From Reuters UK-Billboard via Hispanic Tips:

Latin fans ready to dial up ringtones
Mon Aug 29, 2005 7:04 AM

By Antony Bruno

SAN FRANCISCO (Billboard) - The next growth spurt in the ringtone market very likely will have a Latin flavor.

With few exceptions, ringtones have remained largely a medium for hip-hop/R&B music, because of the genre’s popularity and the wide acceptance of wireless services within hip-hop culture. Such hip-hop acts as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon regularly dominate the Billboard Hot Ringtones chart.

But wireless operators are seeking new areas for growth and see the urban Hispanic market — dubbed “hurban” — as a prime target.

“What we’re trying to do is expand the market for who buys ringers,” says Colleen LeCount, ringtone product manager for Sprint. “It’s not just about hip-hop anymore.”

While the market for ringtones has exploded in Latin America, in the United States only a few Latin music ringtones have become best sellers. They include “Toma” by Cuban-American rapper Pitbull and “La Tortura” by Shakira. But several signs indicate that a spike in sales of Latin ringtones is imminent.

First of all, the Hispanic user base is growing right into the wireless entertainment sweet spot. The market for ringtones and other wireless entertainment services has been driven by 15- to 25-year-olds. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that Hispanics will be the largest teen minority group by year’s end, and will account for 20 percent of teens by 2015.

Reuters UK READ MORE

Technorati tags: latino marketing, hispanic marketing, cell phone

I’ve read around five different articles today about a campaign (put in place by the Mexican government’s PROFEPA and various non-profit groups) to stop men from consuming sea turtle eggs for aphrodisiacal purposes. I’ve laughed about it, I’ve thought about it, and everyone and their mother has already commented about it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read articles and posts here.

This isn’t a U.S. ad campaign, so it doesn’t really fall into the realm of what I normally write about, but it is a campaign targeting a certain sector of a large Latino community in a certain region: males in Oaxaca and Guerrero, Mexico. And the reason I think it’s important to talk about (and not just joke about, which I’ve done in other places) this campaign is because in addition to the snickers and the “what?”s going around out there, there is serious controversy, with one group calling the ad sexist and demeaning to women, and another saying calling it the best way to reach its intended target audience.

The facts are: traditional Latino society lauds virility and ridicules impotency, as do many societies, including our own. Macho men who can’t afford “performance enhancing drugs” might be tempted to try a more affordable, more accessible sea turtle egg. These macho men probably like women, pretty women. So what was wrong with the ad featuring just that?

I think it’s right on the money, and forgive me, I don’t find it demeaning. It’s tamer than an Victoria’s Secret ad or FHM cover photo. I think it does a great job of targeting just who it looks to target. And to quote the NYT:

“Why can Pepsi-Cola use a woman in short shorts and a little top, sweating in the desert?” Ms. Crevoshay asked. “If I put a picture of a turtle up, who’s going to look?”

Exactly, no one would look. And even if some did, most will pay much more attention to pretty girls than pretty turtles. It’s effective marketing, like it or not.