Posts Tagged: consumer
UC ANR offers free online trainings on direct sales and agritourism
The economic shocks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed California's farmers and ranchers to quickly embrace new business practices — including creative new ways to sell directly to consumers. UC ANR and partners are offering an eight-part series of free virtual trainings to help producers build their businesses with agritourism and other direct-to-consumer sales.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge shock to California's food economy, forcing many of the state's growers to embrace new business practices and drop old ones as “shelter-in-place” directives rolled across the state.
But the pandemic's challenges bring new opportunities too. Consumers' interest in local food and local outdoor experiences has grown immensely, from community-supported agriculture (CSA) and other online ordering, delivery and on-farm pickup options, to visits to farm stands, U-pick operations and other family-friendly socially distanced outdoor activities.
Pivoting to these new marketing channels opens new revenue opportunities for farmers and ranchers across California and the nation. But each new marketing channel also demands new skills and connections.
To help build growers' skills to embrace these market channels, the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is partnering with the Community Alliance of Family Farmers (CAFF) and expert growers across California to offer the free webinar series Agritourism and Direct Sales: Best practices in COVID times and beyond.
Through eight one-hour virtual trainings held this spring, participants will learn about best practices for implementing a variety of direct-to-consumer sales approaches. These trainings are offered to anyone interested in learning more about direct-to-consumer sales and agritourism. Topics and dates are:
Getting started with community supported agriculture |
Tuesday February 23, 11am–12pm PST |
Best practices for U-pick operations | Monday March 8, 3-4pm PST |
Operating a safe, healthy and successful farm stand | Monday March 22, 3-4pm PST |
Best practices for visitor interaction with animals | Monday April 5, 3-4pm PST |
Best practices for farm tours, workshops and farm-based education | Monday April 19, 3-4pm PST |
Online sales options and methods | Monday May 3, 3-4pm PST |
Creative marketing and staying connected with social media | Monday May 17, 3-4pm PST |
Community collaboration – farm trails, tourism partners and more | Monday May 24, 3-4pm PST |
Register at sarep.ucdavis.edu/agritourism2021.
For more information:
Penny Leff, UC SAREP, paleff@ucanr.edu, 530.902.9763 (cell)
Funding for this webinar series was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant #AM200100XXXXG177. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
/span>Young, Bilingual, Bicultural: Latinas Gaining Consumer Power
Celina Villanueva likes to shop for bargains without sacrificing quality. With a growing family of five to feed she is extremely cost-conscious.
“I look for the best product at the best price…I am loyal to products that I like and I recommend those that I like to my friends,” said the Peruvian native while shopping at a warehouse bulk store in Norwalk, Connecticut.
She is one of 28 million Hispanic females living in the U.S. who are gaining in consumer power and influence. According to new data, Latinas like Villanueva are in the driver's seat of U.S. growth.
“Marketers are looking at a new Latina,” explains Stacie M. de Armas, vice-president of Strategic Initiatives & Consumer Engagement at Nielsen. “While she is bilingual and bicultural ... she is also very much in pursuit of her American dream and that is evidenced by her educational attainment and her advancement in creating businesses.”
The report, released Tuesday by Nielsen, details the ascent of this demographic powerhouse, which grew 37 percent between 2005-20015. “Latina 2.0: Fiscally Conscious, Culturally Influential & Familia Forward,” reveals how younger Hispanic women and their buying power are outpacing the rest of the nation.
This new more educated Hispanic consumer, with an average age of 31, is charting the path with her purchasing choices, brand loyalty and digital acumen. This fifth report on Hispanics outlines how Latinas are price-conscious shoppers, prefer bulk wholesale stores and are health conscious, fashion-forward and digitally savvy.
“The phone is practically like my right hand. I use it for everything,” maintains Luz Garces, a native of Colombia while shopping recently at a mall in downtown Stamford, Connecticut. “Shopping, payments, college tuition. I do everything on my phone. It makes life easier.”
Smartphones are the tech device of choice for the socially connected, younger Latina 2.0. She is 15 times more likely than her non-Hispanic counterparts to have a smartphone, and 35 percent more likely to download or purchase music from online services, and significantly more likely than non-Hispanic white women to use social networking sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Google, Snapchat, and Twitter.
“On average, 42 percent of Latinas are spending nearly four hours a day on social media”, said De Armas, adding that Latinas rely on their smartphones “for connectivity and seeking information."
"She is not only an influencer but also influenced by what she sees on social media,” adds the first generation Cuban-American executive.
In addition, the data highlights how Latinas are postponing marriage for a little bit longer in order to pursue educational and career goals. Between 2013 and 2015, 74 percent of Hispanic females enrolled in college immediately after completing high school.
“As we are moving from a manufacturing based economy to a knowledge based economy, the Latina is really well poised and taking advantage of that by obtaining an education and then putting herself into the workforce,” explains De Armas.
Erika Cisneros reflects the new more driven Latina in the workforce.
“I believe that we want to strive to better ourselves and show our parents that what they couldn't accomplish, we might be able to go further," Cisneros said.
The 29-year-old worked her way up from the children's section at the Barnes & Noble in Stamford, Connecticut and is now their Digital Sales Lead.
These attitudes are creating a boom in Latina entrepreneurship.
“Latinas by nature are entrepreneurs and risk takers,” said Fanny Miller, president and organizer of Celebrando Latinas, the largest Hispanic conference nationwide held annually in San Diego, California.
The gathering focuses on teaching Hispanic women the basics of starting your own business. “Our culture and independence makes us natural salespeople...Latinas are always looking to grow bigger, to do something better. Most of our moms were entrepreneurs,” said Miller, a Colombian native who learned the importance of hard work at her family's businesses. “We saw our mom's work really hard. We learned from them.”
According to the latest Census data, Hispanic female majority-owned firms grew in number by more than 682,000, or 87 percent, during the last five-year period.
“We are not only changing the face, but also the economic future of America,” explained Latina businesswoman Nuria Santamaria Wolfe, a daughter of Salvadoran war refugees who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980's. She is the co-founder and CEO of “Canticos”, an L.A. based start-up that sells bilingual books and children's products.
Nevertheless, De Armas said that Latinas remain true to their roots, with 73 percent agreeing that their cultural heritage is an important part of who they are, while 75 percent enjoy maintaining their traditions.
To reach these Latina customers, businesses need to understand their need for advice and tech solutions, as well as offer products relevant to their life stage, Nielsen said in its report.
Latinas are clearly finding their own voice in the consumer market.
“We think in English, but we feel in Spanish,” said Miller adding that the new Latinas want better in life. “We are the decision makers in our homes…It makes us more responsible to better ourselves.”
Source: Published originally on nbcnews.com, Young, Bilingual, Bicultural: Latinas Gaining Consumer Power, September 12th, 2017
Is The U.S. Hispanic Market A Growth Market?
While the market definition has generally expanded during the last 10-15 years to include native-born second- and third-generation Hispanics, the “core” Hispanic market has been characterized by the unacculturated and partially acculturated Latin American immigrants who have represented separate and distinct market opportunities for companies to reach and sell to. The defining characteristic of this market has been the growth and use of Spanish language media and advertising, predominantly consumed by this “core” Spanish-speaking immigrant consumer.
Over the last 30 years, the Hispanic market has exploded, growing from 14.8 million in 1980 to 55 million in 2014, according to Pew Research, but 55% of that growth was driven by immigration in the 1980s and '90s that exceeded U.S. births. However, around 2004, immigration into the U.S. by Hispanics started a steady decline. In 2016, only 28% of the roughly 1 million annual immigrants into the U.S. were Hispanic. Starting in 2010, Asian immigration started to outpace Hispanic immigration.
Looking ahead, the percentage of Hispanic immigration is forecast to decrease steadily to 26% and potentially drop down below 25% by 2020, Pew found. This could trend even farther downward considering the current political environment in the United States.
So, while new Hispanic immigration into the U.S. is still forecast to top 250,000 per year, another trend, reverse immigration, primarily among Mexicans returning from the U.S., is forecast to continue at levels of approximately 200,000 per year. The result is that net Hispanic immigration into the U.S. will be anemic at best, with growth rates of less than 0.4% per year or less than 80,000 per year. This is not a growth market.
While geopolitical and economic factors may change this trend, the next five years look bleak for “core” Hispanic market population growth in sharp contrast to the go-go '80s and '90s when the market grew rapidly.
Overall, the U.S. Hispanic population is forecast to grow, but that growth will come primarily from U.S. births. Which leads to a critical question: Is this U.S.-born Hispanic market a separate and distinct market from the foreign-born immigrant Hispanic market? This question goes to the heart of the future of Hispanic marketing. I would argue that this U.S.-born, acculturated Hispanic is separate and distinct and the strategies and tactics that worked for marketing to immigrant Hispanics the last 30 years will not work for native Hispanics.
The numbers paint a very clear picture: there are two Hispanic markets — one that is stagnant and aging and one that is growing and getting younger. As I've argued numerous times over the years, the old way of Hispanic marketing is becoming irrelevant. A new way forward is required to address this new vibrant market. A new Hispanic market requires a new approach to Hispanic marketing.
Source: Published originally on mediapost.com as Is The U.S. Hispanic Market A Growth Market? by Jose Villa, May 25, 2017.
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Why Brands Still Don't Have a True Hispanic Marketing Strategy
According to a recent Google study that surveyed a select panel of senior-level marketers to see if the U.S. Hispanic audience was on their roadmap, most saw 11 to 25% of their company's growth coming from this demographic in the next three to five years. Still, many brands surveyed didn't have a marketing strategy for engaging this audience.
I can't be the only marketer that finds it baffling how the U.S. Hispanic market can be the most attractive and yet one of the most underserved at that same time. Working in Hispanic marketing for over a decade, I have heard over and over from marketers about the importance of this consumer group, but in 2016 very few are working towards a strategy to specifically and meaningfully reach us in a culturally relevant manner.
Here are two reasons why:
1. The “Total Market” Syndrome
With the development and rise of “Total Market” strategies over the past few years, corporations and marketers have found an excuse to generalize strategies to reach the diverse US market as a whole. Essentially, Total Market refers to a melting pot of marketing strategies that are intended to speak to universal truths while gaining efficiencies.
These efficiencies, however, inherently ignore an important fact: Hispanics are greatly influenced by strong and distinct cultural values that guide their thoughts, actions and, ultimately, motivations to buy. Implementing a total market strategy may save money, but often leads to a less engaging message that lacks in authenticity and leaves the Latino consumer asking “what's in it for me?” The brands that understand this and are making an effort to foster genuine connections based on key cultural differences are winning Hispanic consumers' loyalty and dollars compared to those who take a one-size-fits-all approach.
2. No Hablo Español (or Language Matters)
As marketers spend more time investigating the Hispanic market, they have come to understand that the majority of this group's population recent growth comes from U.S. births—meaning more and more of the population is proficient in English. The problem is that half of marketers believe that Hispanic marketing means marketing solely in Spanish. The other half assume that since the Hispanic audience is bilingual or English-dominant, they can be effectively reached through the same advertising and strategies developed for general market audiences.
Neither is the correct approach; marketers end up overlooking the important role that cultural ties and community connections play to this Hispanic consumer. Cultural nuances are often more important than language. While language can be a trigger, culturally- relevant content and messaging can engage the entire spectrum of the Latino audience.
I often compare targeting Hispanics versus the general market to the differences in targeting men and women. Marketers would not likely use the same piece of content to reach and connect with a male as they would a female (just ask Dollar Shave Club). The voice, experience and reasons to buy can be completely different. The same goes for the Hispanic market.
Source: Published originally on MediaPost.com Why Brands Still Don't Have a True Hispanic Marketing Strategy , by Erin Conrad, December 29, 2016.