More than a million Latinos are about to get a surprise phone call from their president or from music superstars as part of an unusual campaign by a telecom firm seeking to boost its share of the lucrative US Hispanic market.
In the next few days about 500,000 US-based Salvadorans should get a prerecorded call from their President Francisco Flores.
Another 500,000 Latinos will receive a telephone message from the likes of Colombian singer Juanes, Cuban-born salsa star Willy Chirino or Mexico's Alicia Villareal.
"It's a win-win campaign, everybody benefits from it," says Camilo Castellon of the Miami-based Americatel firm that is behind the unusual calls.
The singers will promote the upcoming Latin Grammy awards in Miami.
Flores will press his fellow citizens to take advantage of a special migrant status for Salvadorans living in the US.
Salvadoran immigrants get to use a free telephone line, provided by Americatel, to get advice on how to fill out the forms.
And Americatel, a subsidiary of Intel Chile, gets to promote its own service in a bid to boost name recognition among US Hispanics.
The stakes are high. Hispanics in the US currently have an annual purchasing power in excess of US$500 billion a year, which is expected to shoot up to US$925 billion by 2007.
"Communications providers just cannot ignore the growth of the Hispanic community," says Robert Rosenberg of Insight Research Corporation, a telecommunications industry analysis firm.
Following the trend
Projections show Hispanics in the US should spend US$21.3 billion on telephone calls this year, says Rosenberg, adding that the figure is expected to grow 12 percent a year.
"What really has our attention is that these numbers are getting bigger fast, as Hispanic buying power and population size continue to grow faster than the national average," says Eduardo Menasce of the giant Verizon telecommunications firm.
"Whom we call says a lot about who we are," says Stephan Beckert with the Telegeography industry researchers.
He pointed out that 2001 figures show that Mexico was the country dialed most frequently from the US, with 5.2 billion minutes.
To successfully market to Hispanics, telecom firms need to be seen as understanding the culture, and giving back to the community, according to sector experts.
"Companies who appreciate the `mi casa es su casa' [my home is your home] dynamic of Hispanic culture and go the extra mile will be the most successful," Insight said in a market survey.
Leading carriers say they are doing just that, donating funds to community groups, sponsoring cultural performances and reaching out to customers in their first language.
Or, in the case of Americatel, providing free phone lines to Hispanics needing assistance from their governments or consulates.
Castellon is convinced what he calls the promotion will pay off.
"Just imagine how emotional it is for a Salvadoran of humble background to receive a call from his president," he said.
"He'll probably be moved to tears. And, hopefully, he'll remember who made the call possible," said Castellon.
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