Latino Rebranded: Latinos and Social Media

I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted the reason I made the transition from a Latino politics blogger to an active social media advocate within the Latino social media.  So here we go…

My original blog – LatinoPundit – served a purpose to fill a void of the lack of Latino bloggers.  I wanted to bring Latinos into mainstream discussions about politics and society, and also raise awareness of Latino subject matter.  That was done for over a period of 5 years.  Nowadays, you can find Latino blogs on a plethora of topics.  With that purpose now filled, there was no reason to continue with the Latino Pundit blog.

With the knowledge that the Latino population is growing, I knew that Latinos would be more closely examined.  And who else, but big businesses would have an interest?  So with social media growing as well as the Latino population, it only made perfect sense that marketers would begin to enter this area.

I’ve had 5 years of experience online interacting and community building before social media became trendy…and from this advantage , I knew that I’d be ahead of any marketer without this type of experience.  Thus I entered the Hispanic marketing world and rebranded my self as such.

One significant contribution to the Latino community was the national community feature for Latinos In Social Media (now called LATISM), building off the idea AnaRC had from her tweet “Where are all the Latinos on Twitter,” and the directory of Latino professionals.  Call it being at the right place at the right time, because if I didn’t see Ana’s tweet, LATISM probably would of not happened.  Thanks to all those involved with LATISM, the very first Latino based social media seminars took place in NY, then FL and DC followed…a fourth and what looks to be the largest yet is taking place this September. (If you can, catch LATISM in action via tonight’s Twitter party.)

My continued purpose in social media is to contribute to Latinos and social media as a whole from this blog to continuing projects that serve the greater community.

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I have a few Latino themed domain names that I’m willing to part with.  One of which is LatinoReporter.com, which I don’t need.  But if you do, or know anyone who wants it send them to my contact page with interest.

More later.

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Due to a couple of last minute ‘emergencies’, I was not able to make the NGLC event that I had looked forward to attending.   From what I hear, the event was a success.  Here’s a video from last week:

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Subtitle: How will Coke Respond to Pepsi Yo Sumo?

Have you seen what Pepsi Yo Sumo is doing?

Pepsi Yo Sumo isn’t a new viral-video craze combining a soft drink and a large, scantily clad Japanese man. Rather, it’s an effort by Pepsi and Latin Internet company Terra to encourage Hispanics in the United States to participate in Census 2010.The viral campaign is aimed at second- and third-generation U.S. Hispanics, encouraging them to share stories and photos on the Web site, which will then be fed to Terra, which claims 3.5 million users in the country. A Pepsi Yo Sumo widget is being featured on Terra’s site.

Terra will also host user polls on the census, which Pepsi will sponsor via banner ads, and users can add the widget, built by New York-based Second Thought, to their social-networking pages.

Terra USA vice president of sales Jim McCabe said:

When it comes to 2010 Census participation, the Pepsi Yo Sumo campaign has the message and Terra has the audience. By bringing the two together, second- and third-generation U.S. Hispanics will show the world how many they are and how they’re changing the landscape of this country.

What do you think?

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Mindset – the perfect elixir for age and classification.  Lili says it perfectly, “…is it really about generation, or is it about lifestyle?  …put the ‘generation’ to the side for a second, (because) it’s a mindset…”

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As part of a conversation I had with David Chitel, Founder of the New Generation Latino Consortium – April 5th, NYC – we did a short interview to share with you.

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In my hometown – NYC – there are 2 events right around the corner (click pics for website links):

With major changes impacting the multicultural media business, can you really afford to miss the Multicultural Media Forum in three weeks?

What do top executives think about...

How  Census 2010 and multiplatform media will change the Multicultural Media Ecosytem?

What's in store for the business of Hispanic and multicultural advertising, branding, and marketing?

With upwards of 70% of the U.S. Hispanic market under 35, and 65% of its population growth being driven by US-born Latinos, the NGLC’s mission is to advocate two key points; 1.) New Generation Latinos represent a viable and lucrative media target audience that merits special attention and 2.) Quality media, marketing and entertainment resources are available to effectively touch New Generation Latinos who are critical to growing market share now and in the future.

The NGLC Media, Marketing & Entertainment Conference’ will be a one-day conference from 9:00am to 6:00pm on Monday, April 5, 2010 in New York City.

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Subtitle: It is not the people that should look to businesses, businesses should look to the people.

Our visions of where influence derives is skewed.  Professionals do not make influential changes, but only identify, define, and market them.

Trends

In his book “The Tipping Point,” Gladwell talks about Hush Puppies shoes and how they went from almost being discontinued to a hugely successful brand.  Hush Puppies became a fad in lower Manhattan not on purpose, not because of a campaign, not because of any professional efforts, but because a few “kids” decided they were cool and the shoes became trendy and hip with their peers. 

Let’s look at social media for a minute.  The true value of social media is not the communication platform, but what that communication brings to the table.  Social media enables a company to gain vital insight to where markets are going by talking with the public.

Companies and Social Media

Companies need to talk to their customers to see what they are thinking.  Companies are usually ‘out-of-the-loop’ when it comes to what is being said on the ’streets;’  social media provides insight and establishes a public ‘advisory board’ that leads executives and marketing professionals to decide what to bring to the market – or discontinue.

The Public

Unbeknownst to the average person, it is they that are the true content providers and definers.  With the help of social media, this is slowly being realized – more people are providing top-notch content and participating in global dialogues.

Profitability is where professionals come in.  Once the public figures out how to crack this threshold, it is at that moment that that industry becomes open to change and revolution.

Here’s a modified statement from a popular quote for the movie “V for Vendetta” – It is not the people that should look to businesses, businesses should look to the people. Oh, so true.

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Subtitle:  Are you a Spanglish speaker or a bilingual text message sender?
(via @MauraHernandez)

My Blackberry is set to auto-check, because I’m infamously known for misspelling words.

Quite a few times, when tapping out an email I’ve noticed that spell check wants to change ‘gracias’ to Garcia.  I find it hilarious.  Yes, I can just ‘add’ it to the dictionary but what I’m really curious if 1) the word is ever going to be added to the dictionary, or 2) the software will ever be made ’smart’ enough to see that I use that term constantly and auto-add itself.

A fellow Twittero has experienced the same:

I’m curious if anyone else out there has any stories to share?

UPDATE:  We have some more…pretty funny, updates from @MauraHernandez:

Add yours!

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To continue on the Hispanic Media Conferences 2010 post, I’ve become aware of two more:

NAHJ, has ten multimedia journalism training sessions in Texas, Feb 20. Blogging, social media and content creation will rule these workshops.

Very innovative and keeping in pace of a trend in the Latino sphere – from their website: The New Generation Latino Consortium (NGLC), the only professional organization of its kind dedicated to the enhancement of the New Generation Latino audience, is proud to announce ‘The NGLC Media, Marketing & Entertainment Conference’ taking place in New York City on April 5, 2010.

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