Product of the week
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John Eischeid: Let’s start with a brief summary of yourself and Hispanwire.
Susana Medoza: Yeah, of course. I’m a former journalist. I’m still a journalist, but I feel that I haven’t worked as a journalist in over four years. So, I’m not sure if you’re still a journalist, but let’s just say I’m a recovering. I was a journalist for 17 years. And I lived in different countries. I lived in the Middle East for eight years and then I moved to the States. So in that process I went from writing about politics and then writing about technology, health and then I moved to Silicon Valley so I focused on tech and then about five to six years ago – I think it was probably during the pandemic more or less – I started working as a PR and I started doing this doing that honestly just as something on the side and then I started to see that I really liked it. I had a lot of fun with it. and I was good at it. So, I got, through word of mouth, it ended up becoming my main job. So, I can’t even say how it happened, but it just did. Suddenly, all those kind of jobs overcame the journalism freelancing that I was doing. And then because I’ve always worked also for Spanish-speaking publications both outside of the US and the US, it just also came naturally. I started getting asked do you also do Hispanic media outreach, because I know a lot of people in the media not only from Univision but from other works also from networking. It felt rather easy to start doing Hispanic media outreach. So yeah basically that’s how I landed where I am right now. And Hispanwire is actually, I would say, the outcome of all those years. So, what I want with this — so when I started working as a freelance publicist, it was just me. I didn’t set up company, but I realized that after a while what I do can definitely be something that’s a little bit automated in a way and I can definitely bring down the cost by doing that automation as well. So Hispanwire is basically that. It’s a service that has a flat fee per month and it’s guaranteed coverage in Spanish speaking media in the US. So, I can’t guarantee a few placements, but I can guarantee a placement exactly where the client wants.
JE: There are two things there that I do want to expand on. One is the automation and the other one is the Spanish-speaking portion. So actually let’s start with the Spanish-speaking portion. So, you make it a point that not all Spanish-speaking media is the same. There are cultural differences in media placement. Is that helping you develop a skill set that would translate into other international audiences? Just basically that core cultural sensitivity aspect of it.
SM: I want to understand exactly what it is that you’re asking. I think you’re referring to when I speak – so for example, the example that I think you’re referring to, which is from my LinkedIn, comes from – I have worked in campaigns where first of all a lot of the times what they wanted us to do was just take copy in English translated boom and go with that, or the pitch. That doesn’t always work. and you have to look at first of all the demographic that you’re reaching out to and then where is that demographic based. Generally, when it comes to Hispanic populations, it depends if you’re reaching out, let’s say to Hispanics in Florida which are predominantly Cuban. Not everyone in in Florida is Cuban of course but there’s a larger Cuban community because of historical issues. So for example, when you do that with Floridians you have to understand that a lot of Cuban people tend to be more conservative. So it depends on the campaign that you’re reaching that you’re doing the outreach for. So you have to take that into consideration. Sometimes it’s not the same to reach out to let’s say Cubans and to reach out to Mexicans. Maybe that particular community of Cubans in said city in Florida has certain ways, cultural ways or I don’t know, let’s say they have holidays that they carry out. So you can also pick that up and use that for your campaign. So that’s what I mean just do a little bit of research and understand the nuances that there can be in each community. I think the same goes for English-speaking people in the United States, honestly.
JE: Yes, I was about to say, you just mentioned being attuned to people’s values and separate holidays, which are often associated with the religion, which is also closely tied to values. So yes, okay, it sounds it is a multiculturalist approach that can translate well into other markets.
SM: I talk about Cuba because I’ve been on a few campaigns talking with the team and it was an English- speaking team. I was the only Hispanic there most of the times, and they automatically assume that all Hispanics are Democrats. That’s not true. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
JE: No, if you look at the results – take a close look at the results from the last election and that will prove you right.
SM: Yeah, exactly. And you can’t treat all of the population like they are Democrats or they’re liberal or left-leaning. Many of them have conservative values and not only politically but socially.
JE: Okay, and did you bring that up? I’m pretty sure you did. And what kind of response did you get?
SM: They didn’t know, because this was something that they never thought of.
JE: Were they receptive at least?
SM: They were, yeah. I think that in general most of the comments that I make have people understand that there it’s coming from experience. It’s not only because I’m Hispanic, because first of all I’m from Spain. I’m Hispanic European, so that within itself it’s another category so that’s what I mean exactly everything yeah and…
JE: Yes, I know. It’s a different accent.
SM: Even in Spain of course, there’s people who vote left, who vote right. In general, Spaniards are more leftleaning. Not everyone, so yeah, so that’s what I try to bring, also, when people ask me for my advice. They’re not only telling me, just translate and then reach out to your contacts. If I see that the strategy for the Hispanic media that they’re doing is not going to align with the demographics, of course I talk about that, because I want that campaign to work.
JE: And that brings me up to another question I had. You do mention that, having an Hispanic PR strategy alongside an English-speaking one can yield some pretty good results. That makes sense since about 12 to 13% of the people living in the US are bilingual, English and Spanish. So how do you maintain a consistent brand voice across both languages and also within the cultures within the Spanish speaking world
SM: Yeah, I would say . . . .
SM: Hi.
JE: Hi. Sorry, we got cut off briefly.
SM: Don’t worry. We’re still recording. I think, so most of the strategies can fit both markets. I just have to tweak them. So I think there’s been definitely a few. So, for example, there was one that I did last year. It was a health campaign and it was about a specific vaccine. So for this they had chosen they were doing two separate campaigns, but it was the same one. So, it was famous people talking about that specific illness, and I was presented with a few names and they were asking for my opinion, “Do you think this famous person, this actor would be a good spokesperson for the campaign?” And so I was looking at the names. I was like, only one person in this list is actually known to the Hispanic community. The rest, they were Hispanics, but they were Anglo-Hispanics.
JE: Right. LIke Jenna Ortega. She doesn’t speak Spanish, despite her last name and her heritage.
SM: Yeah. Yeah. But mostly it was just people who had Hispanic ancestry but worked in Anglo environments.
JE: Yes. Right.
SM: Spanish speaking people. They didn’t know who they were. So they wouldn’t and I understand where they were coming from because how could they know? They just went with the Hispanic names and last names.
JE: So, is that something that you see often in Hispanic media now or – I mean, is there – is there a disconnect between the Anglo Spanish and then the more . . .
SM: That could be yes and no a lot of people who are second generation speak Spanish. Some speak it better and some speak it worse. I would say that, so from what I’ve seen and the group of people I surround myself with, it’s 50/50 almost. Some people speak Spanish really well and also consume Spanish speaking news and, they watch telenovelas and then others rarely consume Spanish speaking products. So yeah . . .
JE: So, it sounds like it’s something of a personal preference or maybe, how close they are with their family might even have something to do with it.
SM: And this is a topic that a lot of people, not only Hispanic journalists, but Hispanic PR people. So of course there’s a lot of people who speak Spanish in this country, but the question is do they speak Spanish because they arrived here when Spanish was their native language or are they second or third generation and they’re still speaking Spanish and consuming Spanish products to preserve the heritage? Because otherwise, there will come a point obviously in I don’t know 50, 60, 100 years – I have no idea – if there’s no more Spanish-speaking people coming into the US renewing that, there will come a point where the second or third generation will stop the consuming a lot of thse Spanish-speaking products so, definitely that’s also a concern.
JE: Yeah, or Spanglish might become an official language or a dialect.
SM: Could be. That would nice.
JE: I do know that even some of the slang words are a little bit different depending on – for Spanish speakers born in the US and that kind of thing. So it’s interesting how language is constantly evolving and there’s even some indication that . . . .
SM: That reflects how important it is for humans to continue communicating.
JE: True. Yes. And to make sure that we’re clear on what we say. so let’s see.
SM: I think you were asking me before also how I’ve automated.
JE: Yes, that’s exactly what I was going to get to. You do mention a use of AI on the Hispanwire website. Is that what you’re talking about in terms of the automation?
SM: Not exactly.
JE: Okay.
SM: I will, yeah, I can help people who don’t know how to craft. Let’s say that you only speak English and you don’t want to hire someone to write the press release or the news story. So, you’ll be able to use an AI system to just craft the story from scratch, because nowadays, honestly, it’s so easy. And then what I do is – I do have a list of people that I contribute to, that I work with frequently, that are very close to me, that love getting content. You’d think that they get a lot of content. They don’t really get that much content in Spanish. So, it’s a win for everyone because they get free content and then when companies and people post the story to their social media, they also get more traffic to their website and then the person who got the service, is able to publish in Spanish in different sites at a very reasonable rate, I must add.
JE: You’ve also spoken before about practical strategies to build trust and visibility. I do understand that all brands do need to build trust at a certain point, but I mean is there a greater amount of distrust among Spanish-speaking communities for the more Anglocentric aspects of things? Do they have to prove themselves to that community a little bit the more Americanized brands for lack of a better word?
SM: So that’s, ugh, different angles to…
JE: You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to. I realize that’s a touchy question.
SM: I know, and again, it’s not like for all Hispanics and it depends on the communities, but there is a certain distrust, especially for example, vaccines. So, Hispanics are the minority that is least vaccinated in the US. That can be for a number of reasons. Maybe it’s not even because they distrust doctors which in general they don’t let me tell you but maybe they just don’t have the access or maybe they don’t know that they can get certain vaccines for free or some of them are undocumented and are afraid to reach out to the government the local government.
JE: To the extent that the news coverage covering vaccines is in Spanish, I mean, there are obviously, a lot of the government announcements, they’re in multiple languages, they were especially during COVID. But what I’m wondering is how much coverage there was about the efficacy of vaccines in Spanish-speaking media outlets leading up to that. I don’t know the answer to that question, but I think that would be a factor.
SM: Honestly, hispanic media outlets were great with that, when COVID hit and then afterwards. And this is one of the many strategies that actually I think that really work when you’re dealing with Hispanic media So, Hispanic media is all about community. So, let’s say that you want to there’s a vaccination rally for measles or I don’t know whatever. So, Hispanic media will definitely advertise that. They will advertise it before leading up to the rally, where to go, how to go. They will interview the spokesperson of the campaign. They will cover the rally in most cases, people getting vaccinated. So, anything that helps the community is seen as something most likely to be covered, it’s seen as a plus. As long as it doesn’t sound gimmicky, you know, for that.
JE: Can you give me an example of something that might sound gimmicky in that context?
SM: Let’s say, you know, a brand of diapers – I don’t know, just to say something – wants to appeal more to Hispanic audiences. So, we’re going to do a diaper giveaway. So, that’s a very good idea. Everybody needs free diapers. But the best tactic for that honestly would be to associate to partner yourself with a local community, a local organization that works with the community and then, just partner with that organization to reach out to people, because if the brand of diapers starts calling around the media or sending the press release, there’s a big chance that they will be ignored because it sounds too ad-like. It’s like an advertisement. Whereas if you partner with a local organization, it’s not only going to give you the right credentials, but the organization can also help you, give you tips on how to better reach the community and honestly maybe even organize maybe maternal healthcare days to help with the diaper giving as well. So it’s not okay we’re going to give you Exactly.
JE: It’s not just giving away diapers. It’s embracing the struggles that mothers of newborns have and kind of addressing that whole host of things.
SM: Exactly.
JE: And making sure you’ve got a community to vouch for you, because I think that kind of goes back to the discussion earlier about engendering trust, because a brand just walks into a community that’s one thing, but if they are to have a partnership with somebody there then they’ve got somebody to vouch for them.
SM: I think it’s very beneficial in different layers. Honestly, it gives you people trust you more because you’re coming from a local organization that they know. The organization can help you better structure whatever it is that you’re doing. So they may be able to spot things that the brand wouldn’t be able to know in that specific community, and they can also provide even more to the community, not only giving away diapers, but hey, let’s organize maybe a couple of talks on how to better keep babies fed, just off the top of my head, but this is simple.
JE: Yeah, it sounds similar to content marketing, where we’re giving people tips that they need for their business in order to garner their interest.
SM: Yeah. Because it works. And I think it’s a way of taking something by giving something as well.
JE: It’s interesting that you’re bringing that up now. So, do you consider this idea of community outreach to actually be a big part of PR, rather — I mean in addition to media placements, press releases and all of that but actually what we would call the more experiential aspect of marketing.
SM: Yes, definitely.
JE: Yes. Okay.
SM: Especially, let’s say that and most campaigns want TV, it’s very rare that a campaign is not planning on having TV cover them. So, you can have the spokesperson, yeah, she can be interviewed via Zoom and so on. But, if you’re doing something that is visual, that’s going to attract people to whatever it is that you’re doing, that gives it a whole different meaning for TV. And I worked in TV for many years, too. I was filming as I was a reporter. The visual aspect, it’s like you need to think that way ahead. So I think I also bring that to the table because it’s not only what you’re giving to the community for them to want to go there, so that media will cover them. What are the visuals that you’re also having? It’s not if you’re only doing a Zoom workshop they’re not going to cover you. Maybe they will just put a small voice over with the info but that’s maximum that’s all they’ll do because there’s nothing visual there. So, you have to think of all these different levels when you’re doing the campaign. So, yeah, I definitely think that the visual aspect, it’s a must. it doesn’t matter if you’re doing it for Hispanics or for whatever you have to think about the visuals always.
JE: Okay. Is there anything else that you’d like to add? I don’t have any more questions now.
SM: I guess the only thing I would have to add is I do have a lot of things to add, but I know we don’t have the time.
JE: I don’t have anything scheduled after this, so go right ahead.
SM: I think we are now at the perfect time to start adding Hispanic PR campaigns to the regular campaigns. And I’m in the perfect timing because right now with all the political climate and everything that’s going on some people may be afraid of losing business or that they don’t want to spend a lot of money. I think that adding to spend . . .
JE: . . . Spanish speaking campaigns.
SM: Yeah, they may see it like that, but I think that it’s a great way of getting what we were talking about – return on your investment. If it’s a well thoughtout campaign, you can reach a lot of people. You can reach an entire different market that you hadn’t even taken into account before just because sometimes it’s not even on people’s companies radars. But I think if PR agencies started to offer this as some kind of an add-on,
JE: Yea, and I will say that given the current political climate, the fact that someone is reaching out and at least trying to reach them would probably make more of an impact than it would otherwise.
SM: Yeah, exactly. There’s so many different reasons why I think people should start not only brands but PR agencies as well just offer this. I think a lot of the times brands would think, “You know what? This is a good idea for x amount more money I can reach this x amount more million people who may buy or may use whatever it is that I’m offering it.” And it may even be beneficial for the company’s name for how they’re viewed because they’re also reaching out to minorities and I know right now it’s not the best.
JE: No, I think they would enjoy somebody trying to identify with them or at least embracing the community.
SM: Yeah, I think it’s only beneficial for not only companies, but for PR agencies, for marketing agencies, just add this. If the client doesn’t want it, then they don’t want it. But I think a lot of times they will understand that this is good for them and they will hire that extra service.
JE: Would you like to leave it there or do you have other points that you want to keep going with? Because that sounds like a good stopping point.
SM: I think that’s a good stopping point. Yeah. So, okay, wonderful.
