Ricky Martin. Jennifer Lopez. Marc Anthony. Enrique Iglesias. Their concerts sell out major stadiums, and their records make millions of dollars. It's been called the Latin Explosion in the music business, but it's really just the result of what retail and demographic experts have seen coming for some time. The huge (and rapidly growing) Hispanic population is making its mark on the American marketplace. That explosion is making its way into dispensaries as well, and those already reaping the benefit know that the Hispanic community is one worthy of marketing efforts.

There are currently about 30 million Hispanic people living in the United States, and they account for approximately 10 percent of the total U.S. population, according to creatability.com, an Internet-based marketing firm.
They are our nation's second largest ethnic group, behind African-Americans. But not for long. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic demographic is growing at a rate much faster than that of the general market, and is projected to be the largest minority by the year 2010, when it is expected to reach 40 million people and comprise 12 percent of the total U.S. population.

A Powerful Demographic

Not only is the Latino/Hispanic demographic growing in size, it is growing in power: Market power, that is. According to the Census Bureau, the current buying power of the U.S. Hispanic Market is more than $325 billion.

"The Hispanic market will represent a growing piece of the American consumer pie over the next 20 years," states Thomas G. Exter of American Demographics magazine. "It will retain its unique character in many ways, even as it merges with the mainstream in others."

"If you don't try to market to [Hispanics], you're not going to get a share of that growth," says Roger Sennot, general manager for Market Development in San Diego, Calif.

The notion that Hispanics are poor immigrants from Mexico and therefore not a profitable patient base is also unfounded, market researchers report. According to The Hispanic Market, the average household income for Hispanics has increased dramatically over the past 15-20 years. In 1980, the average Hispanic household's income was $14,712, but by 1996 it was $29,500, an increase of more than 100 percent.

That is not to say, however, that your Hispanic patients can not also be your high-end eyewear customers. According to American Demographics magazine, more than 14 percent of Hispanic households have an annual income of more than $50,000, and that 2.9 million people are living in affluent Hispanic households.

Major retailers have taken notice of the market power of Hispanics, and have committed millions of advertising dollars to reach them. For instance, Proctor & Gamble spends $2.78 billion in advertising in the general market, and $39.5 million in the Hispanic market. Phillip Morris spends $9.5 to reach the Hispanic market, and $2.58 billion in general. Likewise, of General Motors' $2.01 billion marketing expenditures, $3.0 million is spent in Hispanic markets (source: The Hispanic Market).

Certainly, none of these Hispanic market advertising expenditures is proportionate to the size of the Hispanic audience in relation to the general market, but at least the companies are recognizing the Hispanic demographic as powerful and worthy of advertising investment.

Hispanic Markets The three U.S. Hispanic markets with the greatest buying are: LOS ANGELES NEW YORK MIAMI

The Hispanic Patient

Carving out a niche in your practice that caters to the Hispanic community can be enlightening; and it can be profitable. But once they're in your office and dispensary, keeping them happy is what really matters. To do that, you've got to do a couple of things. Speak their language and treat them with respect are on the top of the list, report a few dispensers who have found success within Hispanic neighborhoods.

"One of the best things in our corner is the doctor's last name!" says Ana Garcia, wife and office manager for her husband, Francisco Garcia, M.D., a dispensing ophthalmologist in San Francisco. With a practice in the Mission District, a neighborhood with a very high Hispanic population, Garcia's patient base is largely (but not exclusively) Hispanic. "There's an immediate connection." She adds that, because of the number of Spanish-speaking patients (about 75 percent), all of the office staff speak Spanish.

"There's a real need for them to communicate in their own language," she continues. "It's more important at a doctor's office than when you're doing something like shopping and you can just bring your child or grandchild to translate. When you're ill, you want to be able to communicate in your own language." Other than the language, Garcia says her patients respond most to the feeling of respect they get at the practice. "We serve our Spanish-speaking patients with respect. We go the extra mile to serve them," she says, "because of the lack of communication and respect they get in other factions of their lives."

And, Garcia says, once you've earned the respect of a Hispanic patient, it's likely to result in much more business. "They are very loyal," she says. "And, because they're also very family-oriented, their whole family becomes loyal. We can get a woman in here, then she'll come back and bring her mother, then she'll come back and bring her daughter."

Frame Sense

Does your frame board have to contain specific frame styles in order to appeal to the Hispanic customer? No, say our dispensers. What's more important, they say, is that you offer an assortment of frames that are of good quality and fashionable.

"We don't see a particular line doing better than the others," Garcia says. "The Hispanic people have a lot of pride in what they wear. They want to look good." So Garcia makes sure her boards are filled with the latest styles, and in a variety of prices.

"I wouldn't hesitate to have a $400 frame on my board," she says. "For them, eyewear becomes an investment. They are very concerned with quality as well as looks. If it's something that looks good on them, they will make the investment."

Edward Muller of Muller Optical, a chain of stores in New Mexico, says about 50 percent of his customers are Hispanic. And he agrees with Garcia that modern styles are what sells, no matter what the ethnic background of the patient.

"We carry high end, and our Latino customers are interested in quality," he says. And while Muller agrees that most modern styles sell well, he says Italian lines are particularly popular with his Hispanic clientele. "In conversation, a lot of Italian words are similar to Spanish," he says. "And, I think they tend to relate to things Italian and European."

As for P-O-P and merchandising displays, Muller says he doesn't go out of his way to make them specifically Latino in tone, but he does make sure that all images in his dispensary are diverse. "I make sure there are dark-haired men and women on my posters as well as the blonde-and-blue-eyed. That way there is no bias conveyed, and we show that we welcome a diversity of customers here."

Hablas Espa�ol? Get the Word Out!

Obviously, an optical shop in an area that doesn't have many Hispanic people isn't going to attract a large Hispanic patient base. But there are plenty of areas with high concentrations of Hispanic people. You know who you are - and the Hispanic community should know about you.

Take advantage of the Hispanic media. As power of the Hispanic market grows, so too does the media catering to that market. And the audience is responding enthusiastically. There are two Spanish-speaking networks in this country, Telemundo and Univision, and their audience is growing annually. According to The Hispanic Market, print outlets have also increased over the past few years, seeing the birth of Hispanic Business, Hispanic, Latina, Auto Mundo, Sears' Nuestra Gente, and People en Espa�ol onto newsstands across America.

In most urban areas, there are community newsletters and/or newspapers specifically targeting the Hispanic community. Make sure your dispensary is in them. You might also consider contributing a regular column on the importance of eye health or the latest eyewear fashions.

Where are you? The shaded areas represent projected Hispanic population percentages in the year 2001. Source: American Demographics.

Garcia of San Francisco goes even one step further. Not only does he make the community aware of his presence by speaking at senior centers and to community groups, but he's made himself a fixture on local Spanish radio.

"He participates in a radio show," Ana Garcia explains. "In it, he addresses issues like eye health and eye exams. He also takes calls and talks to the community." Through no investment of anything but his time, Garcia has used local radio to solidify his relationship with his Spanish-speaking patients as an expert in the field, and one they can turn to for eyecare and eyewear.

The bottom is this: If Hispanic people live in the community served by your practice or dispensary, you've got to make sure they know you're there. And they need to know they're welcome there. And they need to know they'll be taken care of professionally and respectfully there. And, in return, your business will be all the healthier. EB