The Traductor Generation

There is a generation of translators in this country that have more than translating in common. A couple of days ago I was invited to be part of a panel at DePaul University, where we discussed how we got to be where we are in our professional carreers. There was a teacher, an executive Director of a small theater company and I. After listening to their amazing stories and some heartbreaking chapters of their lives, there was something in common the panel shared with some people of the audience. I can just guess that also with thousands, if not millions of Latino children of immigrant parents, they shared: the translation duty. I knew about it, I am sure it is not new news of this re-discovery, but it is something we only hear from the point of view of the “struggle”, and since I am in the business of uplifting the emotions and experiences of people (marketing), I decided to take a stab at introducing The Traductor Generation. The Traductor Generation starts at an earlier age, many times as early as 5 years old and just continues to get perfected, as they get older. These translators are children of hardworking Latino parents, that many times come from rural areas and due to the lack of education in our own countries, they learn English through their translators: their kids. I don’t know how far this generation goes, but my hat goes off to them. They are translators, lawyers, pharmacists, and many times, even function as bankers, and they accomplish all this just shy of finishing 5th grade. The Traductor Generation is one that deserves our admiration. Their parents valued their contributions so much that even at times they get to be lent to their neighbors and family, to perform the duty of translating legal documents or just to take a call from a sales person. I didn’t have the privilege of being a translator, but I know many of them. Some of them are older now and many of them are still in primary school, HS and with some hope, they are completing college. They are kind and compassionate, because they had to express their parents requests and sometimes even frustrations. What these generation has also in common, is the fact that they got to stand up for their parents, I’ve heard stories where their parents told them to stop, but many times, these Translators, were the ones who spoke up for them. They don’t take shit and they know when an injustice is happening and are ready to jump in. I am sure there are great stories that these generation has. Some funny, some I am sure not at all funny. But what they do have in common is the experience in adulthood that not many kids at their age has to confront. To the Translators: Gracias por traducir.

The Hispanic Consumer “El Mas Chingón”

I was watching “Lopez Tonight” this week and as he went through his monologues, his quick wit, double meaning and specially the “gacho” comment (he said: “look it up in google”), it got me thinking more and more about the audience. Clearly, the audience seen at the studio was Latino, but I got to think more about the entire US Latino population, and not only about those who got to watch the show.

Follow me for a second, and from the perspective of a marketer we try to box in (even us Hispanic marketers) our targets, we call them “strugglers,” “modernos,” we name them “Ramiros”… depending what your take is in trying to identify the Acculturated, the Un-acculturated, the first or second generation, the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cubans or Argentineans, we try to make it simple for our clients to assure they understand our target’s behaviors and their shared nuances.

But, have we thought how “Chingones” they are? I tell you, in my mind our US Hispanic Consumer is by far the “Más Chingón” in the entire continent (yes this target knows that “América” is one continent that goes from Tierra del Fuego all the way to Alaska).

Why? Because they know two and sometimes three sets of everything!

Music
In music they know who Shakira is and listen to her, but they also know who Beyonce is and they listen to her too, but guess what? Beside being experts on Alejandro Fernandez, Horóscopos de Durango, Aventura, and Rieleros del Norte, our consumer also knows Hip-Hop, Rock, and R&B. Even the parents ask their children: “¿Qué escuchas hijo?” “ Jay-Z!,” “Ah, ¿el boyfriend de Beyonce?”

Yes, our Hispanic consumer should deserve the credit of a radio station manager, because as soon as they are born or arrive to this country, they become experts in the different types of music our countries produce. For Mexicans they get to listen to Salsa, Bachata, Merengue and Reggaeton. For Puerto Ricans, they get to listen to Cumbias, Rancheras, Duranguense and Pop, and so on.

Celebrities
Although Music artist are celebrities too, our consumers get to know the rest of the universe of that artist’s life in the so called General Market. Ask your Tío Tito who Kardashian is and he will tell you: “Ah si… la vieja esa que no hace nada, pero está bien buena no?” Yes. Our consumer knows Paris, Angelina, Bratt and many, many more. Ask an anglo who Araceli Arambula is and I’m sure they will not have any idea who she is.

Sports
Don’t even get me started! This is the area where I think our consumer can kick the General Market’s consumer butt without blinking!

The Hispanic consumer keeps up with their local leagues of their country. Argentineans watch the soccer games of River, Boca and Rugby, while also keeping up with basketball. The second generation Latino could easily have a favorite soccer team from their country, follow their national team in the road to the World Cup, follow their local (US city) baseball, basketball and football team, plus an MLS team, while at the same time keeping up with Concacaf, Champions League and the UEFA. Can the General Market do that? Ah! And watch it in Spanish while, listening to the radio in English.

TV-Entertainment
Ask a Latino about the Simpsons, the Latin Grammys, Betty La Fea and for that matter Ugly Betty, and they will give you a quick synopsis of each one of those programs and more. Ask them about El Chavo! And across the board, nationalities, acculturated, assimilated and even those who dare to hang with a Latino will know what “El Chavo” is.

Events - Movies
Go to a U2 Concert, to a Maná concert and then rush to see Los Tigres del Norte and you will see some familiar faces. The Hispanic consumer attends more events and across music genres than any other consumer. And it feels good to see a Latino around in a General Market concert, you almost feel like your chest is bumping! Latinos go to the movies more than any other consumer. They see more than 12 movies a year; can we now understand why they know all these celebrities?

Should I go on?

Our consumers without a second thought consume two parallel worlds. Our Latino consumer is very smart and savvy. Yes, “Lopez Tonight” puts more light into our Hispanic consumer and their ability to understand the slang of a Mexican, the nuances of a Puerto Rican and the intricacies of the General Market.

Give a little credit to our Hispanic consumer, because they are “Los Más Chingones”