Not too long ago, a report was published showing that there were more Spanish speakers in the US than in Spain. Now it seems that number is growing considerably. Projections indicate that this growth isn’t going to slow down anytime soon.
As a result, what we have in America is a growing bilingual audience that consists of people who can manage to communicate in English, as well as Spanish and those who prefer to stick to Spanish.
This has left businesses confused about how to appeal to such a bilingual audience.
The thing is advertising isn’t just about communicating product launches and details. There is a psychological aspect to advertising and language plays a huge role here. Communicating the same thing in two different languages may not have the same impact. So, businesses need to determine which language can help them gain the most attention.
What Does Research Tell Us
A recent report from Nielsen tells us interesting things.
For starters, it was found that Spanish ads, especially emotionally ones, had a greater impact on Bilingual Millennials. The same was observed with branding sequences and with ads that showed social interaction.
So, the result is obvious – you need to hire voice artists that are skilled in both, Spanish and English.
The Industry’s Approach
However, the industry doesn’t have a straightforward approach in dealing with this. They don’t just use Spanish as a default setting. There are multiple factors that need to be considered.
For instance, creative teams often eliminate pieces of a campaign that don’t fit into a local context. So, a lot of modification does happen in order to make a campaign as effective as possible, especially in the context of language.
Harry Karidis, Founder and Producer at Harry Karidis Productions, also has a few observations regarding this matter. In his experience, he has found that using both languages is essential. As someone with clients that cater to customers in locations close to the border, he has no choice, but, to cater to native English speakers and Native Spanish speakers.
So, the general demographic is a factor that affects language choice in certain scenarios. If your business faces something similar, you might have to create ads in both languages.
The kind of product can also play a role. For instance, voiceover artist, Daniela Sierra, who is a native speaker of Spanish, states that she prefers Spanish when it comes to ads that showcase a product or a service. However, when it comes to entertainment content such as films or TV shows, she prefers English.
Summary
Though the Nielsen study indicates a preference for Spanish, businesses and advertising agencies must consider other factors such as the demographic or location. But, one thing is clear, Spanish matters and your ad campaigns need to start reflecting that fact.
ABOUT ROBERTA –
Roberta is a Professional AND award Winning International Voiceover Actor, as well as an accomplished on-camera actress and spokesperson. She lives in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area and is the owner of Roberta Kennedy Voice Talent and RK Productions, Inc.
She voices for companies around the world using her state of the art, broadcast quality studio. She’s hired for commercials, web demos and explainer videos, product infomercials, documentaries, promo/imaging, political ads, e-learning videos, podcasts, guided real estate tours, telephony/IVR projects, high profile corporate presentations, video games and character animation.
Her voice is described as: playful, contemporary, compelling, commanding, inviting, sultry and smooth. A hip edge with sophistication, bold, warm, interesting and engaging are also commonly used adjectives to describe her voice.
Her home studio is equipped with ipDTL, ISDN and phone patch capability with lightning fast turnaround times! A voiceover talent with over 20 years of voiceover acting experience, she offers a full range of voiceover services at highly competitive rates & will work with your budget to help you promote your business to new levels of excellence!
To request a personal quote or audition and/or to review more of her credits & demos, feel free to visit her website: www.robertakennedy.com– or mail her at roberta@robertakennedy.com. You can even give her a call on (408) 313-7202.