The Importance of Creating Content With Multicultural Appeal

By Michael Fleischman
EVP of Business Development, CPX Interactive

On Tuesday March 10, 2009, I attended a Multicultural Media Conference given by Horowitz Associates in Manhattan.

This conference was intriguing, as it focused on the new generation of consumers and what type of media they gravitate towards. Additionally, there were panels that discussed the impact of multi-platform programming on the current multicultural generation. It is critical for programmers to continue to produce quality product targeting this group.

Some interesting facts:

1. 50% of Americans today are under the age of 35.
2. 40% of Americans are non-white/multicultural.
   
3. 50% of multicultural households have broadband.
4. 90% of 15-34 year olds have have broadband access at home.

Multicultural consumers in America are growing at a rapid pace, and marketing dollars spent to reach this group are not as significant as they should be. The consensus of the group, which I happen to agree with, is that marketing and advertising dollars which target the multicultural sector need to increase substantially

A recent Scarborough research report stated that 54% of Hispanic adults are online, compared to 69% of total U.S. adults. Among Hispanics who are online, 68% have a broadband connection in their household, as do 71% of U.S. Internet users in general.

In Scarborough's polling, 42% of Hispanic Internet users (compared to 35% of Internet users in general) reported downloading some sort of digital content in the 30 days prior to being polled. As with the total online population, Hispanic Internet users are most likely to be downloading music. Thirty-two percent of wired Hispanics reported having done so in the previous 30 days, compared to 24% of Internet users in general. Seventeen percent of online Hispanics (and 14% of all wired respondents) reported downloading something in the catchall "other video" category within that period.

There is a significant opportunity to market more products and services to the ever increasing multicultural population in the US. This opportunity should be taken advantage of by cable television operators, satellite television providers and television & digital programmers/publishers.

CPX Interactive is working to expand our reach to new demographic areas of the population. We are in the process of launching a Hispanic Vertical to capitalize on this ever-increasing consumer base, and we look forward to pursuing more similar endeavors in the future.