SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–“Don’t hold

your breath waiting for immigrants to assimilate,” says Dr. Ines Poza,

founder of Poza Consulting Services, when talking with clients

interested in targeting Latinos. “It would be like waiting for the

Pony Express — it’s gone with the last century.”

According to Poza, it’s no longer about a new culture needing to

assimilate to an existing culture. It’s about recognizing change in

the whole, what Poza refers to as the emergence of The New

Mainstream. Failure to keep current with these new realities directly

impacts businesses’ ability to compete, stay profitable and, ultimately,

remain a going concern.

Poza contends that while assimilation may have explained how

immigrants in the first half of the last century became part of the

larger social fabric it does not explain what’s happening today.

During that time there were enormous social and economic pressures

to adapt to and adopt a “mainstream” identity. Archival photographs

show businesses that posted signs like “Irish or Italians need not

apply.” In the early 1960s, when corporal punishment was still allowed

in schools, Hispanic children were routinely spanked for speaking

Spanish on campus. In this post-Civil Rights era, however,

discrimination is no longer in a legally enforced form or socially

accepted to the degree that it was to compel people to shed or hide

their differences.

“But we’re still invested in this outdated theory of ‘assimilation’ —

this idea that immigrants change in order to merge with the mainstream,'”

Poza says.

As for the changes in diet, shopping habits and personal style

that Latinos experience after living in the United States for a period

of time, Poza contends this is not a result of assimilation. “It’s the

result of being in a richer consumer environment,” she says.

“The average Latino immigrant comes as an economic refugee,” Poza

explains. “What I hear time and again from Spanish-language-dominant

consumers is in the United States they not only finally earn enough to

have disposable income, they also find far wider choices in styles and

merchandise and at prices within reach.

“Mistaking a Latino consumer’s change in behavior as being

‘assimilation’ or, worse yet, ‘aspirational,’ in a move to become more

American would be like saying our love of sushi or yoga in the United

States means Americans are assimilating to Asian and Indian cultures,”

Poza states. Although there has been a radical shift in the U.S.

palate for food and fitness during the last 50 years, no one would

consider classifying these changes as assimilation.

Poza credits the post-Civil Rights era and a social climate that

celebrates rebels, youth culture, new experiences and change as

impetus for a richer, more diverse consumer playground. “We now are

legally and socially allowed and encouraged to sample from other

cultures,” Poza says.

Business, marketing and advertising models of consumers have not

kept pace though. “We still cling to this archaic model of ‘general

market’ and niche markets when this does not capture what’s happening

in real time,” Poza believes. “The New Mainstream is about

acknowledging that different cultures form the whole, and they are

meeting and impacting and enriching each other.”

Poza focuses on understanding The New Mainstream and bringing it

to life for clients. To do this, her team goes to places where people

work and play, asking questions on issues of the day, and how people

view society and their fit into that society.

According to Poza, this is where the real insights come from and

is the core of identifying actual market segments and developing

relevant strategy that will succeed. Poza adds, “Understanding the

concept of The New Mainstream and bringing that front and center in

developing communications in any language is a must. Because sooner

than we realize, that is what will determine market leaders.”

Founded by Poza, Santa Monica-based Poza Consulting Services (PCS)

provides market research and strategic planning and communications

services with an eye on The New Mainstream. The work of PCS impacts

the creative direction for television shows, product development and

customer service systems, and the advertising execution on products

ranging from automobiles to snack foods.

CONTACT: www.pozaconsulting.com

Copyright Business Wire 2006