Accent On Christmas

Some Retailers Alter Ads And Stock To Reach Hispanic Buyers

Excerpted From The Fresno Bee - December 20, 2003

Retailers, take note: If you want to attract more Hispanic customers this holiday season, don't advertise with Christmas trees, Santa Claus or stockings hung by the chimney.

Instead, try Nativity sets, fireworks on Christmas Eve and images of the three kings bearing gifts for baby Jesus. And make sure to use the correct Spanish.

"It changes depending on where you're from -- be it Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic or Cuba," says Liz Elting, president and CEO of TransPerfect Translations, a consulting firm in New York City. "Santa, Christmas trees and candy canes are more 'Anglo.' "

Elting's company is at the forefront of a trend among retailers: advertising and products customized to ethnic groups.

The trend is in its early stages, with retailers' efforts ranging from Kraft Foods' Spanish-language Web site comidakraft.com to Gottschalks television ads, which feature the same imagery dubbed with either the Spanish or English language.

Culturally appropriate marketing campaigns are "growing because people are more aware ... than they've been in the past," said Elting, who pointed out that the nation's Spanish-speaking population increased by 70% to 39 million over the past 10 years.

In the past, TransPerfect was asked to translate the language. Now, "companies are asking us to research brand and product names and evaluate ad concepts."

—Joan Obra

About TransPerfect
With revenue of over $250 million, TransPerfect is the largest privately held language services provider in the world. From offices in 66 cities on 5 continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in over 100 languages to multinationals worldwide. With a global network of over 4,000 linguists and subject-area specialists, TransPerfect is the largest translation company to be fully ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified. TransPerfect is headquartered in New York and has regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.