BBVA goes mainstream.

Pop Quiz:

Who knows what BBVA stands for?
Who knows where BBVA is from?
Why is BBVA in the news?

Answers:

BBVA stands for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria.
BBVA is a Spanish Bank and maintains a leadership position in Spain, Mexico and Latin America.
BBVA will become the fourth largest bank in the US within a few years.



Throughout the past few months, BBVA has begun a push into the American banking system. First they bought out Compass Bank and rebranded their American banking operations to BBVA Compass. After initially focusing on the Hispanic market in the U.S., Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA is now preparing to go mainstream.

Spain’s second-largest financial company by market value after Banco Santander SA is developing an ambitious push into the Sun Belt region at a time when local rivals are retrenching after the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market.

Following the merger of State National Bank, Texas State Bank, Laredo National Bank and Compass Bank, BBVA's U.S. affiliate ranks as the fourth largest bank in Texas and among the top 25 largest banks in the U.S. based on deposit market share. The company has total assets of approximately $58.6 billion and operates 593 branches across a six state Sunbelt Region including: 328 in Texas, 91 in Alabama, 76 in Arizona, 44 in Florida, 33 in Colorado, and 21 in New Mexico.

Vans Mexico

Vans, by far, is one of the few American companies that have successfully targeted the young Mexican consumer. Vans are so popular in Mexico that you can even find street vendors selling them at ridiculous prices. Its interesting to note how Vans expanded into Mexico so succesfully.

They are the official sponsors of the X-Games Mexico. By doing so, they are telling the youth that its OK to skate and BMX (activities which are generally frowned upon in Mexico.)



Stores

There are 13 official Vans stores in Mexico. Half of them were built in the last 6 months. Unlike the US, it is rare to see standalone stores for one specific brand. Vans were usually sold by specialty retailers. However, as Mexico becomes more "American", were beginning to see the rise of major shopping malls and plazas. The transition from traditional Mexican shopping to that of American shopping is slowly beginning.

Warped Tour Sponsor

Vans did an excellent job in Branding a Vans Warped Tour Mexico. Very similar to the one in the US, the Vans Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival.. This year was the inaugural year for the Warped Tour Mexico.


Vans also sponsors a BMX team, a Skateboarding Team, and has a yearly Mexico Tour where the biggest names in skateboarding make their way to the capital and do what they do best, skate.

Recession? What Recession?

Coming back to the Valley has made me realize that the recession affecting most of the country is non-existant here in South Texas. Everywhere you turn, there is a new shopping center, new subdivisions, and farmland being turned into hip, urban "lifestyle centres".

This is very true in the Mcallen, Edinburg, and Mission area. According to a recent list from CNNMoney.com, McAllen, TX ranked as the #1 Fastest Growing Real Estate Market. The rankings include a twelve month growth projection of 4% with a median home price of $109,000. The second city listed comes nowhere near McAllen and has a projected twelve month growth of 2.7%. The article mentions the state of Texas is not feeling the housing crisis as hard as other states.

Mcallen also Ranked 2nd in the Nation for Income Growth and 1st in Job Growth by Forbes Magazine. The Valley is growing, but is it growing too fast for its own good?

Disney goes Hispanic....

Demi Lovato

Selena Gomez

The new faces of Disney

Being an Advertising major, I have to keep up with the latest, greatest, and hippest trends, products, and in some cases people. The girls that are blowing up the blogosphere the past couple of weeks are Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez.

They are quickly becoming the new faces of the Disney channel. Many dub these Texan girls as Miley Cyrus's replacement. What I find interesting about this duo is that they are both of Hispanic decent.

With the Hispanic population growing faster than the overall American population, it is very interesting to see how different brands will try to target this newly developing audience. The Hispanic population is also considerably younger than that of the general market. The purchasing power of Hispanics has surpassed many analysts expectations.

Here are some key facts from a Research and Markets report released in May.

- From 1996 to 2006, U.S. Hispanic purchasing power posted a compound annual growth rate of 6.96%.

- Forty-seven percent of the nation's purchasing power and 50% of the Hispanic population are concentrated in California and Texas.

- We expect Income-producing Hispanic households in the United States to represent 13.8% of the population by 2015.

U.S. Hispanic Purchasing Power:

U.S. Hispanic purchasing power surged to nearly $870 billion in 2008 and is projected to reach as much as $1.3 trillion by 2015. During the past decade, the rate of growth was more than two times the overall national rate. We estimate current Hispanic purchasing power to be at 9.3% of the total current U.S. purchasing power and project it to be 12% by 2015.


So lets see what Disney is doing to tap this emerging market.

Demi and Selena seem as if they are highly acculturated into the American lifestyle almost to the point of complete assimilation. (Which isn't a problem since the younger Hispanic population tends to be more assimilated.)

Demi and Selena have both played Hispanic characters in their respective TV and movie roles.

The Spanish language has been used in these shows and movies signaling a wider acceptance of bilingualism.

Disney is doing an excellent job in its attempt to target the Hispanic market. I think Disney will soon be one of the first to successfully target and court the acculturated Hispanic youth.

I leave you with a video of Selena Gomez in her latest music video.