Restaurant industry a leader in Hispanic ad spending

The restaurant industry’s investment in Hispanic marketing has skyrocketed in recent years, jumping 30 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to a recent report released by AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing.

Restaurants are outpacing similar investments by other top 500 U.S. advertisers, leading the AHAA, a trade organization for Hispanic-centered media, to identify the restaurant category as a “leader” among advertisers assigning marketing dollars to Hispanic efforts.

“The restaurant category ‘gets’ it,” concludes the report, which was compiled in conjunction with researcher Nielsen Monitor Plus and consultancy Santiago Solutions Group. “They understand the growth that can be generated by the Latino consumer.”

In 2014, restaurant advertisers spent $559 million to reach Hispanic audiences, a 68 percent growth since 2010, the AHAA says.

McDonald’s, Yum Brands and Wendy’s lead the restaurant industry in overall Hispanic ad dollars, the AHAA says, while brands such as Whataburger and Denny’s have the highest Hispanic share of ad spend, allocating more than 20 percent of their ad dollars to Hispanic media. 

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