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Uncle Sam Is Top Spanish Media Buyer
January 01, 2006
By Cara Marcano
THE $20 BILLION a year remittance market of money transfers from Hispanics in the United States to those in their countries of origin is too good for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to pass up.
In December, just in time for the holiday mailing season, the USPS launched the money-sending program "Dinero Seguro," touted as an "affordable, convenient and safe method of transferring money internationally." To market the service, the USPS increased its Hispanic TV and print media-buying budget significantly in 2005 from 2004, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The USPS spent $400,000 on Hispanic media buys in 2004, and in the first nine months of 2005, it spent nearly the equivalent, roughly $375,000. Calls to the USPS were not returned by press time.
The USPS is not alone among government agencies targeting Latinos. The Internal Revenue Service is a relatively big buyer of Hispanic media, as is the U.S. Department of Energy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and even the Central Intelligence Agency's recruitment office, according to TNS. Medicare also spent millions advertising its services to Hispanics in 2004 and 2005, as has the U.S. Department of Transportation.
According to the Hispanic Media Share Study 2004, released in late 2005 by TNS and commissioned by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, of the top 250 national advertisers in 2004, the U.S. government ranked 18th for Hispanic spending. It spent $36.7 million on Hispanic TV and print ads in 2004, or 9.4 percent of its overall ad spend on print and TV. That figure is higher than the Hispanic media share of The Walt Disney Co., The Home Depot, The Coca-Cola Co. and Unilever, which also is detailed in the TNS study.
Other branches of the government also are spending steadily. In early January 2006, The U.S. Department of Justice began a bilingual TV campaign of 30-second spots designed to educate workers about immigration-related employment discrimination.
Moreover, last fall the U.S. Department of the Treasury in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank launched a national Spanish-language campaign for Social Security check recipients with the tagline "Depósito Directo — Más seguro, más tranquilo" (Direct deposit — safer, more Secure). The effort features grass-roots outreach, direct mail, print and online advertising, as well as the Spanish-language Web site www.DirectoASuCuenta.org.
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