Ethnic Marketing Heats Up

How Health Insurers Can Reach -California’s Growing Hispanic Community
by Russell Matsuda, Chrystal Seely, and Robert Fauver

As the United States becomes more ethnically diverse, it gets hharder to meet the needs of people in our ever-shifting popopulation. U.S. Census data indicates that there were 42 million Hispanics in the United States in 2005 – an increase of 3.6% annually in each of the previous 10 years. More than 50% of Hispanics live in California or Texas, with greater representation in California. In 2006, Hispanic consumers contributed more than $700 billion into the U.S. economy with the average Hispanic spending just over $1,300 domestically on a monthly basis.

Nearly one in three Americans who lacked health insurance in 2005 was Hispanic, which is about 14 million people. The U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the Hispanic community makes up 40% of California’s population, but has disproportionately high rates of uninsurance. In fact, the percentage of uninsured Hispanics is 300% higher than the percentage of uninsured Caucasians and 70% higher than the percentage of uninsured African Americans. About 40% of U.S. Hispanics were born in another country bringing significantly different approaches to healthcare. These cultural barriers contribute to the reason why this demographic remains largely untapped by the health insurance industry.

An Untapped Market Segment
Often overlooked, Hispanic families are less likely to have insurance and access to healthcare in the United States than are families of any other ethnic group. As a result, there is a great opportunity to promote insurance products to the Spanish-speaking community. Once you get your foot in the door, you have a greater chance of being incorporated into the community.

Americans, as a whole, tend to be individualistic, while there are generally strong extended family ties among specific ethnic groups, such as Hispanic/Latino Americans. Hispanic families tend to have significant brand loyalty. Once a close-knit family is comfortable with a brand or a certain product, it becomes the brand of choice for future generations. Gaining this population’s confidence early on is a great accomplishment and a major step forward in becoming part of their lives.

Marketing Strategy
An integrated, multi-pronged approach is the ideal marketing strategy. While many companies are committed to s-pending millions of dollars a year on specialized, targeted advertising and marketing campaigns, the most efficient way is to start from the inside and work your way out. The idea is to become a part of the culture, rather than remain on the fringes.

There are various ways to increase a company’s visibility and attract the Hispanic market. Hispanic cultural and business fairs are opportune venues in which to conduct educational seminars and pass out marketing materials. Outreach efforts may be extended to churches and community centers where doctors and insurance brokers give talks about the benefits of good health, disease prevention, and the need for adequate health insurance. In addition, educational materials about nutrition and healthy living should be provided to all healthcare consumers.

The priority in ethnic marketing is to have healthcare communications that appeal to the ethnic groups that are being targeted, which can be achieved by recognizing their diverse norms, values, beliefs, and practices. We should provide a consistent message about our company and its practices, but use an alternative delivery method to optimize results. Creativity, open-mindedness, innovation, and strategy all come into play when marketing to an ethnic group.

Many insurance companies are beginning to offer a variety of online tools and programs to increase consumer knowledge. Transparency allows the consumer to make more informed health decisions. These programs are useful to consumers and prospective members when they are designed with cultural sensitivity in mind.
To promote health plans to an underserved population, companies must have cultural sensitivity and adjust their strategies to the values and beliefs of their audience. There are many challenges to overcome in doing so, including language differences, varying attitudes toward health issues, and limited accessibility and opportunities to obtain insurance.

However, once successive generations begin to assimilate, the typical American mindset of acquiring assets and protecting property takes hold. As purchasing power increases, so does liability. In turn, insurance becomes much more attractive as a way to help safeguard possessions. Health insurance, which was once an unattainable luxury, becomes a necessity of daily life.
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Russell Matsuda is the director of Marketing Strategy and Innovation, Chrystal Seely the marketing manager, and Robert Fauver is the V.P. of Strategy and Innovation at Blue Cross of California. They have led the development of the Hispanic Initiative, designed to reach out to the Spanish-speaking population. NuestroBien.com, a Blue Cross Spanish language Website, was launched in December of 2006 to make healthcare and information about living healthy more accessible to the Hispanic community.