Hispanic Demographics Assuming Demographic Growth Hispanic Population

Hispanic Demographics

Assuming demographic growth Hispanic population United States accurate, comment shift marketing segmentation grocery fast food industries. For, a grocery store 15% space dedicated Hispanics changed light demographic research? Be current key demographic lifestyle facts statistics markets consumers.

Assuming the demographic changes about the growth of the Hispanic population in the United States are accurate, comment on how this shift changes the marketing segmentation in the grocery and fast food industries. For example, if a grocery store currently has about 15% of its space dedicated to Hispanics should that be changed now in light of the demographic research?

The Hispanic market is currently one of the fastest-growth market segments of any demographic within the United States. According to a 2012 Nielsen report, "Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic segment expected to grow 167% from 2010 to 2050, compared to 42% for the total population" (Llopis 2013:1). The report also found that Hispanics "will be the dominant and in many cases the only driver of domestic CPG [Consumer Packaged Goods] sales growth" (Llopis 2013:1). Hispanics are a particularly desirable target market not simply because of their size but also because of their youth -- Hispanics as a demographic tend to have more children than non-Hispanics, which is one reason for the demographic's growing size. Attracting youthful patrons often means that young Hispanic consumers won over to particular brands will likely be loyal buyers for life.

For companies with super-saturated domestic audiences in other areas such as McDonald's, Budweiser, and AT&T, the untapped Hispanic market is particularly desirable. Hispanics now make up the mainstream of America. This means that grocery stores and fast food markets can no longer regard Hispanics as niche consumers, subject to the occasional target promotional endeavor around Cinco de Mayo. Marketing to the Hispanic palate and approach to food must be a year-round endeavor, and indeed enter the mainstream. McDonald's has proved to be particularly successful in this effort. "Usually, a company works with an agency to develop advertising aimed at the general market, then turns to boutique multicultural agencies to create versions tailored to blacks, Hispanics, or Asians," but McDonald's will take an advertisement that focuses on Hispanics and make it part of its mainstream marketing campaign (Helm 2010). This serves two purposes: it demonstrates to this desirable demographic that the company honors their purchasing power and interests and creates a loyal customer by affiliating the core (versus peripheral) brand identity with Hispanics. In fact, rather than focusing on Caucasian consumers and making tweaks to the brand based upon information regarding the Hispanic population, McDonald's has been creating products specifically designed to appeal to Hispanics and then marketing the cross-over appeal to whites, as in the case with its recent marketing of burritos and its fiesta menus. Since fast food 'skews' youthful as a product choice, it is particularly useful for companies in the industry to focus on this demographic, specifically the subsection of this Hispanic demographic that frequently buys from fast food outlets.