In the context of Health Equity and Cultural Diversity through media, we know that brands are recognizing the growth opportunity afforded through the strategic crafting of campaigns that speak directly to diverse audiences.
In this article, we want to explore the importance of multicultural advertising for pharmaceutical brands and how it fosters authentic connections with consumers of different ethnicities and cultures.
While a similar approach may resonate across various multicultural segments, the following will focus on the US Hispanic audience and the nuances and strategies that should be considered to better engage and empower this vibrant audience segment.
Three essential cultural values that play a significant role in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of the US Hispanic population are Familism, Respect, and the Multigenerational Approach.
Familism - In Hispanic culture, the family unit extends beyond the nuclear family to include extended relatives. Familism influences decision-making processes, behaviors, and preferences, including those related to healthcare.
Respect - A fundamental value in Hispanic culture, respect emphasizes deference, politeness, and consideration for others. It encompasses showing reverence towards the community, elders, and authority figures such as healthcare providers.
Multigenerational Approach - The Hispanic community in the United States often maintains strong connections across generations, with grandparents, parents, and children playing integral roles within the family structure. This underscores the importance of recognizing the importance of tailoring messaging and media tactics that appeal to and include various generations.
Understanding the trends in digital video consumption, mobile viewing habits, social media engagement, and the influence of bilingual content on brand engagement, are some of the important considerations that provide the Inizio Evoke team with the expertise to implement an effective and strategic media plan to the Hispanic User.
At Inizio Evoke, our primary focus is to assist pharmaceutical advertisers in achieving their brand goals and objectives. Pharma brands in particular should prioritize multicultural campaigns when seeking ways to effectively reach and engage with diverse audiences and improve health outcomes – especially to audience segments that may have a higher propensity to suffer from a specific condition. By doing so, pharmaceutical companies can build trust, credibility, and relevance within multicultural communities, while also meeting a need and impacting their business positively.
Our mission is to assist brands in cultivating impactful relationships with vital US Hispanic target audiences. We employ a range of key approaches and tactics to ensure that campaigns resonate deeply with diverse audiences.
Our collaborative approach involves providing expert advice and seamless integration with our Strategy and Account teams, enabling us to offer comprehensive services, from creative and innovative marketing strategies to media planning and effective market research tools.
We offer strategic planning and guidance for optimal media executions, leveraging our ongoing partnerships with multicultural media vendors to align campaign messaging with powerful and relevant content and proactively engage in campaign optimizations to help our clients achieve campaign objectives.
The following discusses some of the media usage trends and statistics that are considered when advertising to the US Hispanic audience.
Brand Affinity among Hispanic listeners when served ads in Spanish
80% of Hispanics have reported that when they find a brand they like, they stick with it
69% are likely to ask an HCP to prescribe a specific Rx after seeing an advertisement (Nielsen)
Video
With the rapid growth of digital platforms and the increasing consumption of online video content, brands have an unprecedented opportunity to engage with Hispanic consumers through video advertisements.
Hispanic adults in the United States spend an average of over 28 hours per month watching videos on digital devices (Nielsen)
86% of Hispanics in the United States watch digital video content on their smartphones, highlighting the importance of mobile devices for video consumption(eMarketer)
72% of US Hispanic adults prefer content in English and Spanish, indicating a preference for bilingual or multilingual video advertising campaigns (ThinkNow)
Hispanic audiences are 23% more likely to share video ads compared to non-Hispanics, indicating greater brand interaction and engagement with video content (MAGNA and Univision).
Audio
Pharma brands investing in reaching the Spanish-speaking audience should prioritize Audio channels. Research shows that Hispanics, particularly Spanish speakers, listen to audio content more than general market users, including music and podcasts. While video is effective, multicultural audiences, especially Spanish speakers, stream more audio content. Aligning with their values is crucial, as most Hispanics support brands that resonate with them.
74% of Hispanics vs 56% of non-Hispanics reported usage among streaming audio services (GWI - Hispanic Media Usage)
69% of Hispanics in the United States listen to online audio each month, compared to 65% of the total population (Edison Research)
40% of Hispanics listen to podcasts monthly, compared to 37% of the total population (Edison Research)
In terms of ad effectiveness, 63% of Hispanic adults aged 18-64 who listen to streaming audio say they have noticed ads while listening, compared to 54% of non-Hispanic White adults (Nielsen)
Social Media
Hispanics in the US over-index relative to their non-Hispanic counterparts, with more than three-quarters saying they’ve used social media sites in the past 30 days, and they share content on social 5x more often than non-Hispanic Whites (Colibrí 2021 US Hispanic Study)
Hispanics are 41% more likely to connect with brands through preferred social media channels – Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat (Colibrí 2021 US Hispanic Study)
72% of Hispanic adults in the United States use social media, compared to 69% of the total adult population (Pew Research)
U.S. Hispanics aged 18–49 over-index against their non-Hispanic White counterparts for having used Meta, WhatsApp, and Snapchat (Colibrí 2021 US Hispanic Study)
Hispanic consumers are 25% more likely to follow a brand on social media and 34% more likely to engage with branded content compared to the general market.
In summary, pharmaceutical advertisers should prioritize multicultural campaigns when seeking ways to effectively reach and engage with diverse audiences and improve health outcomes – especially to audience segments that may have a higher propensity to suffer from a specific condition. By doing so, pharmaceutical companies can build trust, credibility, and relevance within multicultural communities while also meeting a need and impacting their business positively.