The opportunity is huge — and coming into focus as the country celebrates Latinx Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15, and becomes more attuned to diversity along with the growing Black Lives Matter movement.
The Census Bureau’s 2018 reading on the consumer landscape pegged income in Latinx households at $65,298 before taxes, 17 percent below the national average of $78,635. Even so, Latinx consumers spent $2,042 on apparel and services, 9 percent more than the average. Felipe Korzenny, professor emeritus at Florida State University, who literally wrote the book on the topic as coauthor of “Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective,” said it’s a book that could be written anew every year given the rapid pace of change.
“Marketers can do so a lot more by focusing more on culture and understanding where people are coming from,” he said. Consultant Nicole Dessibourg-Freer, a principal in Kearney’s consumer practice, self-identifies as part of the cohort as a New Yorker with a Peruvian mother. But she hasn’t warmed to newer term.
Zara — operated by Spanish retail giant Inditex — does a particularly good job of balancing the global nature of its business with the local preferences of its shoppers, she said. That dovetails nicely with the continuing push at many companies to grab more share in what is the second-largest demographic in America.
“When I think of national brands, I can’t think of who’s doing it well,” Driscoll said. “It says to me that there’s a big opportunity. They’re young, which means they care about fashion, are really invested in social media. They care about celebrity, entertainment.