Car Makers Cut Hispanic Ad Spending 5.2%

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Auto marketers cut spending on Hispanic media 5.2% during the first eight months of 2008, according to figures from TNS Media Intelligence, but didn't slash ad budgets as deeply as in the general market. For the full year 2007, Hispanic spending on car ads was up 2.7%.

Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus

But the third quarter this year was grim. At Univision Communications, TV auto advertising plunged 23% during the quarter, and radio ads for cars fell 25%, according to Andy Hobson, Univision's senior exec VP-chief financial officer. Mr. Hobson, speaking on a conference call with analysts Nov. 17, attributed much of the drop in radio ads to local dealers cutting back.

In a breakdown from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, General Motors Corp. spent 3% less on national Hispanic media during the first seven months of 2008, compared to a 6% drop in its media spending in the general market. Ford Motor Co. was down by a similar amount -- about 23% -- in both Hispanic and general-market spending. Chrysler cut its ad spending by about 11% in the Hispanic market but 22% in the general market, according to Nielsen figures through July.

Toyota Motor Corp. boosted its spending in the Hispanic market 9% during the first seven months of the year but was flat in the general market.

Some carmakers began cutting back early. Nissan Motor Co. conducted one of the biggest multicultural-account reviews of 2008, and contenders said they were required to demonstrate how they would trim their fees 5% a year for the next six years. The winner, Omnicom Group, is setting up an entity called Ignition that will draw from Dieste, the biggest U.S. Hispanic agency, and African-American agency Footsteps, both Omnicom-owned.