On a website, http://collateraldamage.wordpress.com/tag/bad-press-releases/ they showcase poor public relations online. this particular press release has the title “Celebrate Hitler’s Birthday by Knowing the Truth about Christianity, Nazism, and the Holocaust”. As you can see this is a press release that would upset more people than make happy. The press reease that they chose to release caused great backlash and did not create a good buzz about their product.
A good example of using the internet for public relations would be HP. Hood dairy company. On their company website, they have a separated link that is titled promotions and under the about us they have a linkthat directs you to all of their press releases. They make the information easily available and also have their releases titled properly and information relevent.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
eMarket Paper
Kristen Marcinelli
November 27, 2009
Hispanic Target Market
The Hispanic market in the United States is a huge group that I feel is and coming. The Hispanic population is a critical target market that must be the focus of companies in the U.S. in the coming years. I believe that if this target market is being ignored by companies, they will be missing out on a huge opportunity that will only increase in the upcoming years. In this paper I will clearly define who this market is, and what characteristics make them unique and valuable. After the target market is understood, there will be a comparison of two websites that cater to their needs.
A Hispanic American is a U.S. citizen or resident of Latin-American or Spanish descent (Dictionary.com). Hispanics have a huge presence in the United States. They make up 15% of the U.S. population. This 15% is made up of descendents from over 20 countries; Mexicans are the largest group making up 63.3% of the Hispanic population. The rest of the population is broken down as: Central and South American 14.4%, Puerto Rican 10.6%, Cuban 4.2%, and 7.4% are categorized as other, including Spain and the Dominican Republic (Nieto 2009). The Hispanic group is currently the largest ethnic group in the United States. It is important for businesses to understand that this group is rapidly growing at a rate of 3.6% which is more than three times the growth rate of other groups (U.S. Census). This group is made up of a younger population; the average age of this group is 23.6 years which is significantly younger than the national average of 32 years (Solomon 2009).
Now that it is clear how the Hispanic target market is becoming more significant in the U.S. it is important for people to understand the characteristics of this group. The average family size in the Hispanic population are larger than other groups, they have multiple people living in one household. Because of their large families Hispanics tend to outspend other groups when it comes to purchasing groceries, furniture, children’s clothing and men’s clothing (Sonderup, 2004). They purchase products based on brand recognition because they like to buy products they are familiar with and know will be a dependable product that they like. When it comes to entertainment the Hispanic market has been proven to listen to the radio more than any other group and also watch a substantial amount of Television. On average a Hispanic family listens to the radio 26-30 hours per week and Univision (Spanish language television network) is ranked the 5th network behind ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX (Sonderup 2004). Though these are currently the major mediums of media Hispanics engage in, the Hispanic online target market is up and coming. 50% of Hispanic adults are currently online and they have grown 25% over a twelve month period (Rainie, 2001). Hispanics enjoy the internet because it helps them stay connected to their family and friends, which can be explained because of their strong family values. Based on PEW Internet Project surveys conducted, 78% of Hispanics say they go online at least 3-5 times a week and 61% are online on a typical day. This large number of Hispanics online has been growing rapidly. In February 2009, their online population reached 20.3 million visitors (6% increase from 2008) representing 11% of the total U.S. online market (ComScore 2009). Hispanics are more likely to use online browsing for fun. They like to listen to music and watch videos and research movies and books. They are more likely to jump around from different sites than to just sit on one site for a long time.
There are two websites that I feel targeted Hispanics very well: www.Deportes.Aol.com and www.ESPNdeportes.espn.go.com. These two websites are focused on bringing sports information to the Hispanic community. They are both in the Spanish language but offered in English as well, which is important because many Hispanics are bilingual. Though they are both focused on sports, they differ slightly in the information provided and the website layout.
www.Deportes.Aol.com is an extension of the AOL Company where they have expanded to reach the Hispanic market. This site is completely in Spanish, including the banner ads at the top. This site focuses mainly on sports that are popular in Spanish speaking countries, such as soccer and boxing. Stories that are related to these sports are accompanied by picture galleries and video are located on the main page. AOL offers multiple stories that are highlighted with pictures and videos; they do not focus only on one main story. The majority of the stories displayed on the main page relate to not only Hispanic sports but also to Hispanic athletes. The website does involve the viewer throughout its homepage in multiple ways. On the page they have links to their twitter and facebook. They also have a voting poll in the middle of their site and an entire row of links to blogs on the left hand side that relate to the main headlines on this website. At the end of the web page, they offer people to be redirected to other sites that do not relate to sports, but are still focused on the Hispanic community. They offer entertainment news, Spanish cooking recipes, videos, and a find chats/ blogs link. The layout of this website is simple, white background, navigation system can be found on the top and the bottom of the website. The main stories on the page are large and easily reached, while all other features on the page are clearly labeled and are laid out so the reader can easily understand what the information is trying to tell them, and where a link will take them if they choose to follow it. The only problem I find with this website is that it is AOL deportes Latino. I feel that they are targeting only South Americans when the Hispanic market is much bigger than that. Latino and Hispanic are not interchangeable and this is a subject that Hispanics from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Spain, etc. can be sensitive about.
www.ESPNdeportes.espn.go.com is a section of the ESPN.com website that is targeted to the Hispanic community. This site is completely in Spanish, including the advertisements and the information is also offered in the English language. They offer information on every sport, but like AOL focus mainly on soccer, but not as much on boxing. They have one main headline that’s accompanied with pictures, then a sliding bar below it so individuals can find the story that they would like to see. They also offer one line headlines on the side that are linked to other stories. These are not mainly focused on Hispanic athletes, they are general sport news that are similar to the stories found on the general ESPN.com. Aside from just giving headlines and stories about sports, they offer much more information such as results of games, and schedules of games that are coming up. This website differs from AOL because they offer information on the NFL while AOL did not give NFL information on the main page. An additional feature of the ESPN site is that visitors can click on multiple opinions by Hispanic sportscasters that are about various topics in sports. This website does not engage the visitor other than asking them to vote on a poll question, they do not offer twitter and facebook links. One unique aspect of the website is that it does offer links to their ESPN radio, TV, Pod center, and shopping center. This is good for the Hispanic market because as stated earlier, Hispanics listen to radio more than any other group. The layout of this site is not as simple as the AOL site. It is “jammed packed” of information and the visitor is more likely to have to carefully read the information to figure out what it is truly trying to tell them. On the homepage this website offers one navigation system at the top of the site. The visitor needs to dig deep into the website to find information unlike the AOL site which has many stories laid out on the home page.
These two websites both successfully target the Hispanic market, but there is one that I believe reaches the market better. After learning the culture, habits, likes and dislikes of the Hispanic target market and also analyzing the two websites above, I believe that the www.Deportes.aol.com is better suited for the Hispanic target market. This site has more information that is directly related to the Hispanic community and they offer complete information on soccer (every country) while ESPN does not. I also feel that the AOL website is easier to gather information from and navigate through. The most important reason that I chose this website as the better of the two is that it offers other related links for Hispanics. My research showed that Hispanics are more likely to go onto a website for one reason, then spend time just jumping from one page to other unrelated pages. The fact that the AOL site offers multiple links to other topics such as cooking and entertainment news shows that they are aware of the online habits of the Hispanic community. They are aware that they like to be engaged in the website and search the internet to have fun and I feel as though they have satisfied the needs of the Hispanic market more completely than the ESPNdeportes.espn.go.com website.
Sources:
1. AOL. (2009, November 29). AOL deportes Latino. Retrieved from http://deportes.aol.com/
2. ComScore. (2009). U.s. Hispanic internet audience growth outpaces total U.S. online population by 50 percent. Proceedings of the Press Release, http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/4/U.S._Hispanic_Internet_Audience_Growth/(language)/eng-US
3. Crouch, R. (2009). Demographic Trends for State Policymakers. The Book of the states. Lexington: CSG.
4. ESPN. (2009, November 29). ESPN deportes. Retrieved from http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/?cc=3888
5. Nieto, R. (2009). Understanding the Hispanic culture. Ohio State University Factsheet, Retrieved from.
6. Rainie, L. (2001). 50% of Hispanic adults now are online. Proceedings of the Press Release, http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2001/50-of-Hispanic-Adults-Now-are-Online.aspx
7. Solomon, M.R. (2009). Consumer Behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
8. Sonderup, L. (2004, April). Hispanic marketing: a critical market segment. Advertising and Marketing Review, Retrieved from http://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/docs/fs075.html
9. U.S. Census. (n.d.). U.S. Census Press Release. U.S. department of commerce. Retrieved (2009, October 24) from http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html
The guideline for this paper comes from http://infoacrs.com/nm/evaluatingwebsites.html
The two websites analyzed in this paper are:
1. http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/?cc=3888
2. http://deportes.aol.com/
November 27, 2009
Hispanic Target Market
The Hispanic market in the United States is a huge group that I feel is and coming. The Hispanic population is a critical target market that must be the focus of companies in the U.S. in the coming years. I believe that if this target market is being ignored by companies, they will be missing out on a huge opportunity that will only increase in the upcoming years. In this paper I will clearly define who this market is, and what characteristics make them unique and valuable. After the target market is understood, there will be a comparison of two websites that cater to their needs.
A Hispanic American is a U.S. citizen or resident of Latin-American or Spanish descent (Dictionary.com). Hispanics have a huge presence in the United States. They make up 15% of the U.S. population. This 15% is made up of descendents from over 20 countries; Mexicans are the largest group making up 63.3% of the Hispanic population. The rest of the population is broken down as: Central and South American 14.4%, Puerto Rican 10.6%, Cuban 4.2%, and 7.4% are categorized as other, including Spain and the Dominican Republic (Nieto 2009). The Hispanic group is currently the largest ethnic group in the United States. It is important for businesses to understand that this group is rapidly growing at a rate of 3.6% which is more than three times the growth rate of other groups (U.S. Census). This group is made up of a younger population; the average age of this group is 23.6 years which is significantly younger than the national average of 32 years (Solomon 2009).
Now that it is clear how the Hispanic target market is becoming more significant in the U.S. it is important for people to understand the characteristics of this group. The average family size in the Hispanic population are larger than other groups, they have multiple people living in one household. Because of their large families Hispanics tend to outspend other groups when it comes to purchasing groceries, furniture, children’s clothing and men’s clothing (Sonderup, 2004). They purchase products based on brand recognition because they like to buy products they are familiar with and know will be a dependable product that they like. When it comes to entertainment the Hispanic market has been proven to listen to the radio more than any other group and also watch a substantial amount of Television. On average a Hispanic family listens to the radio 26-30 hours per week and Univision (Spanish language television network) is ranked the 5th network behind ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX (Sonderup 2004). Though these are currently the major mediums of media Hispanics engage in, the Hispanic online target market is up and coming. 50% of Hispanic adults are currently online and they have grown 25% over a twelve month period (Rainie, 2001). Hispanics enjoy the internet because it helps them stay connected to their family and friends, which can be explained because of their strong family values. Based on PEW Internet Project surveys conducted, 78% of Hispanics say they go online at least 3-5 times a week and 61% are online on a typical day. This large number of Hispanics online has been growing rapidly. In February 2009, their online population reached 20.3 million visitors (6% increase from 2008) representing 11% of the total U.S. online market (ComScore 2009). Hispanics are more likely to use online browsing for fun. They like to listen to music and watch videos and research movies and books. They are more likely to jump around from different sites than to just sit on one site for a long time.
There are two websites that I feel targeted Hispanics very well: www.Deportes.Aol.com and www.ESPNdeportes.espn.go.com. These two websites are focused on bringing sports information to the Hispanic community. They are both in the Spanish language but offered in English as well, which is important because many Hispanics are bilingual. Though they are both focused on sports, they differ slightly in the information provided and the website layout.
www.Deportes.Aol.com is an extension of the AOL Company where they have expanded to reach the Hispanic market. This site is completely in Spanish, including the banner ads at the top. This site focuses mainly on sports that are popular in Spanish speaking countries, such as soccer and boxing. Stories that are related to these sports are accompanied by picture galleries and video are located on the main page. AOL offers multiple stories that are highlighted with pictures and videos; they do not focus only on one main story. The majority of the stories displayed on the main page relate to not only Hispanic sports but also to Hispanic athletes. The website does involve the viewer throughout its homepage in multiple ways. On the page they have links to their twitter and facebook. They also have a voting poll in the middle of their site and an entire row of links to blogs on the left hand side that relate to the main headlines on this website. At the end of the web page, they offer people to be redirected to other sites that do not relate to sports, but are still focused on the Hispanic community. They offer entertainment news, Spanish cooking recipes, videos, and a find chats/ blogs link. The layout of this website is simple, white background, navigation system can be found on the top and the bottom of the website. The main stories on the page are large and easily reached, while all other features on the page are clearly labeled and are laid out so the reader can easily understand what the information is trying to tell them, and where a link will take them if they choose to follow it. The only problem I find with this website is that it is AOL deportes Latino. I feel that they are targeting only South Americans when the Hispanic market is much bigger than that. Latino and Hispanic are not interchangeable and this is a subject that Hispanics from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Spain, etc. can be sensitive about.
www.ESPNdeportes.espn.go.com is a section of the ESPN.com website that is targeted to the Hispanic community. This site is completely in Spanish, including the advertisements and the information is also offered in the English language. They offer information on every sport, but like AOL focus mainly on soccer, but not as much on boxing. They have one main headline that’s accompanied with pictures, then a sliding bar below it so individuals can find the story that they would like to see. They also offer one line headlines on the side that are linked to other stories. These are not mainly focused on Hispanic athletes, they are general sport news that are similar to the stories found on the general ESPN.com. Aside from just giving headlines and stories about sports, they offer much more information such as results of games, and schedules of games that are coming up. This website differs from AOL because they offer information on the NFL while AOL did not give NFL information on the main page. An additional feature of the ESPN site is that visitors can click on multiple opinions by Hispanic sportscasters that are about various topics in sports. This website does not engage the visitor other than asking them to vote on a poll question, they do not offer twitter and facebook links. One unique aspect of the website is that it does offer links to their ESPN radio, TV, Pod center, and shopping center. This is good for the Hispanic market because as stated earlier, Hispanics listen to radio more than any other group. The layout of this site is not as simple as the AOL site. It is “jammed packed” of information and the visitor is more likely to have to carefully read the information to figure out what it is truly trying to tell them. On the homepage this website offers one navigation system at the top of the site. The visitor needs to dig deep into the website to find information unlike the AOL site which has many stories laid out on the home page.
These two websites both successfully target the Hispanic market, but there is one that I believe reaches the market better. After learning the culture, habits, likes and dislikes of the Hispanic target market and also analyzing the two websites above, I believe that the www.Deportes.aol.com is better suited for the Hispanic target market. This site has more information that is directly related to the Hispanic community and they offer complete information on soccer (every country) while ESPN does not. I also feel that the AOL website is easier to gather information from and navigate through. The most important reason that I chose this website as the better of the two is that it offers other related links for Hispanics. My research showed that Hispanics are more likely to go onto a website for one reason, then spend time just jumping from one page to other unrelated pages. The fact that the AOL site offers multiple links to other topics such as cooking and entertainment news shows that they are aware of the online habits of the Hispanic community. They are aware that they like to be engaged in the website and search the internet to have fun and I feel as though they have satisfied the needs of the Hispanic market more completely than the ESPNdeportes.espn.go.com website.
Sources:
1. AOL. (2009, November 29). AOL deportes Latino. Retrieved from http://deportes.aol.com/
2. ComScore. (2009). U.s. Hispanic internet audience growth outpaces total U.S. online population by 50 percent. Proceedings of the Press Release, http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/4/U.S._Hispanic_Internet_Audience_Growth/(language)/eng-US
3. Crouch, R. (2009). Demographic Trends for State Policymakers. The Book of the states. Lexington: CSG.
4. ESPN. (2009, November 29). ESPN deportes. Retrieved from http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/?cc=3888
5. Nieto, R. (2009). Understanding the Hispanic culture. Ohio State University Factsheet, Retrieved from
6. Rainie, L. (2001). 50% of Hispanic adults now are online. Proceedings of the Press Release, http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2001/50-of-Hispanic-Adults-Now-are-Online.aspx
7. Solomon, M.R. (2009). Consumer Behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
8. Sonderup, L. (2004, April). Hispanic marketing: a critical market segment. Advertising and Marketing Review, Retrieved from http://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/docs/fs075.html
9. U.S. Census. (n.d.). U.S. Census Press Release. U.S. department of commerce. Retrieved (2009, October 24) from http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html
The guideline for this paper comes from http://infoacrs.com/nm/evaluatingwebsites.html
The two websites analyzed in this paper are:
1. http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/?cc=3888
2. http://deportes.aol.com/
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