April 19, 2007
BrainTrust Query: What lessons can marketers take away from PBS’ ‘war’ with Hispanics?
By David Morse, President & CEO, New American Dimensions, LLC
“History is written by the victors,” said Winston Churchill. Well, the victors this week are Hispanics, who just won a war waged against PBS to get their side of the World War II story told.
The war was over “The War,” a high-profile documentary about, yes, the big one, and filmmaker Ken Burn’s inadvertent omission of Latinos from the 14-hour documentary. In an unprecedented move, the demands of activists are pre-empting artistic vision, forcing Burns to go back into the editing room months before his documentary is seen by the public.
The fuss started when a project manager from a University of Texas sponsored project, US Latinos and Latinas and World War II, asked Ken Burns if Latino veterans were included among the more than 40 men and women who were interviewed for the documentary. When Burns replied that there were none, the project’s boss, Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez spearheaded the Defend the Honor Campaign to force PBS to add a Hispanic perspective.
PBS resisted, citing the special consideration given to Japanese Americans and African Americans, and that they couldn’t include every group’s experience. In a statement, Burns and co-producer Lynn Novick wrote, “We are dismayed and saddened by any assumption that we intentionally excluded anyone from our series on the Second World War. … In this latest project, we have attempted to show the universal human experience of war by focusing on the testimonies of just a handful of people – mostly from four American towns. As a result, millions of stories are not explored in our film.”
Rivas-Rodriguez was unrelenting and her grass roots initiative enlisted the support of groups such as the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Institute for Latino Policy and even the House Hispanic Caucus. “Our people weren’t valued,” she said. “Not only were they not valued then, they are not being valued today.”
PBS CEO Paula Kerger met with a group of Hispanic leaders, including Rivas-Rodriguez on March 6, but the network’s resolve continued. In a letter to the attendees a few weeks later, Kerger touted PBS’ commitment to reflect the Hispanic population in programs such as Maya
and Miguel, Los Niños en Su Casa and the new V-me national Spanish language network that features the best of public television.
The battle ended this week when PBS announced that Burns will produce an addendum, of sorts, to the series about the contributions of Hispanics to the war effort. They also said that a Hispanic producer will be hired to help with the content.
Discussion Questions: Did Ken Burns err in not including a Hispanic perspective in his documentary? Was PBS wrong to give in? What lessons are there here for consumer marketers attempting to deal with the intricacies of ethnic politics?
I don’t think that any American would begrudge Hispanic veterans in any war from receiving their rightful honors. By most accounts, there were between 250,000 and 500,000 of them who served in the armed forces during World War II. This represents a range of 2.5 to 5 percent of all who served.
Why the imprecision? Because Hispanics during that time were officially classified as “white” so no numbers were kept. To be precise, the Census tracked “Mexicans” as a distinct race in 1930 for the first time, but this was abolished in 1940 when the Census eliminated Mexicans as a racial category and began counting people of “Spanish Mother Tongue” – there were 1.9 million that year. It wasn’t until 1970 that the Census Bureau made any serious attempt to estimate the number of Hispanics.
So during World War II, Hispanics were allowed to hold U.S. citizenship, marry non-Hispanic whites (unlike Blacks and Asians) and, more importantly, serve in all-white units. Japanese American men fought while their families were in internment camps; African Americans fought in segregated units like the Tuskeegee Airmen; Navajo “Code Talkers” gave the U.S. a code that was unbreakable. All these groups, including Hispanics, returned to face discrimination at home.
Hispanic veterans, like all American heroes, deserve to have their story told. The lesson here is that, presently, there are 44 million Hispanics. And their numbers mean that their stories will be told – in the history books and in the marketing books. And since Hispanics make up 10.4 percent of PBS’ viewing audience, the network’s decision was as much about their own desire to speak to Hispanics as it was about the insistence by Hispanics on being spoken to.
BrainTrust
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Discussion Questions
Poll
Leaders of ethnic minority political pressure groups do not necessarily represent the people they claim to represent.
Lesson to be learned? Be genuine, and treat each of your customers as individuals.
Curiously, I was just working on my keynote to the Hispanic Boom Conference here in LA in June, trying to come up with a theme, and what I have decided upon (I think) is that the Hispanic market is no longer a market segment–it’s part of the mainstream. The American mainstream is broad and deep, to be sure, and flows like the Mississippi (not a stream at all, and that’s the point). That doesn’t mean you can capture that market with mainstream marketing, of course.
More provided upon request.
When focus is given to some groups, it’s natural that unmentioned groups will feel slighted. It’s also hard to mention everyone and hard to know where to draw the line. No brand-name organization like PBS wants to offend. The best insurance against this risk: a diverse work force. The more diverse PBS staff becomes, the less likely this will happen again.
I am writing this from a hotel in Panama City, Panama…where, if one looks at the statue honoring the builders of the Panama Canal, one sees a group of Anglo males. The fact is that the canal was built by in large by West Indian men, also known as Diggers. The Ken Burns incident is not about political correctness but about cultural pride and social recognition. How long was it before anyone did a story about the Tuskegee Airmen? Hollywood would have us believe that wars are fought exclusively by white men and no other story is worth telling. Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima is a fascinating reversal of what we have been taught, for example. Yes, we are all Americans, but there are Americans of Latino backgrounds that have died defending this country and their stories have not been told. They have been ignored and that has an impact on their children and grandchildren. A lot of it comes from the Hollywood history of focusing on Anglo America. Ironic, because much of Hollywood was run by Jewish decision makers…but one need only read the Jewish-Hollywood history to understand that these decision makers deliberately kept the Jewish story off camera…they did not tell the story of Jewish sports figures or soldiers or even romantic love interest stories in the days of Doris Day and Humphrey Bogart (to name a few iconic stars). The focus was deliberately placed elsewhere. But now it is time to be inclusive and to expand the cinematic vision of our reality to reflect our reality. If the Ken Burns story included were dominated by people of color, would it raise similar concerns and questions in the world of white America? I think so.
Ken Burns’ overlooking of Hispanics is exemplary of marketers (and he is a marketer if he wants his material picked up by any network) who have not looked closely at who are today’s consumers. My experiences with retailers who ponder speaking to Hispanic consumers fall into clear-cut mind-sets:
– Those who want to prepare their company for a new paradigm in marketing and understand they cannot do it without a professional marketer exclusive to Hispanic marketing
– Those who let their general market agencies do their Hispanic work, although the agency has no way to judge the quality of this work representing their client because they do not speak, read or write Spanish and cannot evaluate the cultural sensitivity of this client’s marketing message
– Those who know they need to address their surging Hispanic customers and do it by having a Spanish-speaking employee translate a few items. This person is burdened with the responsibility of carrying out some tactical maneuvers without benefit of a full-blown, culturally sensitive Hispanic Marketing Plan. (That didn’t work! Abandon Hispanic marketing!)
– Those who wring their hands and hope the whole thing will go away.
Today, it is critical that a business includes Marketing to Hispanics as a priority in their company growth plan. That being said, marked contrasts in cultural values, media usage, regional language differences, and emotional motivators loom as just a few of the potholes on the road to motivating the Hispanic market.
Hispanic marketing is not intuitive. It is dangerous to assume that what works in English will work in Spanish.
Get on the bandwagon. Educate yourself about Hispanic consumers. Search for professional marketers versed in all aspects of the Hispanic marketing opportunity, not just translators. Prepare yourself for this new consumer, because your competition is already hard at work on it.
This reflects the lowest common denominator of political correctness that must be done to keep everyone happy. Unfortunately, we continually segregate people in an age where segregation is becoming less of a factor through “wars” like this. Our society is trying to become blind to discrimination and the separation based upon race, color, religion, sexual orientation, etc. but if we have to continually be reminded that there is a difference, and that we are all NOT Americans, but instead separate groups, we cannot grow and advance as a society. Actions like this don’t allow society to enjoy its diversity through their contributions as Americans, but instead separate society based upon non-common denominators.
I strongly believe that there is a lesson here to be learned for all of us, regardless of our own ethnicity. Marketers have to be sensible to the potential damage that our actions can bring upon us, without the wisdom and systematic market research approach prior the launching of a new campaign, product or service to the market.
I remember that during my tenure in one big multinational, we had to combine different Latino resources just to avoid the normal “one strategy fits all” approach. Latinos are a diverse ethnic and complex society, where one word meaning one thing let us say in Mexico, has a different and sometimes degrading meaning in Puerto Rico. So, in other words, watch out for what it seems perfectly normal in one country as it might be a bad word in another. Talking about complexities, forget it. We all speak Spanish, that is the common trait, but I can not guarantee that the words have the same meaning. Long story just to say that we have to be sensible to all ethnic groups. Not having into account something so basic can backfire. Market share and volume growth will come for those who take into account the megatrends reshaping this country. There will be a trillion in the hands of Hispanic consumers before the decade is over.
There is a good point here that is difficult to address: is it practical to honor all peoples at all times, when dis-honoring them can simply mean not talking about their experience? This may mean that because the white culture has been so dominant for so long, and often abusively dominant, that telling a story that highlights the white experience may seem dominating again. As I think about this, I wonder if the problem isn’t that we must tell all stories of all peoples all the time, but that we may not need so many stories any more about experiences of the white culture. Yes, there may be many sub-groups (of many races and ideologies, etc.) whose stories we have heard too little of, and some of those sub-groups may include many white peoples. This all brings me to this idea: it seems that each one of us has a story, a story that not a lot of people may be interested in, and consequently, we don’t get to tell our story enough, if at all.
Here’s the lesson: We must deliberately move away from a white-centric paradigm, which doesn’t even see others, if we want to live in peace (and, oh yes, prosperity).
Ready or not, our world is changing. Hispanics are the fastest growing group in the US. The US Census estimates that this cohort will increase 34% between now and 2010. Indeed, both Asian-Americans and African-Americans are outpacing whites on the growth rate to 2010. Where does this leave “white” consumers? In the role of the largest minority.
Moral for Retailers: Let go of white-centrism or get dragged.
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Leaders of ethnic minority political pressure groups do not necessarily represent the people they claim to represent.
Lesson to be learned? Be genuine, and treat each of your customers as individuals.
Curiously, I was just working on my keynote to the Hispanic Boom Conference here in LA in June, trying to come up with a theme, and what I have decided upon (I think) is that the Hispanic market is no longer a market segment–it’s part of the mainstream. The American mainstream is broad and deep, to be sure, and flows like the Mississippi (not a stream at all, and that’s the point). That doesn’t mean you can capture that market with mainstream marketing, of course.
More provided upon request.
When focus is given to some groups, it’s natural that unmentioned groups will feel slighted. It’s also hard to mention everyone and hard to know where to draw the line. No brand-name organization like PBS wants to offend. The best insurance against this risk: a diverse work force. The more diverse PBS staff becomes, the less likely this will happen again.
I am writing this from a hotel in Panama City, Panama…where, if one looks at the statue honoring the builders of the Panama Canal, one sees a group of Anglo males. The fact is that the canal was built by in large by West Indian men, also known as Diggers. The Ken Burns incident is not about political correctness but about cultural pride and social recognition. How long was it before anyone did a story about the Tuskegee Airmen? Hollywood would have us believe that wars are fought exclusively by white men and no other story is worth telling. Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima is a fascinating reversal of what we have been taught, for example. Yes, we are all Americans, but there are Americans of Latino backgrounds that have died defending this country and their stories have not been told. They have been ignored and that has an impact on their children and grandchildren. A lot of it comes from the Hollywood history of focusing on Anglo America. Ironic, because much of Hollywood was run by Jewish decision makers…but one need only read the Jewish-Hollywood history to understand that these decision makers deliberately kept the Jewish story off camera…they did not tell the story of Jewish sports figures or soldiers or even romantic love interest stories in the days of Doris Day and Humphrey Bogart (to name a few iconic stars). The focus was deliberately placed elsewhere. But now it is time to be inclusive and to expand the cinematic vision of our reality to reflect our reality. If the Ken Burns story included were dominated by people of color, would it raise similar concerns and questions in the world of white America? I think so.
Ken Burns’ overlooking of Hispanics is exemplary of marketers (and he is a marketer if he wants his material picked up by any network) who have not looked closely at who are today’s consumers. My experiences with retailers who ponder speaking to Hispanic consumers fall into clear-cut mind-sets:
– Those who want to prepare their company for a new paradigm in marketing and understand they cannot do it without a professional marketer exclusive to Hispanic marketing
– Those who let their general market agencies do their Hispanic work, although the agency has no way to judge the quality of this work representing their client because they do not speak, read or write Spanish and cannot evaluate the cultural sensitivity of this client’s marketing message
– Those who know they need to address their surging Hispanic customers and do it by having a Spanish-speaking employee translate a few items. This person is burdened with the responsibility of carrying out some tactical maneuvers without benefit of a full-blown, culturally sensitive Hispanic Marketing Plan. (That didn’t work! Abandon Hispanic marketing!)
– Those who wring their hands and hope the whole thing will go away.
Today, it is critical that a business includes Marketing to Hispanics as a priority in their company growth plan. That being said, marked contrasts in cultural values, media usage, regional language differences, and emotional motivators loom as just a few of the potholes on the road to motivating the Hispanic market.
Hispanic marketing is not intuitive. It is dangerous to assume that what works in English will work in Spanish.
Get on the bandwagon. Educate yourself about Hispanic consumers. Search for professional marketers versed in all aspects of the Hispanic marketing opportunity, not just translators. Prepare yourself for this new consumer, because your competition is already hard at work on it.
This reflects the lowest common denominator of political correctness that must be done to keep everyone happy. Unfortunately, we continually segregate people in an age where segregation is becoming less of a factor through “wars” like this. Our society is trying to become blind to discrimination and the separation based upon race, color, religion, sexual orientation, etc. but if we have to continually be reminded that there is a difference, and that we are all NOT Americans, but instead separate groups, we cannot grow and advance as a society. Actions like this don’t allow society to enjoy its diversity through their contributions as Americans, but instead separate society based upon non-common denominators.
I strongly believe that there is a lesson here to be learned for all of us, regardless of our own ethnicity. Marketers have to be sensible to the potential damage that our actions can bring upon us, without the wisdom and systematic market research approach prior the launching of a new campaign, product or service to the market.
I remember that during my tenure in one big multinational, we had to combine different Latino resources just to avoid the normal “one strategy fits all” approach. Latinos are a diverse ethnic and complex society, where one word meaning one thing let us say in Mexico, has a different and sometimes degrading meaning in Puerto Rico. So, in other words, watch out for what it seems perfectly normal in one country as it might be a bad word in another. Talking about complexities, forget it. We all speak Spanish, that is the common trait, but I can not guarantee that the words have the same meaning. Long story just to say that we have to be sensible to all ethnic groups. Not having into account something so basic can backfire. Market share and volume growth will come for those who take into account the megatrends reshaping this country. There will be a trillion in the hands of Hispanic consumers before the decade is over.
There is a good point here that is difficult to address: is it practical to honor all peoples at all times, when dis-honoring them can simply mean not talking about their experience? This may mean that because the white culture has been so dominant for so long, and often abusively dominant, that telling a story that highlights the white experience may seem dominating again. As I think about this, I wonder if the problem isn’t that we must tell all stories of all peoples all the time, but that we may not need so many stories any more about experiences of the white culture. Yes, there may be many sub-groups (of many races and ideologies, etc.) whose stories we have heard too little of, and some of those sub-groups may include many white peoples. This all brings me to this idea: it seems that each one of us has a story, a story that not a lot of people may be interested in, and consequently, we don’t get to tell our story enough, if at all.
Here’s the lesson: We must deliberately move away from a white-centric paradigm, which doesn’t even see others, if we want to live in peace (and, oh yes, prosperity).
Ready or not, our world is changing. Hispanics are the fastest growing group in the US. The US Census estimates that this cohort will increase 34% between now and 2010. Indeed, both Asian-Americans and African-Americans are outpacing whites on the growth rate to 2010. Where does this leave “white” consumers? In the role of the largest minority.
Moral for Retailers: Let go of white-centrism or get dragged.