Interview: T-Mobile SVP of Brand Communications DeLuca Talks Hispanic Trends in Mobile Market
Hispanics are interested in three main things from their mobile service: social media, video content, and streaming audio, says T-Mobile's Senior Vice President of Brand Communications Peter DeLuca. As the fastest growing population in the United States, Hispanics are becoming a key focus group for politicians and advertising firms alike, and DeLuca recently shared his take on Hispanic trends in the mobile market with Latin Post.
"In many ways, the mobile device, for a large majority of the Hispanic population, is the access point to where they are entering onto the Internet. They're not using that home connection because they're out on the go," DeLuca said during an interview with Latin Post.
When it comes to what the Hispanic community tends to do once online, social media erupts as the clear winner. A recent Pew Report found similarities in the behaviors of Latin American consumers. Of those surveyed, 83 percent of Venezuelans, 77 percent of Mexicans, 76 percent of Chileans, and 75 percent of Argentines with Internet access used it for social media.
"What the Hispanic consumer is really consuming on mobile comes down to three core things. Social media, of course. The key things: the Facebooks and the Twitters of the world," DeLuca said.
"They are also engaging in video. And they are engaging in video — we refer to them as small, snackable files of content that they love to watch and share via their social media channels. And the third piece is really access to streaming music," he added.
T-Mobile has taken these trends to heart, recently sponsoring Univision's Premio lo Nuestro music awards night. Throughout the night, T-Mobile engaged the audience in an active social media exchange and reached over 13 million fans through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Vine channels.
Hispanics in the United States are also some of the earliest adopters of new high-end smartphones, DeLuca mentioned. The sentiment is also echoed by consumers down in Latin America, which had the strongest smartphone sales growth among all regions globally during the last quarter of 2013.
"In terms of devices [Hispanics] are the most early adopters of the latest and greatest smartphones. When we launch new devices, they are usually the first to jump on board," DeLuca said.
"They are early adopters across all the key launches of the best smartphones in the industry and really want the latest and greatest in technology."
** Updated to reflect Peter DeLuca's position at T-Mobile as senior vice president of brand communications, not vice president of brand and advertising.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!