WASHINGTON (UPI) September 4, 2004 - There has been a running buzz for sometime that the U.S. "Hispanic" market is hot and getting hotter -- a growing demographic with an increasing amount of money to spend on the right kind of products and votes to cast for the right candidates.

But what is this so-called Hispanic market? Who is part of it? And what kind of marketing is being used to sell to this actually rather diverse group?

The U.S. Census Bureau coined the term Hispanic in the 1970s to replace earlier designations such as Mexican-American, or Puerto Rican-American. While it officially refers to any person residing in the United States of Spanish-speaking origin, it doesn't in anyway attempt to encompass the cultural vibrancy or diversity of what has become known as "Hispanic-Americans."

In fact, the designation isn't for any kind of race whatsoever, but for an ethnic group -- one that spans every shade of skin imaginable, from white to black.

People encompassed in the census under this category may be American-born with a line of ancestors that goes back hundreds of years to the conquistadors and the early Spanish settlers of the New World. Or they may be recent immigrants arrived not only from nearby Mexico, but also from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras Columbia, Chile, Peru and Cuba.

In familiar terms, what has become known as Hispanic or Hispanic -- which is an entirely other debate in itself -- is a whole constellation of customs, traditions, and attitudes. It is this vibrancy that marketers are trying to understand and instill into their advertising and branding.

As a whole, American Hispanics are a big demographic group. There are nearly 40 million Hispanics in the United States or 13.5 percent of the total U.S. population, according to current estimates. It is forecasted that U.S.-Hispanics will number 50 million by 2007.

This demographic group boasts a buying power of $580 billion yearly, with expectations that the Hispanic spending dollar will hit almost $1 trillion annually in five years.

New York University Professor Arlene Dávila in her book "Hispanics, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People" notes that marketing to Hispanic-Americans has grown to a "multibillion dollar industry, spread throughout Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York, and every other center with a large concentration of Latin populations."

Among the recent headlines demonstrating the growing importance of the Hispanic market were Wednesday night's Latin Grammys in Miami; the spring blockbuster launch of "The Dirty Girls Social Club," a novel by New Mexico author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez; and the summer announcement by Kmart that it was launching a line of clothing bearing the name of sexy Latin pop sensation Thalia Sodi.

New York-based St. Martin's Press has been marketing Valdes-Rodriguez as the Latina answer to Terry McMillan's "Waiting to Exhale."

"I wrote the book I wanted to read but couldn't find," Valdes-Rodriguez told United Press International. "A book about the kinds of complicated, neurotic, ambitious, lovelorn, eating disordered, funny, crazy, successful American women who have been my friends and colleagues for years."

On the fashion front, Thalia, who hails from Mexico, has been making inroads into the hearts and minds of U.S. Hispanics with her music, and is now vying for the Hispanic clothing dollar.

"The fabulous Thalia Sodi collection is an important addition to Kmart's portfolio of exclusive brands," said Kmart chief executive officer Julian Day during the opening of the Thalia line.

"We continue to be focused on developing a merchandise assortment that meets the wants and needs of our diverse customer base. This new merchandise was designed and developed to meet the needs of the new American neighborhood -- a melting pot of culture, lifestyle and trend."

Kmart's Thalia line of clothing, accessories and home décor, is featured in more than 300 of the giant retailer's 1,500 stores, mostly in urban areas. The launch was held in Miami, home to one of the United States' larger Latin communities.

"My collection is a dream come true," said Thalia at the launch of her line. "I am so excited to have created a line that has been inspired by my culture -- showing its color, its passion and its greatness -- and one that captures much of my personal style."

The emphasis on "passion" is something that appears again and again when it comes to the lively Hispanic market. If it's not passionate, it's not Hispanic, say experts in the market.

For Alex Lopez Negrete, the chief executive officer of a 74-person Hispanic-oriented advertising and marketing firm in Houston, it's all about passion. Though his firm is now on the edge of explosive growth after 18 years of hard work, Lopez Negrete jokes about how when he and his wife started the company, they were asked "what are you doing" starting a Hispanic marketing firm in the early '80s.

But Negrete says that is was his sense of "passion" about his firm and its marketing mission that carried him forward.

Today, the Lopez Negrete firm's motto and pitch to potential clients is "Where passion goes to work." What Alex Lopez Negrete advises clients who want to reach the quickly growing American Hispanic market is that "The human touch .. is very important in Hispanic marketing."

Another key element that Lopez Negrete also emphasizes is the strong family attachment which is part of Hispanic culture, with much activity centered on the family, a "focus on family."

Lopez Negrete added of Latin culture, "We don't live to work, we work to live - but still maintain a strong work ethic."

According to the Lopez Negrete, the task of marketing in the Hispanic community is not so much one of seeking to "change our client's brands," but of helping clients to reflect "the diversity" of Hispanic-Americans in terms of selling -- whether it is food or mortgages.

Lopez Negrete said that the Hispanic consumer wants to look at advertising or a corporate campaign and say "Hey there's people like me."

He noted that given the growing demographic boom of the market, selling to Hispanic-Americans is a "have to do" for companies looking to grow, "not a might do."

Some of the large, brand-name clients of Lopez-Negrete include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Bank of America, Tyson Foods Inc., Geico, Visa, Goya Foods and Fiesta.

As part of Lopez Negrete's own marketing, its company informational kit includes green salsa with the title of "The Original Hot Stuff."

Longtime observers of U.S. Hispanic society say that Hispanic market has been in a state of dynamic flux for the past quarter-century, a time during which the number of Hispanics in the United States has grown dramatically, entering the labor force in increasing numbers; and entering a great diversity in terms of type of work.

While the original notions of the Hispanic market forged by Spanish-language television in the 1960 were the standard yardstick for years, this began to change and grow more complex in the '80s. Among other factors, is the growing divide between native and foreign-born members of the U.S. Hispanic demographic, according to Hispanic Business Magazine's recently released report "U.S. Hispanic Consumers in Transition."

This is a market that is characterized by its complexity and diversity, not by simple anecdotal assumptions, the report notes.

"As marketers, political parties, corporations.... strive to appeal to the hearts and minds as well as the growing purchasing and political power of U.S. Hispanics in the years ahead, who knows what winning strategies will prevail in the public information marketplace," writes Jesus Chavarria, editor and publisher of Hispanic Business Magazine, in the report's executive summary.

"But the one thing we do know is that many of the anecdotal simplifications associated with the market will soon pass away, if they have not already done so," Chavarria writes.

For now, one thing seems certain, Hispanic-marketing expert Alex Lopez Negrete notes -- "mainstream America is fascinated with all things Hispanic."