Hispanic Market Increasing
From the Cincinnati Enquirer
BUSINESS NEWS FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004

Hispanic buying power in Greater Cincinnati is up to $300 million a year and growing more than 10 percent a year.

That's the conclusion of a study of the local Hispanic market, to be released Friday at a workshop at the METS Center in Erlanger.

Those Hispanic consumers are concentrated mainly in Hamilton and Butler counties, according to LaVerdad Hispanic Marketing Solutions in Blue Ash.

Founded last year by former Procter & Gamble Co. executive Mike Robinson, LaVerdad is launching a series of studies in U.S. cities starting in its hometown.

It will unveil the Greater Cincinnati study, which covers counties in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana.

Robinson said companies shouldn't have to look far to see their own interests in dealing with Hispanic consumers.

For example, he said, sellers of prepaid telephone cards know that Hispanic consumers often use the cards and make plenty of international calls.

"The message is you can't ignore it, not necessarily because of the numbers in the market today, but because it takes time to bond with Hispanics to earn their trust," said Robinson.

According to the 2000 Census, the Hispanic population here totaled 20,819, and some observers think the actual count is significantly higher.

The study also points out that Hispanic consumers nationally are younger than the general population, with the highest percentages in children younger than 4 years old and those ages 20-29.

And increasingly, Hispanic families with children get their advertising messages from English language television, LaVERDAD's study found.