Liner notes March 11, 2022

"Liner Notes" is a weekly look at five pieces of content that we feel are essential reading, viewing, or listening for those who aspire to alleviate language and cultural barriers.

Nuance is Key in Marketing to Hispanic Consumers

Nearly one in five Americans is Hispanic, and this segment of the overall population is becoming increasingly important in size and purchasing power. Generation Z, which is already a multicultural majority, will be more than a quarter Hispanic by 2027. This is changing the complexion of Hispanic marketing.

Most marketers know the importance of connecting with these consumers, and yet only 6% of overall ad spend is directed at the Hispanic community, eMarketer reports. Whatever the reason for this disconnect, marketers need to pay attention to Hispanic consumers who have a combined purchasing power of $1.7 trillion  and learn that reaching them requires nuance and understanding.

Hispanics not only hail from a variety of countries with distinct cultural traditions and dialects, but they also have assimilated to varying degrees. - Where people shop, how they bank, what they watch, and whether and how they consume social media varies depending on these factors.

“It’s important to recognize that the market is not a monolith and to therefore stop marketing to us as a homogenous segment of people defined in broad strokes,” VaynerMedia Chief Strategy Officer Wanda Pogue said.

-Smart Brief

-Read the full article here.

2020 Census Undercounted Minority U.S. Residents

The 2020 census seriously undercounted the number of Hispanic, Black, and Native American residents even though its overall population count was largely accurate, the Census Bureau. At the same time, the census overcounted white and Asian American residents, the bureau said.

Minority groups mostly concentrated in cities and tribal areas were underrepresented in census figures, even though the total population count in those areas often was fairly accurate. That could affect those groups’ political clout, and conceivably could sway decisions by businesses and governments over the next decade, from the allocation of city services to locations of stores.

Although the bureau did not say how many people it missed entirely, they were mostly people of color, disproportionately young ones. The census missed counting 4.99 of every 100 Hispanics, 5.64 of every 100 Native Americans and 3.3 of every 100 African Americans.

In contrast, for every 100 residents counted, the census wrongly added 1.64 non-Hispanic whites and 2.62 ethnic Asians.

-New York Times

How Banks Aim to Attract Multicultural Customers

With the U.S. population expected to be majority-minority by 2045, according to the Brookings Institution and U.S. Census Bureau data, banks are looking toward multicultural audiences for new areas of growth. Those projections mean that ethnic minority clients are already in banks’ markets in large numbers, and banks are adapting and creating multicultural banking programs to serve them effectively.

“We believe that the future of America lies within the multicultural segments across the country. They are driving all of the population growth in the country. They’re also driving a major share of expenditure growth in the country,” says David Femi, manager of multicultural banking and community affairs with New York-based M&T Bank. “We know there is limitless potential in these multicultural segments and we’re doubling down our efforts in building growth strategy around these different multicultural segments.”

Numerous institutions have put their multicultural banks on the fast track. In fact, some have designated specific branches as “multicultural,” making sure they reflect the racial, ethnic, and language diversity of the communities where they are located.

-Banking Journal

Read the full article here.

Russian Propaganda Targets Spanish-Speakers, Including U.S. Latinos

Russia and its allies have been using their media platforms to target Spanish speakers with propaganda that is inaccurate or an incomplete picture of the invasion of Ukraine, worrying some about the impact it can have on U.S. Latinos.

While the outlets broadcast in Latin America, their reach on social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube is more extensive, reaching into North America.

Researcher Ben Dubow said that since January, there has been a pervasive narrative on these channels: “Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis who are about to commit genocide against the ethnic Russians, and it’s the duty of Russia to preserve world peace and to counterbalance the West that is so feckless.”

“They’re not targeting American Spanish speakers because they want to get the truth out," he said. "They’re targeting them because they want to sow discord and they want to create chaos.”

-NBC News

Read the full article here.

Study Highlights Importance of Language Services to Telehealth

A recent University of California study of telehealth implementation at community health centers found that although phone visits were beneficial to historically marginalized patients, continued virtual care use depends on increased technological resources. 

"Results highlight the importance of reimbursing audio-only visits post-pandemic and investing in efforts to improve the quality of language services in telemedicine encounters," wrote the researchers. 

-Healthcare IT News

-Read the full article here

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