Monumental Shifts from English to Hispanic Media Fuel Total Market Growth in Automotive Industry

Study Directly Links Increased Hispanic Media Spend to Greater Return on Investment

FAIRFAX, VA -- November 16, 2015: A new study released by AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing confirms that shifting English media dollars to Hispanic directly leads to Total Market growth in the Auto sector category. A five-point allocation shift from English to Hispanic media resulted in a growth acceleration of nine points in Total Market annual revenue.

"This year, we have found in our study series that Consumer Packaged Goods, Retail, Financial Services, and Insurance companies shifting ad spend allocation from English to Hispanic-dedicated media experience a significant boost in corporate revenue growth while companies decreasing Hispanic allocation tend to see a slow down," said AHAA Research Chair Carlos Santiago. "The numbers we are seeing in the auto sector is far greater. This is one of the highest allocation growth impacts found in any category studied thus far, pointing to the vast untapped opportunity available across all categories."

The automotive category increased its ad spend in Hispanic media by $700 million – a massive 163 percent compared to a 30 percent increase in English Media since 2010. The total category currently invests $1.1 billion against Hispanic-dedicated efforts with the average auto company augmenting its Hispanic media spend by 156 percent, to $26 million – in other words, this sector doubled the average Hispanic allocation percentage to 8.4 percent in four years.

The breadth and depth of the new investment levels in Hispanic media allocation is unprecedented with 17 leading marketers in the Best-In-Class and Leader allocation tiers, including nine manufacturers, three dealer associations, one major national dealer, and three services and parts companies. Toyota and Nissan are top Hispanic media spenders at $157 million and $155 million, respectively, while Autozone and Hyundai are tied for Hispanic allocation percentage at 21 percent with Nissan right behind them at 16 percent. Of this honor roll, Nissan, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Ford Dealers and Honda Dealers took major leaps in increasing investment upwards of $30 million and shifting beyond five allocation points to Hispanic media.

AHAA Chair Linda Lane Gonzalez, president of viva partnership, explains, "The automotive industry benefited from Hispanic expenditures in durable goods during the Great Recession and marketers saw this as a solid rationale to invest. Because of early and significant investment, auto marketers have been successful at migrating Hispanic consumers towards higher-end models, and luxury auto brands are making their entry into the Hispanic segment."

Methodology

Data was collected from Nielsen Monitor Plus which tracked over 340K companies' advertising expenditures in English and Spanish. This data was analyzed by Santiago Solutions Group for AHAA. SSG divided companies into 5 Tiers according to the percent allocation to Spanish/Bilingual media: Best-in-Class (more than 14.2%), Leaders (6.4%-14.2%), Followers (3.6%-6.3%), Laggards (1.0%-3.5%), and On the Sidelines (Less than 1%). SSG also segmented the Top 500 Overall Spending (English + Spanish) Companies for years 2010-2014, thus permitting the analysis of trends in the marketplace. Ad Spend Includes spending in Network TV, Spot TV, Cable TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspaper & FSI. It excludes B2B, Display, Outdoor and Cinema.

About AHAA: Founded in 1996, AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing is the national trade organization of all marketing, communications and media firms with trusted Hispanic expertise.