The broader question is to what extent and in what way it should be aligned. The answer is different for every brand and depends on many factors. There’s no hard and fast rule. So it’s interesting and helpful to look at how some brands have chosen taglines that differ beyond simple translations.

“Chevy Runs Deep” speaks to the brand’s rich heritage and how Chevy is deeply rooted in American’s lives, experiences, and ambitions. But Chevy chose a different tagline for Hispanics, “Deja que Te Sigan,” literally “Let the Rest Follow.” Similarly, the line is deeply rooted in lives, experiences, and ambitions, but less about heritage. It appeals more to the spirit of Hispanics in the US who are pioneering and like to be the first to try new things. They want to set a good example for others and see Chevy an innovative, trailblazing brand.

CoverGirl’s tagline is “Easy, Breezy, Beautiful” reflecting a lively and cheerful attitude. That’s how you feel when you look beautiful. For Hispanics, it’s also about attitude. “Bella, nada te detiene” or “Beautiful, nothing stops you,” but it’s also about the confidence and invincibility of feeling beautiful with CoverGirl. This appeals well to Latinas, who are ambitious and forward thinking. For them, feeling beautiful is feeling unstoppable.

Toyota also conveys confidence. Their Hispanic tagline is “Avanza Confiado” or “Advance with Confidence or Trust.” For most Hispanics, a new vehicle is an important accomplishment. Trust and confidence are important as they progress in life. Toyota’s general market tagline “Moving Forward” is similar but not so overt on this insight.

Brands from Latin America often differ in their message to Hispanics, as they can take advantage of their established affinity with people from the same country of origin. They’re already seen as “Latino” brands. For example, most people in the U.S. associate Corona with a beach “Miles Away from Ordinary,” but the brand reminds Latinos that “tenemos algo extra’’; “we have something extra.” With its tagline “Refresca Como Somos” or “Refreshes how we are,” Corona embodies and celebrates a unique Latino mindset.

Verizon’s Hispanic tagline is similar to the general market but has notable distinctions in their overall communication strategy. “Rule the Air” asserts that Verizon’s strong signal makes you the most “powerful transmitter.” “Tu Mandas” also conveys power saying “You’re in Charge.” But Verizon brings the idea closer to home with brand initiatives that encourage Hispanics to “take charge” such as the Tu Mandas Scholarship Fund and the Tu Mandas Small Business Empowerment series.

These are all examples of where brands have decided to deviate from the general market message apparently for strategic reasons but there is also the fact that some messages simply do not translate well in another language. There are many notable examples. “Got Milk?” has become an American idiom, but when directly translated to Spanish “Tiene Leche” would be culturally unacceptable and understood as “Are you lactating?” So the California Milk Board went with “Toma Leche” or “Drink Milk.”

There are many factors that a brand should consider when addressing the question of how far the multicultural message might stray from the general market such as the brand’s unique insights, equities, history, origins, etc. and simply because sometimes a direct translation might not be an option. But it’s important to always make an honest assessment as to how the message is aligned with the general market. Consumers should always recognize it as coming from the same brand. Ideally, the brand will find a Hispanic tagline that expresses the brand’s core message but also appeals on a higher level though meaningful, cultural insights.

This week Walt Disney Co. and Univision Communications Inc. announced they will create the first-ever 24-hour cable-news channel that will broadcast in English, in an effort to reach a new audience. It’s one of many examples of big players in the television industry seizing the opportunity that exists within the Hispanic market, and it will be interesting to how an alliance with ABC will boost the Univision brand.

Other examples of big players embracing the Hispanic market: News Corp. (Fox) revealed it was partnering with Colombian programmer RCN to form a new Spanish-language broadcast network in the U.S. called MundoFox in an attempt to fill the gap in Latino entertainment in the U.S. offering quality content and differentiation from the options currently available. If Fox takes on the same approach they took in the General Market with new programming and formats while continuously pushing the envelope, what is certain is that the Hispanic Television landscape will be forever changed. Only six weeks after the news was publicized, MundoFox announced their TV station line-up securing affiliates in 20 DMAs and are confident they will exceed their original goal of securing distribution in 75 percent of U.S. Hispanic households by the Fall launch.

Univision also recently made headlines when it announced that Dish Network was the first operator that agreed to carry the sports, news and telenovela Spanish-language networks as part of a package targeting Hispanics. Univision is currently speaking with other providers and plans on securing other deals soon.

But when it comes to Hispanic viewing patterns, it’s important to remember this point: that 75 percent of Hispanics consume media in both Spanish and English. While there are many ways to explain this data, including existing Spanish programming not being appealing to all Hispanics (including myself), programmers in both languages are paying close attention to this detail and are making changes to stay relevant especially among English-speaking Hispanics without alienating their core audience.

In October 2011, Telemundo announced a new strategy that would feature English-language subtitles and Spanglish within top programming. In January 2012, Univision would follow the same strategy, meaning that both Spanish-language network giants are not only expanding their audience to English-dominant Hispanics, but potentially to the General Market as well.

The opposite strategy is also being tested where Fox began airing “Q’Viva”, a talent reality show produced by and aired originally on Univision. These types of reality talent programming traditionally have performed well in both languages. However, if “Q’Viva” proves successful, it could be the start of many more cross-over risks being taken where Spanish programming will air on an English networks with subtitles and perhaps more adaptations like the successful Betty la Fea that aired on ABC (originally a Colombian telenovela produced in part by new Fox partner RCN that aired on the Univision network – Telefutura).

It’s also been published that for its NBCUniversal deal commitment, Comcast would launch 10 new independently owned-and-operated networks over the next eight years.

Of the 10 networks, four will be majority African-American-owned, two will be majority American Latino-owned, two will be operated by American Latino programmers and two will provide additional independent programming. We now know that both, El Rey Network and BabyFirst Americas are mostly targeting the U.S.-born, acculturated, second -and third- generation Hispanics. El Rey will be positioned as an entertainment network and BabyFirst Americas for infants, young children and their parents, all to develop early verbal, math and motor skills.

These changes indicate that these network giants understand not only the importance of reaching Hispanics in English, but also the impact the growing Hispanic population will have on the General Market where the General Market will want to be exposed more to the Hispanic culture.

The increased competition within Hispanic-targeted television will force all networks regardless of language, to pay close attention to the changing landscape and potentially to undertake similar strategies.  The Hispanic market will no longer be considered “emerging” or separate from the General market.  Media and advertisers will start to think more closely about how to resonate with Hispanics which will definitely lead to Latinos seeing more representation of themselves in media across both languages.

The room’s make-up is two African Americans, two Italian Americans, one Argentine, and a half-Dutch, half-Canadian, whom we lovingly call “El Gringo Latino.” The reason we sat together that afternoon was because after a long pitch process, it was vital for the client to understand how both the general market and Hispanic market agencies would work together on a strategic, creative, production, and management level. How we would work together was one of the determining factors between winning and losing the pitch.

In the contemporary advertising environment that calls for maximum efficiencies and the need to communicate to vital constituencies like the Hispanic market in a relevant way, the scene from last Tuesday will become more and more common. And how well Hispanic and general market agencies partner with one another can make the difference between good marketing and coming up short. Here are a few of Wing’s best practices for a successful partnership.

Brand Management

The first fundamental: all parties must work together to create an account structure that keeps client agency communications streamlined by having one central point of contact who understands the total market communications strategy. There should also be a Hispanic market point of contact who can advise when questions on the Hispanic market arise. Once this structure is set, timelines must be created in collaboration so that all parties have enough time to understand what the other is trying to accomplish in their communications and alter their messaging accordingly. For example, setting up weekly status meetings between the client, and both the general market and Hispanic market agencies allows for clear and open communication. This makes the client feel comfortable about working with more than one agency and establishing efficiencies.

Strategy

Each market may interact with a brand uniquely and it is important for those in charge of strategy to understand the existence of these differences from the beginning. Uncovering these insights should be done collaboratively by planning and executing joint research. Consequently, a total market communications brief should be developed which gives overall understanding of the current state of the brand, with different objectives to match the needs of each market. For instance, a recent campaign brief from a beauty brand stated that all agencies must communicate “a natural look” as the main product benefit. The general market strategy promoted that the makeup gave the appearance of being natural/clean. In order to be relevant to the Hispanic market, we adjusted our strategy to reflect the insight that Latinas believe looking natural means wearing all the makeup you are entitled to.

Creative Messaging

Objectives for each market will be different as each market interacts with a brand uniquely. While the brand as a whole should have an overarching tone, a brand’s creative messaging should account for these differences with unique insight for each market. This demonstrates that the advertising was created specifically with the target in mind and is not simply an adaptation of messaging. For example, we recently completed a campaign for an alcoholic beverage client. Research uncovered that the barrier to Hispanic consumers was awareness, while the general market had more of a brand perception issue. Although these issues need to be communicated differently, we were able to maintain consistency by establishing a brand tone from the onset of the campaign. Having this consistency allows consumers to understand the personality of the brand regardless of which communication reaches them

Production

Production integration between agencies is where clients will see the most immediate ROI. Collaboration between these departments must be done from the onset and throughout the communications process as major cost efficiencies are feasible. When possible, co-productions should be planned or at the very least each department should see how they can piggy back off the other’s production.  Additionally, a system must be put in place where all parties can place and find common assets.  For a fabric softener brand, we worked together with the general market agency to find talent that works for both markets and simply shot an additional scene or two to increase relevance to everyone.

As marketers we must understand that media fragmentation equals an onslaught of communications to our target. To remain memorable and effective to them, there must be some form of consistency within executions. Or else, the brand lacks a consistent personality. The only way clients can be effective is for them to have a total market communications plan, and an agency (or agencies) who can work collaboratively. It’s our job as marketers to educate the brand on what’s necessary for success.

I recently came across a few things that make me wonder if the knee-jerk answer is still the right one. What’s interesting here is that the information was not about toothpaste or mayonnaise, diapers or cars; it was about religion.

The article Separated Brothers published in the Economist back in 2009 and the report C hanging Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion by the Pew Hispanic Center in 2007 talk about how Hispanics are moving from Catholic to evangelical churches. They explain that 68% of Hispanics are still Catholic, but about 15% are now born-again evangelicals who are, as suggested in the article from The Economist, “fast gaining market share.” More recently, according to the 2011 State of the C hurch Series report by the Barna Group, Hispanics are dropping religion all together: the percentage of unchurched Hispanics has doubled in the last two decades.

This is an important change. Across Latin America and Spain, Catholicism may be the strongest and longest-lasting “brand” ever; it is probably the one that has shaped the culture the most and is the one to which Hispanics have been most loyal, which is what makes any move away from it so striking. It is no small thing to reject such a powerful presence in one’s culture.

There are two angles that I find interesting in this shift. The first one is related to the potential implications for the culture. We know Catholicism is one of the strongest pillars of the Hispanic culture, how would a change in religion affect Hispanic values, attitudes, and behaviors? For example, while Latino Catholics pay special devotion to the Virgin Mary, Latino evangelicals, less so. How might this difference affect attitudes towards gender roles? Also, Latino evangelicals are twice as likely as Latino Catholics to be Republicans. How does this affect their worldview?

The second area to consider is loyalty itself. What is making some Hispanics less loyal to Catholicism? According to the Pew Hispanic C enter, Latinos are moving to evangelical churches because they feel them to be more relevant: converts said they sought a new religion because they wanted to feel closer to God. They are looking for a more direct relationship with God, one that is less mediated by hierarchies. Also, converts seem to like evangelical rituals or celebrations because they are more experiental and lively than Catholic masses, which they feel lack excitement. Finally, according to The Economist, the outreach programs of the evangelical church have great pull because they go beyond what government programs offer, doing things like taking young men away from gang life, fighting for immigrants’ right and more.

So, what can we marketers learn from this change in faith? First, we need to keep the pulse on how this trend may affect culture, values, and ultimately consumer behavior. Second, we need to keep in mind that brand switching is not unattainable, among Latinos, even if we are competing against the all-time legacy brand. Loyalty could be gained, among other things, by offering engaging and direct experiences that bring the consumer closer to the spirit of the brand, and direct experiences that bring the consumer closer to the spirit of the brand, and that provide the consumer with a real benefit that is relevant to the way they live today, right now.

Let’s remember to look at Hispanics in a holistic way, closely following how religion, sports, arts, and other elements of culture fit in their lives, remembering that none of them will ever be static. This broader exploration gives us a more complete picture of who they really are and what they are looking for today. And let’s learn a lesson from the audience itself; let’s challenge conventional wisdom more and more often, just like Latinos are doing in their day to day lives. If they are prepared to accept change even in the most fundamental areas of their lives, we probably should too.

I smiled. It was not the first time I’ve been told by someone in the Hispanic market that I’m no longer perceived as creative because I do shampoo ads.

To be honest, I thought the same when I started. Where were the ideas? The jokes?

The awards? I only saw pretty faces and spectacular manes.

It took months of being immersed in the work to realize there were indeed ideas, a different kind of ideas.

I also discovered that this perception was very particular to the Hispanic culture. In the general market, it’s way cooler to work in beauty. As for creative… Just look at John Frieda’s launch of its Precision Foam Color: they used black and white in a category where color is THE benefit; and skipped traditional media to debut the brand with a series of quirky “film noirs” starring Katie Holmes.

In other markets, such as France, beauty is one of the biggest categories in terms of billing, glamour and, yes, creativity.

I kept wondering then, why do we feel differently about it?

Was it the Ad School’s fault?

I come from a generation of Latin creatives trained to take a benefit or a problem and make it either big, small, exaggerated or literal.

If the above fails, I’m the first to use a metaphor or put in a strange character, usually an alien or a centaur. For others, llamas seem to do the trick as you can in the spots here, here and here.

When I tried to apply my usual creative methods to beauty, the results were… not pretty.

I had to learn a whole new way of thinking, and come up with ideas that were (hopefully) big, bold, and beautiful. It sounds simple, but you can’t imagine how often I forgot the beautiful part!

And as for llamas, well, now they would only make the cut when worn as a coat.

It’s not cheap.
More than in any other category, the power of the idea is intrinsically linked to quality of execution. Cutting corners is a big no-no. The less expensive model with a lazy eye is not going to make it.

For our market, that means we can rarely afford producing original work, and end up doing adaptations. That is a very common problem in the Hispanic market, and a big turn off for creatives, even if you have a celeb smiling at you.

Gender roles?
Once I saw a male copywriter struggling with an ad for mascara. “I can’t do this. I’m not a girl!” he whined.

It’s seems beauty advertising has been labeled as a job for girls. Which is no problem for me as I’m as girly as it comes, and happier to wear high heels than the worn-out sneakers most creatives favor. But it’s a problem for a market where a big chunk of the creative talent is male, and where more traditional gender stereotypes are still very much in vogue (i.e. all Hispanic males are supposed to like beer and soccer, and despise moisturizers).

Ironically, one of the best beauty creatives I know is my boss. He is the opposite of girly. Actually, he is so into women that he spent his teens reading every women’s magazine he could get a hold of, because wanted to understand women in order to seduce them. And that’s the key. Beauty advertising is not about being girly, it’s about seduction. And that should really interest every male in every culture, right?

Whatever the reasons are, creative talent specialized in beauty remains scarce in the Hispanic market. For advertising agencies, however, to start fostering this kind of talent would be a smart move. As a business, it’s very resilient to recessions and has tremendous growth opportunities. Beauty and hair care Advertising spending alone in the US amounted to over $1.2 billion in the first half of 2011; and $60 million in the Hispanic market alone. For that same period of time, skin care represented approximately $700 million in the US and $20 million in the Hispanic market. Hair care by itself amounted to over $559 million in the US and $39 million in the Hispanic market.

Quite a beautiful business.

And in its own way, one that demands a lot of creativity.

However, the same sport that Arum claims is for “a tattooed, skinhead white guy who enjoys watching similar-looking, untalented individuals” is experiencing unprecedented growth, and its increased viewership is being led by one of the very audiences Arum thought the UFC would never be able to attract: Latinos.

For a sport that caters primarily to the male 18-34 demographic, Latinos, who make up 20% of this audience, represent a key portion of UFC’s viewership. In fact, recent Simmons data show that they are even more enthusiastic about the UFC than their non-Latino counterparts, with 37% of Latino males 18-34 saying they are “very interested” in the UFC, compared to 23% of non-Latino males in the same age group. Latino males 18-34 are also more involved fans of the sport and are 25% more likely to say they view UFC fights on pay-per-view than non-Latinos.

The networks are certainly taking note. In February of last year, the UFC announced that it would begin broadcasting its pay-per-view events in Spanish. This year, MTV Tr3s jumped on the bandwagon, signing a deal to broadcast the fight promotion Bellator’s fourth season starting March 6. Bellator has several fighters of Latino heritage: Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard, Jose Vega, Jessica Aguilar, Nazareno “Naza” Malegaire, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Wilson Reis, Lyman Goodman, Chris Lozano, and Daniel Gracie, among others. Strikeforce, another MMA promotion company, also boasts several Latino fighters, including Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez, otherwise known as “El Niño.”

The UFC also has a growing number of Latino fighters, including Kenny Florian, Tito Ortiz, Diego Sanchez, and Miguel Angel Torres, and, most importantly, the current heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez.

MMA is one of the few sports that allows for some level of self-expression among its participants, and fighters are taking advantage of this freedom to express their Latino identities. Velasquez, for example, who was born in California to Mexican parents and speaks fluent Spanish and English, is being promoted as the “first Mexican heavyweight champion” and heavily leverages his Latino heritage in his promotion both in Hispanic and general market media outlets. Probably most notably, Velasquez carries a huge “Brown Pride” tattoo across his chest.

This all spells out great opportunities for marketers looking to reach the growing Latino male audience. MMA has yet to fully monetize the sport through sponsorships and fighter spokesperson deals, but Velasquez is already taking advantage of his growing fame, appearing in advertising for Lugz shoes. And the UFC is starting to make in-roads with sponsors, with Budweiser, Harley Davidson, and Boost Mobile all signing on as sponsors in the past couple of years. However, the majority of sponsorships still tend to come from smaller companies, many of whom can sponsor a fighter for just a few thousand dollars, and many fighters still rely on these smaller sponsors for their paycheck.

Latinos are taking MMA by storm. And it makes sense. Mexico, where many of the Latino MMA fighters come from, has a long and storied history with both freestyle wrestling (lucha libre) and boxing. Many of the same Latinos who followed boxing and wrestling in Latin America and have followed boxing in the United States are now giving more of their time and attention to MMA, especially given its availability not only on pay-per-view and premium channels, but also on regular cable networks like Spike, Versus, ESPN Deportes and MTV Tr3s.

So, Mr. Arum, you might want to pay attention.