Marketing spending and multicultural advertising targeted to U.S. Hispanic, Black and Asian consumers is expected to grow by a healthy 8.4% in 2004 — a sharp rebound from a 5.7% decrease in 2023.
That’s according to new data released on Tuesday from PQ Media.PQ
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Based on PQ Media data, the multicultural ad spend in 2024 is project to reach “a record” $45.83 billion.
However, this growth could quickly be challenged by longtime Hispanic marketing and advertising advocates who have long bemoaned the inequities between the percentage of ad dollars going to Spanish-language media versus the population.
That’s what makes the PQ Media study so intriguing, as it declares “much of the record growth and media spend projected in 2024 will be generated by the Hispanic segment of the multicultural market” — expected to be a major focus of political campaign budgets in a hotly contested U.S. presidential election year.
According to PQ Media, Hispanic media already commands 68.3% of multicultural media spend and accounts for more than double the combined share of the other two multiethnic demographics – African-American (28.8% share) and Asian-American (2.9% share).
That said, PQ Media predicts both of those segments are forecast to post accelerated growth of nearly 8% in 2024.
The welcome news comes as growth slowed in 2023 across the multicultural landscape, due to several factors. Among those cited by PQ Media: fears of an impending economic recession that never materialized; the U.S. Supreme Court reversing its ruling on affirmative action at universities; and the reaction of the “Woke” movement, which led to
negative financial impacts on major U.S. brands, such as Target and Bud Light.
In particular, new and emerging brands reduced their multicultural budgets.
One may challenge the reasons cited by PQ Media for the dip in ad spend in multicultural channels in 2023, as it did not mention the widespread and faulty belief that “total market” creative and outreach can deliver the multicultural consumer effectively — in particular in periods where ad budgets are under the watchful eye of the finance department.
But, the bigger takeaway remains the small percentage the overall multicultural media spend is. In 2023, it accounted for 5.3% of total U.S. ad and marketing spend — up by just 0.1% from 2017.
“While Hispanic, African and Asian Americans combined have constituted the fastest- growing demographic in the country for years, multicultural media growth has conversely
underperformed the broader U.S. media industry and still accounts for a mere sliver of the overall American pie,” PQ Media says.
PQ Media points to experiential marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing, out-of-home advertising and pure-play digital advertising as potential growth areas.
That’s not to say traditional media is out of the mix. PQ Media finds spending on overall multicultural television is projected to increase 2.3% in 2023, to $9.65 billion, making TV the largest multiethnic medium.
Hispanic-targeted radio stations could see a big political-dollar bump, too. PQ Media data show these stations, which could include English-language properties, projecting a 25% gain to $41 million in the 2024 US political cycle.
By 2025 and 2026, all eyes are on the FIFA World Cup, which will be staged in North America.
