Watching season 3 of “Stranger Things” this past weekend, I was reminded of my experience as an 80’s kid. We saw when the Berlin Wall came down, the Challenger explode, Reagan’s 1986 Amnesty Reform and so much more. Wrapping up the millennium, there was also a lot of excitement around the 2000 Census. The hypothesis for many pioneers of Hispanic marketing then was that the 2000 Census would validate the enormous growth of the Hispanic/Latino population from the 1990’s.

It’s amazing how quickly 20 years have passed and how the consumer continues to evolve. Reading Pew’s latest research published this week, it is astonishing to get confirmation that Hispanics (18% of the U.S. population), contributed to 50% of the country’s growth from 2008- 2018. Growth is driven by U.S. births, or homegrown as I like to call them, but the population growth is slowing down some, and the median age has shifted from 26 to 30 years old.

What does this mean for brands? 

Targeting Latinos has transcended language. Depicting culture and community is just as important to Latinos as language once was. This mindset is supported by media, proximity to LATAM, and social networks. In this millennium, we (Latinos) have become mainstream with a plethora of crossover artists, food, and even celebrating “dia de los muertos” as shown in the Pixar movie Coco.

Having spent 20 years in the business, I’m excited to see what this youth accomplishes in the next decade. My advice to young Latinos is to stay humble, have fun, study, take care of your body, and save as much as you can. Also, use those pennies to travel and see the world. On the money and education front, culturally, many of the U.S. Latino homegrown population came from little means and there’s still a big opportunity to learn more about money and financial literacy. These are areas I predict will continue to develop in the next decade. At Strategar, we are exploring creating content that will raise financial literacy and close the educational gap. I am very excited about what’s to come next for U.S. Latinos. What are your thoughts on how the Latino population will evolve over the next decade?