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To Reach Gen-Y Hispanics, Reflect ‘Bi-dentity’

Hispanic Gen Yers live a “mix-and-match” lifestyle, according to a new report from The Intelligence Group and Creative Artists Agency.

Today’s Hispanic youth largely refer to themselves as Hispanic rather than Latino or American (56 percent vs. 19 percent vs. 11 percent, respectively), writes Brandweek. 58 percent say they have a strong connection with Latino culture. 84 percent want to make their family proud and 83 percent want to “excel at my career.”

Hispanic youth believe that 40 percent of the U.S. population is Hispanic (the actual figure is closer to 15 percent, per the U.S. census). “Culturally they feel like they are responsible for 40 percent of America,” says Christy Haubegger, brand manager at Creative Artists Agency. “That’s a great opportunity for marketers because young Latinos feel influential. Let them be influencers.”

According to the survey, the best way for marketers to reach them is to reflect their “bi-dentity” in the campaigns. McDonald’s, Pepsi, Univision and Rocawear are the brands that “do the best job of creating products and services for Latinos like me.”

Pepsi, for example, says it has pushed hard to integrate Hispanic and youth cultures in its music programming. Earlier this year Pepsi partnered with Yahoo Telemundo to launch PepsiMusica, a bilingual entertainment program.