Latinos 101: Relay Symposium Offers A Primer For Sports Business Professionals

Hispanic Market Weekly

 
NEW YORK - Marco López, senior director of the Hispanic group at Publicis Groupe-owned experiential marketing firm Relay Worldwide, is a champion and innovator of sports marketing to Latino consumers.
For years, López has been keenly aware of the potential financial benefits to a sports team, league or talent agency that wishes to tap in to the ever-growing Hispanic market by focusing on the sports fan.
But even López knows that, for the most part, sports business professionals have a very limited knowledge of the Latino consumer. With that in mind, he kicked off a panel discussion at the seventh annual Relay Sports Sponsorship Symposium devoted to Hispanic sports marketing by quizzing conference attendees on their basic Latino knowledge.
The results weren't so hot.
Of those who answered electronically, 78 percent of attendees said Cinco de Mayo was Mexican Independence Day.  May 5 commemorates the Battle of Puebla, when a band of 4,500 Mexicans composed mainly of war veterans in 1862 overpowered the occupying French army, which was 6,000 strong. Mexican Independence Day is September 16.
Those in the crowd were then asked about the size of the total U.S. Hispanic population. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said Latinos comprised 30 percent of the nation's populace. In reality, it stands at 15 percent.
The high percentage of incorrect answers gave López plenty of ammunition for his session, including the fact that 2010 is not only a big year for Hispanic sports marketing because of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In fact, 2010 marks 200 years of independence from Spain for 10 countries, including Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
That can easily translate to dollars for smart marketers, he suggests.
López also pointed out to the sports business executives in the room that the U.S. Hispanic population is on par with that of Colombia or Spain. Given population growth estimates for Latinos in the U.S. and the fact that the nation's Hispanic purchasing power in 2010 is predicted to be $1.4 million, López had one key takeaway for the crowd - "Your actions now will pay big dividends later."
Why is all of this important to sports business professionals?
"Whether it is the World Cup or boxing or the NBA, each property has avid [Latino] fans," noted López. "But we need to find out what kind of Hispanic is watching these sports, and leverage these insights as a brand - as well as a sports property."
Bruce Binkow, CMO of major boxing entity Golden Boy Promotions, pointed out that his company spends a lot of time and energy on how it can market itself and talk directly to Hispanics.
Most recently, Golden Boy paired up with another boxing entity - Mayweather Promotions - and Spanish-language newspaper publisher impreMedia to develop a multilevel media campaign surrounding the September 19 welterweight fight between Floyd Mayweather and Mexico City-born Juan Manuel Márquez (HispanicSportsBusiness 9/4/2009).
Golden Boy has also seen established a close-knit relationship with ESPN Deportes in 2009, with seven events televised by the network for its Friday-night fight coverage. The pact aided Mexican beer brand Tecate land the presenting sponsorship of ESPN Deportes' coverage.
For the National Basketball Association, current Hispanic outreach focuses on its heavily bicultural and bilingual fan base, noted Saskia Sorrosa, the league's senior director of marketing. According to Sorrosa, Hispanics make up 15 percent of the NBA's overall fan base - "a significant group of fans supporting our game," she said.
Acculturation, which is defined as the embrace of one culture while retaining a connection to one's original culture, is very important for Michael Gandler, vice president of business development at Soccer United Marketing (SUM). For Gandler, the level of acculturation for a brand's Hispanic clientele is key when determining which of SUM's soccer properties would work best. SUM represents the Mexican national team and Chivas de Guadalajara in the U.S., as well as Major League Soccer.
At the same time, sports serve as a common thread among Latinos, bringing together those with different acculturation levels. For Golden Boy, all Hispanic efforts are bilingual, Binkow noted.
Among other topics shared by the panelists, Sorrosa said the NBA wants to make Hispanics fans of the game, first and foremost. Thanks to trades and free agency, a player that may become popular with Latinos could easily end up on another team.
Sorrosa also said that, despite the recession, the NBA has brought in more Hispanic-targeted sponsors for the 2009-2010 season.
Finally, López and the panelists were in unison in suggesting that one sport's success with building its Hispanic fan base can only provide new opportunities for all sports properties in the U.S.
How many people those words will resonate with remains to be seen; several empty seats were seen in the mid-afternoon session. A standing-room only crowd enjoyed the day's morning discussions.
•    For more on how Relay has helped bring brands to sports properties, visit the HispanicSportsBusiness archives now.