Tony the Tiger, who says, “They’re g-r-r-reat!'’ in Kellogg’s ads, says, “G-r-r-riquisimos!'’ in Spanish-language promotions.

The Mercury News has a piece on how food companies like Kellogg’s are increasing their Latino market spending by 60%. Interesting, considering Kelloggs in particular is a brand that I feel “travels” with Latinos from say, Mexico, into the U.S., like Coke. The awareness per se is already there. What’s compelling to Kelloggs and others is that Latinos have more children than the general population, keeping Tony the Tiger and the gang a staple in Latino households.

Hispanics are the youngest, fastest-growing segment of the American population, according to the Census Bureau.

They were 14 percent of the population in 2004 but made up nearly half the nation’s growth from 2000 to 2004. Their median age, just under 27 years, is younger than the general population. The median age is just over 31 years for blacks and just over 40 years for white non-Hispanics.

Latinos are driving what little growth there is in supermarket shopping, said Libbey Paul, a senior vice president of marketing at ACNielsen, the marketing information company.

“They tend to be larger households, have more kids and a higher growth rate,'’ Paul said. “You can understand why Kellogg’s would care, why Coke would care.

READ MORE on MercuryNews.com

Technorati Tags: Tony the tiger, Kelloggs, children, Latino marketing, Latino population