consumer needs to be developed. However, actually achieving that connection has become more difficult due to the changing demographics and needs of target groups.

As many businesses have come to understand, the modern consumer seeks product knowledge, insight into companies’ actions and an understanding of how a particular product can benefit them while at the same time align with their personal identity.
Accordingly, issues formerly irrelevant to a buying decision such as a company’s participation in social responsibility initiatives do now heavily influence consumer choices. Therefore, clearly defining corporate image and product line as well as communicating effectively how both can benefit consumers is vital to the success of a business. Still though, simply improving the message and saying the right things to consumers may not be enough, which is where the issue of demographics needs to be considered.

In many other countries, notably African and Asian countries, where there is homogeneous language of business, addressing the issue of demographics often takes the form of multilingual advertising. While multilingual advertising remains a relatively new concept for American companies, it will definitely become a more lucrative concept as time goes by.

Consider these facts about the Hispanic American market:

  • Demographically, Americans of Hispanic descent currently make up USD 1 trillion of buying power which is expected to reach more than USD 1.5 trillion by the year 2015.
  • 2012 consumer spending among Latinos increased by 30% compared to the previous year.
  • Annually, advertisers are currently spending over USD 4 billion on Spanish language and bilingual ads. This number is expected to triple by 2018
  • Not only is this market currently in excess of 50 million people and will continue to steadily grow, but Spanish language advertising can easily be adapted to the entire Latin and South American market as well.

Thanks to these numbers and the potential buying power behind them, instead of being limited to niche markets and regions, we are now beginning to see major corporate players, such as Procter & Gamble, Ford and Pepsi utilize this concept in their advertising on a broader scale. For example, a year ago, a Spanish language ad for Ford was aired by ABC during the NBA finals – making it a first for American car manufacturers, ABC, and for the NBA. “The ad broke through the clutter, for Spanish speaking Latinos watching in English,” said Alvaro Cabal, Multicultural Communications Manager for Ford. “It’s a clever plan, and we did it because it makes sense.”

In 21st century America, advertising must be multi-lingual in order to be successful, and as any business understands, successful advertising can be the difference between success and failure, as no single media or business in the US can have a linguistically homogenized consumer market. This means that businesses need to be targeting a maximum possible share of impressions and sales, through the utilization of Spanish language advertising, which is seen as bi-lingual (Spanish dubbing and English subtitles, advertising campaigns run out online and offline simultaneously in both English and Spanish languages and etc.)

Regardless of the size of the company, advertiser, or the media used to present the message/information, it is imperative that the advertisement and product information is going to be presented as you intended it. Therefore don’t rely on agencies or freelancers but contact a professional translation company like EVS Translations.

Is your business looking for Spanish marketing translations of the highest quality? EVS Translations has a proven track record of excellent results with English to Spanish and Spanish to English translation services. Of course, we also provide translations into Spanish language from over 50 languages besides English. Spanish language services is one of its core competencies, and our in-house Spanish translators have extensive experience and work in teams to share industry knowledge and terminology specific to your sector.