Ad spending for 2006 in all Spanish-language media grew to nearly $5.6 billion in 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Spanish-language TV ad spending in particular grew a healthy 16.6% during January-September 2006 over the same period the previous year.
Yet despite this growth, only 3.2% of total national television and print advertising is directed at Hispanic markets in Spanish, according to TNS Media Intelligence data cited in a May 2007 Los Angeles Times article.
Skepticism about marketing in Spanish starts with advertisers.
Fisher-Price stopped its Spanish-language TV campaign in 2005.
"We have found that [the Spanish-language campaign] didn't increase awareness... because it was readily understood in English," said Brenda Andolina of Fisher-Price.
Some advertisers also think that Spanish-language viewers are largely devoid of disposable income.
"The image in much of corporate America is that these are not upscale folks," said Harry Pachon of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. "In reality, hundreds of thousands of Hispanic families have joined the middle class — over three million families in Texas and California alone."
According to the Mercanti Group's "Chronicle" report, Hispanic consumers in the US have some of the largest disposable incomes of any minority group. Hispanic-American buying power will grow to a projected $1.3 trillion in 2011, up from $838 billion in 2006.
The case for Spanish-language marketing is clearer online.
A slim majority of online Hispanic-Americans prefer to be offered Spanish-language Websites, according to Forrester Research's "When to Build a Spanish-Language Website" report.
A quarter of online Hispanic-Americans said that Websites they visit must be in Spanish, and half of Hispanic adults said that they are online at least monthly, up from 45% last year.
eMarketer estimates that Hispanic-American online ad spending will rise faster than general market online ad spending. It was up 32% in 2006, vs. an estimated 25% for the general market.
Merely translating ads into Spanish is not sufficient, which holds true for both TV and the Web.
Maria Lovera of IKEA, which has had success using Spanish-language TV ads, said, "Translating commercials is not enough. You have to understand and participate in the culture."
"The brands that are forward thinking will understand this opportunity," said Ms. Lovera. "Hispanics are very, very loyal."