Sell it in Spanish Hispanic Marketing

The Mexican Museum, initially located in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, was founded in 1975 by San Francisco resident and artist, Peter Rodríguez. The Museum was the realization of Mr. Rodríguez’s vision that an institution be created in the United States to exhibit the aesthetic expression of the Mexican and Mexican-American people. Today, our vision has expanded to reflect the evolving scope of the Mexican, Chicano, and Latino experience.

In 1982 the Museum moved to Fort Mason Center where it has amassed a permanent collection of over 12,000 objects. This spectacular collection is unique in the nation and includes Pre-Conquest, Colonial, Popular, Modern and Contemporary Mexican and Latino, and Chicano Art.

The Museum is currently preparing for the completion of our permanent home which will be built in downtown San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Arts District. The Museum continues to offer educational and public programming throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Please join us for La Catrina: Keeping the Spirits Alive on Saturday, October 29, 2011

A centuries-old celebration of life and death comes together with La Catrina, Keeping the Spirits Alive, a new fundraising event for The Mexican Museum. The benefit for the Museum, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 6-11 p.m. at the Concourse Exhibition Center, at 7^th and Brannan Streets, in San Francisco. The evening’s festivities includes cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, dancing, entertainment, and a costume contest.

Attendees of La Catrina, Keeping the Spirits Alive will enter a colorful village environment where vendors will offer an array of dishes featuring delicious cuisine. As they walk further in the zocalo, guests will see and experience the many traditional altars created by local artists to remember departed loved ones. Private altars such as these are traditionally decorated not only with the deceased loved ones’ favorite foods and drinks, but also with a glass of water so they may quench their thirst after the long journey. Marigolds are also part of the celebration, and the aroma of these colorful flowers fill the air, creating a path for the souls to find their way home.

And for the living, the night will be filled with the sounds of Mariachi Femenil Orgullo Mexicano and the cumbia and salsa sounds of Grupo Los Ejecutivos. But, attendees who choose to dance to Mariachi Femenil’s lively Latin rhythms best keep an eye out, as they may be joined on the dance floor by La Catrina, the flirtatious skeleton always dressed in her finery and whose smile invites us to seize the moment. La Catrina, created by the artist José Guadalupe Posada, represents the joy of life in the face of our inevitable death.

The iconic figure of La Catrina is an integral part of Día de los Muertos celebrations in Mexico and throughout the United States. On Día de los Muertos it is believed that the souls of those who have died return to visit the living. It is a Mexican holiday that has been celebrated for centuries, tracing back to a similar ritual observed by the Aztecs. It is now celebrated in certain parts of the United States on Nov. 1 and 2. The underlying theme for this holiday is that it is a time of great celebration, not mourning.

Tickets for The Mexican Museum’s La Catrina, Keeping the Spirits Alive benefit on October 29^thfrom 6pm-11pm are $100 per person for general admission, or $150 for VIP admission. To purchase tickets online, go to http://themexicanmuseumsf.eventbrite.com / or by calling (415) 202-9700.  All proceeds go to The Mexican Museum.

Use discount code SOFIA for $40 off.

With the Hispanic population growth rate being six times faster than that of the entire United States population, the Hispanic Market is a piece of the pie that you can no longer afford to ignore. Every day that you don’t market to Hispanics you lose money.  Between 1990 and 2008, the Hispanic population has increased by 107% compared to 14% for the non-Hispanic population. In case you weren’t aware of the demographic statistics for Hispanics, here are a few key figures:

• The 2006 American Community Survey shows that one out of every seven people who reside in the U.S. is of Hispanic origin. Three out of five Hispanics residing in the U.S. were born in the United States and approximately half of all U.S. immigrants are from Latin America.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are an estimated 44 million Hispanics in the U.S. as of 2009. This means that the United States is home to the world’s third largest Hispanic population (trailing Mexico and Colombia.)

This growing Hispanic market is not only strong in terms of population growth, it is also young and becoming more affluent at a rapid rate. Hispanics are investing in technology and they have a big online presence. According to HispanTelligence.com, the U.S. Hispanic market purchasing power is projected to reach 1.3 trillion dollars by the year 2015.  Hispanics are great online consumers.  They are extremely active in online activities and more receptive to new technology than non-Hispanics. Additionally, Hispanics are more prone to refer products or services to friends and family, making your marketing efforts much more efficient.

Today, at least 61% of Hispanics are online and they account for over 14.5% of the total online market.  If your business does not market to Hispanics because you don’t speak Spanish, no worries. The Pew Hispanic Center reported in 2010 that 47% of Spanish-dominant Latinos use the internet, compared to 74% of bilingual Latinos and 81% of English-dominant Latinos. Most Hispanic consumers speak English and still appreciate being marketed to with an eye towards cultural relevance, whether in Spanish or not.

The U.S. Hispanic population is projected to grow exponentially to over 100 million people by 2050, which will be approximately one quarter of the total U.S. population. Successful start-up companies and established corporations are actively marketing to Hispanics today. If you haven’t done so yet I suggest you get moving.

Want to learn more about the Hispanic Online Market? Check out BizTech Hispanic and Meet executives from Coca-Cola, Twitter and Univision, Tuesday, Sept. 13 in San Francisco starting at 6PM- REGISTER HERE  http://biztech-hispanic-2011-web.eventbrite.com/