When NxStage Medical Inc. realized Spanish-speaking people made up 15 percent of the market for its home kidney dialysis equipment, the company created a website and brochures printed in Spanish.
NxStage, which started its marketing campaign to Hispanics a year ago, has also increased its staff of Spanish-speaking customer service agents.
"If we're doing our job in the community, 15 to 20 percent of our growth would come from the Hispanic population," said Jeff Burbank, CEO of the Lawrence, Mass.-based company.
There are about 55 million Hispanics in the United States, according to the Census Bureau, which reported Hispanics accounted for more than half the U.S. population growth from 2000-10. By 2060, it's expected there will be 119 million Hispanics, making up nearly 29 percent of the population.
Hispanics also have enormous buying power — $1.4 trillion, according to an estimate by market research company Nielsen. Large companies such as NxStage have taken notice — and so have smaller firms.
Smart companies go beyond ad campaigns; they're hiring Hispanic employees, said Cid Wilson, president of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, an organization aimed at increasing Hispanic employment in U.S. companies.
"Companies that don't embrace Hispanic inclusion run the risk of being labeled a company that does not embrace diversity, and they might make a mistake in how they market to our community," Wilson said.
But some companies haven't yet gotten the memo. In a survey of 150 marketing executives released by the CMO Council marketing association, 55 percent said they didn't have the support of their CEOs for multicultural marketing programs, and 60 percent said they didn't have the support of their boards of directors. That has left few marketing dollars allocated to multicultural marketing; only 14 percent said a quarter or more of their budgets are devoted to multicultural marketing.
