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The California Milk Processor Board (CMPB), the creators of GOT MILK? and TOMA LECHE (Drink Milk), debuts the spots ‘Elfo’ (Elf) and ‘Bruja’ (Witch). Though the main characters in the ads are mythical, the milk benefits are real: milk consumption fights off some of the symptoms of PMS and promotes restful sleep.
“Our research indicates that Latino families connect to these characters,” says CMPB Executive Director Steve James. “The new spots are told just like a fairy tale with lessons in the end: drink milk for a healthier lifestyle.”
In its 15th year, GOT MILK? Has helped sell millions of gallons of milk and has become an American icon. The CMPB’s Spanish-language campaign began in 1994 using the tagline “Familia, Amor y Leche” (Family, Love and Milk). The TOMA LECHE campaign replaced it in 2006, following a growing trend in Hispanic food advertising that uses wit and humor to reach audiences.
Read the entire article if your interested to know how proper research could lead up to making an effective ad campaign to the latino community. The got milk? mustache wasn’t apply entirely to the Hispanic market, but a new strategy was implemented instead.
I´ve said it before: if you are considering marketing to hispanics, you don´t need just a translator, you need a strategics if your Hispanic Market is growing.
BestMacSoftware.org features some freeware downloads for your mac, including messaging, writing and office tools, browsers, cool apps such as reading PDF´s and launching (So your dock can be clean), Video, Windows apps, Photo, Sharing, FTP and many many more.
Is your business jingle a "hit" in your place of business and because it´s your "baby", you don´t want to share it as a free download?
Do you have a book, and you´re waiting for it to be published, but you haven´t considered put it on the web for free?
How much, is too much?
Giving stuff away, means no money in the cash register?
1. In the music and film industry, there´s certainly a lot of controversy. But here a a few examples of artists and producers willing to give away their products:
A. Nine Inch Nails´ Trent Reznor put out a CD in the stores and as a Free Download on the Net, with the option of paying $5 for higger resolution mp3´s. In his website he published the results of making that decision. The band Radiohead did the same choice, and helped get their new release in Rolling Stone´s Best Albums List of 2007. (Radiohead could easily have make $2,736,000 with a "name your own price" download. hey would have had to sell nearly 3, 180,000 CDs to earn that amount).
Click here to read Tren´ts note. and read for yourself how this decision made greater impact on his artist´s career, including expousure, money, concerts booking and free advertising. Many Big Artists like Robbie Williams, ColdPlay and Lilly Allen, are considering this option, since their label´s not supporting the new releases.
B. I won´t steal.net published a campaing. Appealed to Torrent User´s, LimerWire Fans and Share Credo Comunitty. See the website and Video Ad
C. MySpace.com allows the artists to enable his sample songs as free downloads. Almost every Independent Artists activates this feature and converts it´s traffic into expousure, people having their music in their iPods and eventually getting booked for live shows. ;any Major Label Artists are doing it too. Or linking their MySpace pages directly to iTunes to convert the traffic.
2. Wizard sites offer free downloadable tools. You should download them soon:
3. Alex Urrea, a Latinamerican writter published "Soñando con elefantes" (Dreaming with Elefants) No publisher wants to take the risk of publishing this fiction-spiritual novel. So he decided to give it away as a free dowload. Alex has been invited to many Latin Countries as a speakers to share about his book, and his courage of making it free for every people that was willing to visit his page, click, dowload and read.
Do you have anything you want to share to your clients?
Consider making it available for free in your website and use it a a coverter tool.
The highly commented Apple TV Ads are in Spanish now. Apple is communicating better with its consumers that are native Spanish speakers, which prefer to use their first language.
The only problem I see, Apple is using European Spanish.
Three things to evaluate before translating: 1. Words, 2. Accents and 3. “You”.
1. Words
Geographically, there are 20 native Spanish-speaking countries and they’ll developed their own accents and slang words. The English language uses between 500,000 and 700,000 words. When used to express emotions, only 3,000 words function: 2,000 to express negative emotions and 1,000 to express positive ones. French uses 100,000 words, the same as Spanish that much and more because each of the 20 native Spanish-speaking countries generates about an additional 500 slang words used only in their country.
For instance: “small”, “smaller” and “smallest”, three derivate words to indicate size. In Spanish, “chico”, “chiquito”, “chiquitito”, “chiquitío”, “chiquitillo” “chica” “chiquita”, “chiquitita”, “chiquitía”, and “chiquitilla”, are considered 10 separated words to describe size, adding sex to the person or object being described.
So, a computer can be “she” or “he”.
In European Spanish the computers are masculine, and in Latin America feminine. “El Computador (Ordenador)” vs. “La Computadora” (he computer vs. she computer)
“Soy un Mac” y “Yo un PC” in Spain.
“Soy una Mac” y “Yo una PC” in the rest of the Spanish speaking world.
The translation of the personification used in their current ads will only appeal in Spain.
Depending on the case, it could lead up to rejection or giving their customers a “weird felling” of alien citizenship of brand tourism. Like forcing the communication into “like me too much”.
I said, depending on the case, because many of the costumers in Spain, don’t care much about speaking in English. The only issue in this case, is if the Ads will run in Latin America.
2. Accents
In Advertising I would categorize four basic kinds of Spanish:
1. European Spanish. Spoken natively only in Spain.
2. Neutral Spanish: Understood by any Spanish speaker in the world.
3. Mexican: Usually liked only in Mexico. It’s relevant because of the size of the country and it’s closeness to North America.
4. Argentina Spanish: the most used in advertising and liked as much as the neutral accent. This accent is natively spoken in Guatemala and Argentina, but the other Latin countries like it more than Mexican Spanish.
3. You
“You” it’s different between countries:
There’s:
Tu: It’s personal and indicates intimacy with the audience.
Usted: It’s formal, usually to address politely.
Vos: It’s very informal and used like “tu”, but even closer. Used only in Argentina and Guatemala.
If you can’t really decide on what Spanish to use: Review the map on the top.
Summing it up
The only advice I would give Apple and Steve Jobs to communicate better with their Spanish Speaking Consumers is: Voiceover their Spanish ads in neutral Spanish.
Why?
Neutral Spanish it’s safer and easiest to understand.
Or…second option:
Use captions in Spanish, with the English Audio.
Remember… Latin America and Spain watches Hollywood. They are used to read tiny letters at the bottom in Spanish while listening to English.
Also most Latinamericans that are living in the main cities, understand and read English more fluently as a second language, than in Europe.
You can’t do wrong with captions.
Now, you are prepared to communicate with Spanish speakers more powerfully and clearly, all around the world.
Dave Young posted:"You've got to hand it to her for making herself available to bloggers in the target markets which are important to the campaign. HispanicTrending is the most thorough collection of Latino news and links you'll find anywhere on the web."
Miami has "Little Habana", In Guatemala, we have a small, beautiful, colonial city called Antigua, that is really turning into "Little US and Little Europe".
Now, before you thumb me down, let me tell the story.
If you read Laura Sonderup´s article,
she mentions a lot of demographic characteristics taken in
consideration for "hispanic marketing" in the U.S.A. I like to think
that not only the USA, should consider this, but every country in world
is changing, and we have "Countries inside a Country"
Saturday afternoon, as I was walking with a group of friends in the
gravelly streets of Antigua, my favorite city in the whole World, a
"gringa" stopped to ask me in English, where she could find the Plaza
Central?
I answered of course giving her a luxury of details since she was very
far, and she said "thanks, you´re so kind" and smiled. I said "You´re
very welcome"
My friends pointed out with amazement that we both didn´t hesitate to speak in English, in a Spanish speaking country.
First question, how did she know that I was a fluent English speaker?
Maybe she didn´t. Maybe it was her first time in Antigua and somebody
told her that almost everyone in this city would understand basic
English, or maybe she was so lost, she would ask anyone until she
gotten the right directions.
Second question, how well you know the changes affection your city?
Antigua is popullated mostly by tourists or Spanish students coming
from North America and Europe, some of them stay permanently in Antigua
(I don´t blame them, I love this city!) and of course the guatemalan
residents, that in a lot ways need to speak other languages for
business or just comunication.
How many business posibilities are in Antigua? Internet coffe houses,
pubs and sports bars, Spanish schools, travel agencies, how about
grocery stores with imported items? information portals like the
Gringos Guide.
The first picture you see on top, is really what the Mono Loco in Antigua Guatemala The second pciture is how the Church in Plaza Central looks like at night. Isn´t it gorgeous?
Click to read the extended post in Spanish
Rachel Zupek writes for CareerBuilder.com and this is a nice article on employee behaviours inside the workplace, specially if your business is protocol oriented. Click to read
Being used to see David in the White Real Madrid jersey, and wondering about how he looked in in his new team´s colours, I did a little search and found the TV Ad of the soccer Super Star, as he plays his first game with the Galaxy, in Los Angeles.
The "ALTO" sign grabbed my attention, so I continued to search and found also, that he is learning Spanish; despite of playing in Spain for many years, now he wants to master the language.
For pleassure? or he just wants to communicate better? Interesing thing- It seems Spanish will be more useful for him in L.A. rather than in Madrid.
"You quiero Taco Bell" could get you just tacos, maybe a laugh, and not getting much far in a city like L.A.
How well do you know the changes that are affecting your city?
Read About Luis Lopez
