HispanicBusiness

Target Latino is a Metro-Atlanta community project that is helping mainstream American companies ease into the booming Latino market. Claudia Goffan, the creator of the project, has put together a dynamic group of Latino marketing professionals to develop marketing and advertising strategies for these companies.

There will be a ceremony on October 10, 2003 where the strategies will be handed over to the six participants.

The companies involved in this project are: Gold's Gym Norcross, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co-Norcross, Echolink Telecom LLC, Party Plus Atlanta, Pre-Paid Legal (Nanette Freiman), and Yellow Brick Road Properties, Inc., and a surprise participant.

The goal of the project is to change mainstream American companies' perception of the Latino Market through actual hands-on experience.

Many American companies are spending millions of dollar on poor marketing tactics due to the mainstream misperception that the Latino Market has weak buying power and that information is lacking about this market. Some are simply translating their current marketing materials into Spanish; a complete and professional marketing plan is a better first step.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau; Atlanta's Latino population grew by 362 percent between 1990 and 2000, while Georgia's Latino population grew by 300 percent during the same period.

Latinos represented $450 billion in buying power in 2001 (May 28, 2002 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News). The country's Latino buying power is expected to reach nearly $1 trillion by 2007, a 315 percent increase (Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia).

"If we [Latinos] are going to be 25 percent of the U.S. population in several years, companies need to understand that there are demographics to the Latino market," says Claudia Goffan, "or they will miss on a very profitable opportunity."

With proper guidance these seven mainstream American companies will benefit and profit from this new growth market. The goal of Target Latino and its group of marketing professionals is to ease their transition into the Latino market.

Target Latino has more than 50 volunteers involved in the project: Latin-American Association, Vanessa Olcese (Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce), National Society for Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA), Society Hispanic Professional Engineers – Atlanta Chapter (SHPE), Association Colombian Professionals in Atlanta (ACOLPA), Aldebaran Associates International (staffing agency), The Latin Box (marketing and advertising), Perez Montalbetti Advertising (advertising), Sagitauro (web development), and media vendors such as miatlanta.com, georgialatino.com, Cuponito Bilingual Coupons, among others.

For more information, visit www.TargetLatino.com.