Spanish is Gaining Clout in Business

September 16, 2005

BY JOSÉ MELENDREZ

New York -- A recent study predicts that there will be a 45 percent increase in the number of Spanish-speakers in the next two decades, which will make the presence of Spanish in business stronger and more indispensable. For some time, Anglo companies have already detected the need to be present in that market even though barriers such as the culture gap have made the process difficult.

José Cancela, director of Hispanic USA, the company which sponsored the study conducted by Roslow Research Group, told Hoy by phone from Miami that by 2025, more than 12 million Spanish-speakers will be added to the US population.

"By that date, there will be a total of 40 million Spanish-speakers in the country. That means that the language is here to stay."

Another study sponsored by Terra Network and Socratic Technologies reveals that 51 percent of Hispanic immigrants who reside in the United States for more than 20 years prefer to continue communicating in Spanish. However, only 3 percent wish to continue communicating between English and Spanish.

However, "the first and primary problem that we have sensed is that some (Anglo) companies intend to grab the attention of the Hispanic market by speaking with the latter in English. Major mistake!," says Arcadio Andrade, director of MotionPoint translations, a company that handles the translating from English into Spanish and the updating of web pages of major corporations.

Another of the most common mistakes is that corporations make a literal translation of their business strategies from English into Spanish and not an interpretation of its culture, advises Emily Tell, executive director of www.tellmealgo.com, a New York-based translation company.

Tell states, "Fortunately, though, this trend is righting itself, because corporations are expanding their multicultural diversity departments."

Terra Network president Fernando Rodríguez agrees that it’s not enough to translate, but rather it’s necessary to adapt the culture and demographic profile to marketing efforts. Via telephone from Coral Gables, Florida, he states, "For the five years that Terra has been in the market, we have helped auto and pharmaceutical companies to adapt their campaigns and messages for the Hispanic market with a readily-identifiable, cultural component."

Buying power

On the other hand, the Hispanic community will reach 102.6 million people in the next 45 years, according to the Census Bureau.

In addition, Hispan Telligence confirms that buying power nowadays amounts to 700 billion dollars, 8.5 percent of the total buying power in the US, yet this figure will increase 11 percent by 2010.

With these forecasts, it is estimated that by 2007, the buying power of Hispanics will be 3 billion dollars, according to Hispan Telligence.

"It is inevitable to imagine the impact that those figures have in the business realm," Andrade states.

"We have seen our client portfolio grow at a brisk pace. Today we have projects in different business fields, including electronics, clothing and accessories, as well as the hotel and travel, food, health, government and legal industries."

"Some of our clients, representative of their sectors, are: Pillsbury, Puma, Goodyear, Sears, Gillete, Yuma County, Arizona; and Consumer Guide, which belongs to the federal government," Andrade confirms.

Nowadays, companies have to seek alternative ways to get a competitive edge and the Spanish language is definitely one of them.

E-mail writer José Melendrez at jmelendrez@hoyllc.com.

Copyright© 2005 Diario HOY