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The University of Virginia Darden School of Business and its Tayloe Murphy Center released the findings of a major study today that outlines specific steps for how banks and credit unions can capture billions of dollars in deposits by reaching out to Latino and other “unbanked” households across the United States.

The year-long study titled “Perdido En La Traducción: The Opportunity in Financial Services for Latinos” also demonstrates for the first time that persuading households to keep their money in banks and credit unions could lower the risk of robberies and raise property values.

Nationwide, there is more than $169 billion floating outside the formal banking system attributed to unbanked households, of which $53 billion comes from unbanked Latino households.

“This study gives the financial services industry, policy makers and market watchers information they can use and a real measurement of the scope of this hidden market. At the same time, it not only represents a significant financial opportunity, but also highlights the wide-ranging benefits for communities,” says Greg Fairchild, executive director of the Tayloe Murphy Center and Darden professor.

The study focuses on unbanked Latino households in Virginia and North Carolina. Latinos are the fastest- growing multi-ethnic group in many states, including Virginia, as well as nationwide.

Many of the findings can also be applied nationally to any household that is unbanked, regardless of ethnicity, background, geographic location or length or status of residence. READ MORE

In Hollywood's chase for America's new No. 2 demographic -- Latinos -- Carmen Marron stands front and center.

Marron is an upstart director with an improbable rags-to-film-festival-success story that begins in a Phoenix public elementary school where she was a guidance counselor to struggling Hispanic youths.

Witnessing inner-city youngsters bereft of positive models and encouragement eventually led her on a seven-year journey in which she and her husband sunk much of their life savings into a little movie with a big message:

Yes, kids, you can overcome the worst of circumstances and become the person you've always dreamed to be. Just go for it.

"We spent a lot of our savings, which was challenging because I didn't know anything about filmmaking. I never wanted to be a filmmaker. It's crazy when I talked about it," said Marron, a Chicago native who now lives in the Los Angeles area.

"San Francisco, Boston, San Antonio, Texas, Chicago, New York -- wherever we were, the people all related to the story, the inspiration: Yes, you can. Si, se puede. Kick yourself out of the rut and make a change," she said. "You're always going to have obstacles."

Her film, "Go For It!" played well on the indie circuit, garnering audience awards at Dances with Film Festival in West Hollywood, California; Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival; San Antonio Film Festival; and Cine Las Americas in Austin, Texas, Marron said. The movie was an official selection of the 2010 Chicago International Film Festival.

It was an audacious debut for a director with no filmmaking experience.

But the recognition didn't end there for her film about a young Latina who triumphs over gritty, harsh experiences as she seeks entrance into a dance school.

Marron's film arrived in Hollywood just as studios were taking a second, harder look at projects with dominant Latino themes. READ MORE

Long recognizing the opportunities that exist with the burgeoning Hispanic market, State Farm continues to over-index when it comes to ad expenditures against Latinos.
State Farm advertising director Ed Gold, pointing out that 4,500 of the insurance company's 18,000 agent offices nationwide are bilingual, said "we didn't need the 2000 or the 2010 Census to tell us that the Hispanic market is growing. Our agents have been telling us they need Hispanic marketing materials to sell their products."

To that end, Gold, speaking during a keynote interview during B&C/ Multichannel News's ninth annual Hispanic Television Summit here Tuesday morning, said that State Farm budgets about 20% of its ad expenditures toward the U.S. Latino market. Multichannel News editor in chief Mark Robichaux, who conducted the interview, pointed out that while Hispanics represent 16% of the U.S. population, only 4.5% of marketers' ad dollars target this growing group.

Gold, who noted that State Farm ran its first commercial aimed at Hispanics in 1996, said the insurer still sees great growth opportunities within this ethnic segment overall, and particularly those among the 18-to-29 set, who upon moving out of their parents' abodes, are making their first decisions about auto and rental insurance.

"There is a lot of generation to generation" business in the insurance world, "but if we don't get them now, we may never get them," he said, adding that much of State Farm's ad activity against young Hispanic adults is cross-cultural.

With people willing to shop insurance by price and Geico and Progressive engaging in aggressive campaigns thereunto, State Farm and All State have also lifted their spending. All told, insurance category spending jumped 16.2% to some $3.4 billion in 2010, with TV accounting for over three-fourths of that outlay.
Relative to auto insurance spending aimed at Hispanics, Gold said State Farm is the overall sector leader. Last year, overall Hispanic TV ad spending by the auto insurance category reached $198 million, a 21.3% drive from $163 million the prior year, which was down 8.8% from $179 million in 2008. During a post-presentation interview, Gold said State Farm accounts for close to 50% of sector spending here.
During his keynote, Gold said that Hispanic market has a passion for sports, notably soccer. "The World Cup may be a big deal for the general market, but it's a huge deal for Hispanics. For them, it's not just the U.S. team," he said. READ MORE