I’ve never been much of a sports fan, but after the NBA finals I think I may be missing out. Not on the games, really, but on interesting commercials, like Ford’s all-Spanish ad on ABC.
I read about the ad on Chuck Salter’s article in Fast Company, and I thought the ad was funny and memorable. The scenario of an entire family weeping with envy over their neighbor’s Ford Escape was humorous, and just the fact that not many all-Spanish ads make their way to the general market made it stand out. But I’m not too sure about Salter’s proclamation that this is the future of advertising.
Hispanic marketing will exist as long as a sizable chunk of the population, wielding considerable purchasing power, identifies as Hispanic. But what Hispanic marketing means will constantly change as the Hispanic population changes, and that includes language preference. Even today, research indicates that not all Hispanics prefer to speak only Spanish. Mediamark Research found that 44% of Hispanics prefer to speak either only English or a combination of English and Spanish at home, and Forrester Research found that over half of Hispanics online prefer English. The future of advertising is culturally-conscious, but that does not necessarily mean all-Spanish ads will abound. That will depend on how Hispanics’ language preference and usage evolves.
How do you feel about ads entirely in another language? Do you think they will become more and more popular?
Sully Moreno 