Spanish Language Advertising Still in Growth Mode

Implications: AdWeek article details advertising spending across Spanish Language media for 2007; the data shows most categories having positive gain.

Analysis: English language media, aka the "general market" had a rough year in 2007 in terms of advertising.  Many categories of media either bled very badly (e.g., newspapers), suffered losses (radio) or at best was flat.  Now AdWeek details how Hispanic advertising or Spanish language media fared for 2007, which was a positive uptick of around 3%.  While that may not sound too enticing, most general market media would love to have been able to show 3% growth last year.

Total advertising in this segment reached $5.78 billion in 2007.  Among the sectors achieving strong growth rates was cable television (up 76% from 2006), national magazines (up 11%), and network TV (up 2%).  Spanish language newspapers were flat, while spot radio was down from 2006.

The article points out the two largest categories for ad spending was automotive followed by wireless telecommunications services.  The article also points out some of the changes among advertisers targeting this ethnic group from 2006-2007 in terms of spending.

No doubt the economic downturn in the US driven by the housing crisis, rising oil prices, and inflation are affecting SL media as well, but it is faring better than the general market.  The Hispanic market will continue to be attractive to advertisers due to the size, rapid growth, and increasing awareness of the Spanish language market.