"Sometimes I wish I’d paid more attention in Spanish class in high school. Sure, I’m fine ordering beers or finding a bathroom. I can ask if Susana is home and whether she’s in the kitchen easily enough, and if you tell me, “no, she’s in the living room,” I’ll likely comprehend it. Thirty years after the fact I still never forgot “Ay caramba, cuando arreglan mi cuarto, no encuentro nada!” (Oh darn! Whenever they clean my room I can’t find anything!). "
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/05/08/univision-its-a-big-deal-when-it-comes-to-ratings/3681
My comments: Blogger Robert Seidman reveals his only interaction with US Latinos is with US Latinos who are working as his servers and servants. Corporate America, the marketing industry and the investment community view US Latinos through this ridiculous lens. They don't see us as people; they see as an amorphorous group of low-paid foreigner servants who only speak Spanish. Every misstep, mistake and disastrous investment into reaching US Latinos can be blamed on that lens. Mainstream organizations hire and promote the wrong people. Basically what they need to do is fire the white guys and hire a mix of US born and foreign-born Latinos. And they should hire more of the former than the latter; competing against Univision for foreign-born Latinos is like competing against Microsoft in operating systems. It might be doable, but will cost so much there won't be any ROI.
1 comment:
Wow. You read an awful lot into what I wrote! All I was doing was attempting to showcase just how WELL the Univision network is doing.
I don't have any servants not even a maid! I'm a blogger working out of my own apartment -- hardly "corporate America" (perhaps the new corporate America, I do like the perks, although the pay is lousy!) You made *quite* a stretch there.
Yes, it is hard for me to relate with media that is in Spanish because I don't understand Spanish very well. The same could be said for any language I don't understand, which is all of them except English.
I do think mainstream US media should give Univision (and Latinos) more coverage, and I have no doubt that will happen someday. But what I was commenting on was how successful Univision *is* despite the English-language media.
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