The potential of the Hispanic market still remains largely ignored by the industry.
While the footwear industry has made significant inroads in reaching urban and African-American consumers, Hispanics remain a market teeming with potential. Employment statistics indicate that Hispanics are underrepresented within the industry's ranks as well.
According to the latest figures published in Fortune, Hispanics represent 6.9 percent and 6.4 percent of the work force at Nike and Reebok respectively African Americans, however, represent 22.2 percent of Nike's employees and 11.6 percent of Reebok's work force.
Population projections to the year 2010 are even more eye-opening. According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, Hispanics comprise the fastest-growing population segment in sheer numbers and will surpass blacks as the country's largest minority group by 2010. With this in mind, companies are taking a hard look at how to reach this audience and how to better integrate the population on a corporate level.
"We've got to really work on the Hispanic piece," conceded Adrienne Foster Williams, director of staffing and diversity, Reebok International Ltd., Stoughton, Mass. "We've got the African-American piece. But we've got to do a much better job on the Hispanic piece. We understand the importance of the market, and we now understand how important it is to have people in those markets who are fluent and in touch with what's going on," she continued.
Williams highlighted Reebok's sponsorship of associations supporting Hispanics such as the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the national Hispanic Corporate Council. "We need to increase our employee population of Hispanics and put the money...in their marketplace," she said.
Consumer research indicates that resources allocated to understanding and reaching Hispanics is money well spent. On average, Hispanics spend more on shoes, shop more often, have larger families, and are younger than non-Hispanics. More specifically, Standard & Poor's DRI 1997 found that Hispanics spend 35 percent more on footwear than non-Hispanics, with total footwear expenditures totaling $12 billion in 1997. Furthermore, although Hispanics represent 8 percent of all U.S. households, they generated 20 percent of shopping Waffle in June, according to the 1997 SMM.
"Savvy business people are realizing the potential of the Hispanic market, but there's still a lot of work to be done," said an Hispanic market research specialist, who declined to be named. "Spanish language TV is available to 92 percent of Hispanic households, yet many firms have to speak to these customers in their language. And some of the questions people ask about the market are dumbfounding."
Nike's spot called "Airport," which was unveiled prior to the World Cup, clearly targets Hispanics by featuring the Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, Spanish soccer player Luis Enrique, and Mexican soccer star Jorge Campos, kicking soccer balls while waiting for a plane. The spot included no narrative. Though the selection of soccer players reveals an attempt to appeal to Hispanics, a Nike spokeswoman denied the spots were "directed toward any specific demographic. They're directed to all soccer fans." Still, she acknowledged soccer has a "different demographic that basketball fans." So, even the boldest efforts to specifically target Hispanics are cloaked in vagaries. Nonetheless, such efforts are better than a conspicuous lack of effort.
--L.M.
photo omitted