Generation Latino 1.5: Ni de Aqui, Ni de Allá
When marketers aim their shiny campaigns at people with Latin roots, they pretty much go in via language and they segment by three popular categories:
The Spanish-speaking dominant; the English-speaking dominant and the bilingual — the ones like many of us here at the Tiki Tiki, who go back and forth sin problema. I got this info from reading José Villa’s recent essay on MediaPost.com’s Engage Hispanics column. (Not to mention knowing this from personal experience working with public relations/marketing agencies and companies.)
Anyway, Villa, founder of the Sensis ad agency, introduces us to yet another segment: Generation 1.5, whom he says are a whole new undiscovered class of Hispanics — one that educators have long known of, but that marketers are now just getting to know.
Generation 1.5 is not proficient in English or Spanish and born to first-generation American immigrants from Mexico and Central America, Villa writes. Here is more:
Some are foreign-born and moved to the U.S. as children. Others, however, were born in the U.S. and raised in all Spanish households and neighborhoods, rendering their U.S. upbringing functionally identical to their foreign-born counterparts.
They are not second generation but are not first generation in the traditional sense. They are a group functionally, culturally and linguistically in the middle.
So, ni de aqui…ni allá.
And I thought it was “tough” being a plain-old first-generation American, constantly skipping between two brains and spirits! But, at least those of us born here are for sure, from here…and those raised elsewhere are for sure, de aya.
Maybe?
Academics have been discussing this subgroup for 5 years, Villa writes, because they have unique educational needs — as they do all sorts of other needs like finance, health and media.
Again, he’s an ad guy and a marketer, so he ends by challenging his compadres with an opportunity to do more than “(blast) a one-way, self-serving message” at this group.
I am left wondering what Generation 1.5 means to the changes in the U.S., to Latinos in the U.S. — and the people who desire to reach them? Not to mention the people in the public and health sectors who have to reach them.
We biculturals confuse those people enough. And now this…yet another segment.
Disney and Telemundo News Channel?
Plus, makes me wonder how the big media companies so desirous of reaching Latinos will target Gen 1.5?
Did you hear, by the way, that Disney World and Telemundo are talking about creating a 24-hour news channel to reach English-speaking Latinos? (They would join Huffington Post, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, plus several independent sites.)
From USA Today on Disney and Telemundo:
The proposed deal also reflects the stepped up efforts of mainstream media companies to target Latinos. Fox News added its Fox News Latino website in 2010 and Huffington Post now has an online Huffpost LatinoVoices site. Meanwhile, NBC Universal has increased the cross-pollination between its NBC News division and that of its Spanish language network, Telemundo.
and
“There’s a longstanding effort to try and create content for English speaking Latinos,” (Robert) Suro, a professor of journalism, said. “This is a very broad population segment, and the question is, “what is the identity? Is it heavily Hispanic, all about news about Latinos? Or is it who delivers the news? It’s an elusive brand.”
Y Tu?
Are you Generation 1.5?
What do you say? ¿Que dices?
Un poquito mas:
I’m a proud generation 1.5 born and raised in Mexico until the age of 13… and like you say, I feel “Ni de aquí, ni de allá” . When I go to back to my hometown they see me as a “pocha,” here in the U.S. my “accent” and cultura don’t make me American enough. But I’ve learned to embrace it! Mejor digo que I have the best of both places ;)
The best of both places, for sure!
Thanks for weighing in…I plan on quizzing my Gen. 1.5 friends on this now! It is so interesting.
this has long been an issue for PuertoRicans, since we are citizens but more often than not are considered “de allá”. I’ve spent more of my lifetime off the island/in the continental US now and am fully bilingual, so I’ll be interested to see how this marketing effort develops. This 1.5 population is not a new phenomenon, it’s just that the academics and marketers have apparently just figured out that this group has some unique qualities & perspectives… imagine that! I’ll be over here, waiting for them to reach me ;)
Oye, no wonder my “aya” looked weird!
Thank you for gently correcting me!
As I think about it, my own mom and her siblings could be 1.5 — and way back 50 years ago. However, they got pretty acculturated and most arrived from Cuba in their tweens and teens.
Vamos a ver how they reach you allá!
A separate channel for English speaking Latinos sounds like segregation to me but not surprising considering the amount of racist stereotypes on ABC and other networks. We don’t need another network we must stand up and not allow the media to put out racist garbage in the first place.
If they hired more Latino writers, producers and talent they would have NO problem reaching their target market. $$
As for the children getting lost in the system and not learning either language is a very sad thing. In Florida they have specific classes to address these children and meet their learning needs. Ultimately it is the parents responsibility, then the teacher and as the child grows there are many resources available. This should not be a growing problem. If it is, communities must take a closer look to put a stop to this.
We do need more Latino writers in all sorts of media!
All this talk of how Latinos are targeted by marketers always makes my head spin. I wonder what would happen if they created a channel geared at bringing media to all Latinos living under one roof, for the common multi-generational households in Latino communities, with content in Spanish, English and Spanglish. Abuela, papi and grandkids all gathered around the TV to watch programming in each of their preferred languages with a focus on topics of interest to Latinos. I mean I get why they approach us by language but I think it goes so much deeper than that. I have to stop myself before I start talking in circles – it’s a topic, for me, best left for a bottle of wine and late evening. Love learning all about how Latinos are viewed by marketers – thanks for sharing!
Carrie,
Glad to see you found my article on Hispanic Generation 1.5 interesting and worthy of your own post. I really enjoyed the additional texture and perspective you provided on this phenomena.
Also, love the comments from your readers…
Suerte y un abrazo from a fellow Cubanito!
Jose Villa
I have heard more and more about Generation 1.5 from my teacher friends in the past few years. It definitely is an issue that our educational system has to address.
In regards to whether they will be marketed to, as a marketer myself, I would love to even have a budget these days to reach out to ANY Latino audience. I guess that’s why I LOVE the fact that there’s more media options for Latinos to consume and through which to show our consumer power. Of course, this is all contingent on how these networks launch and what kind of content they deliver, but I’m hopeful that they do well because that just means more opportunity for a Latino presence in the ‘mainstream.’
I read an article in the NYT a few years ago about Gen 1.5 and loved it. I was brought to the US when I was 2 years old and have only spent a total of 4 years and 1 month in my native Costa Rica. Like many other 1.5ers, I’m stuck in the middle.
Although not a Mexican-American, a quote from the movie, “Selena” resonates with me and my circumstance.
“Being Mexican-American is tough. Anglos jump all over you if you don’t speak English perfectly. Mexicans jump all over you if you don’t speak Spanish perfectly. We gotta be twice as perfect as anybody else…We gotta know about John Wayne and Pedro Infante. We gotta know about Frank Sinatra and Agustin Lara. We gotta know about Oprah and Cristina. Anglo food is too bland and yet when we go to Mexico we get the runs. Now that to me is embarrasing…We gotta prove to the Mexicans how Mexican we are and we gotta prove to the Americans how American we are. We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time. Its exhausting! Nobody knows how tough it is to be a Mexican-American.”
I’m not quite as frustrated as Abraham Quintanilla’s character because I’ve rarely felt like I’ve had to prove myself. However, I do feel like I really missed out on a lot of Hispanic culture because I was watching “Saved By the Bell” instead of “El Chapulin Colorado” or “Mafalda”. With that said, my English is better than many Estadounidences and I understand most English colloquialisms without a blink. It’s absolutely a whole other generation and the numeric is right on. I am not a 1 or a 2. I am more like a 1.2.