Hispanic Marketing - I know I'll see several hundred of you this week at the Guadalajara Feria del Libro

 

Vol 23, Issue 26 November 28, 2025 Be a part of Key Latino Events The last REALLY BIG event I'm involved in each year is the Guadalajara FIL, the largest book industry event in the world. Last year almost a million people attended the event and this year looks to be even bigger. Empowering Latino Futures will have over 40 authors at their booth, HH27, over the nine days of the event. I look forward to seeing many of you there. See the article I did after last year's FIL at the end of this newsletter. Thanks for listening, Kirk Whisler The National Association of Hispanic Publications Makes Landmark Announcements Nearly $2 Million in New Grants and Major Growth Announced at the  2025 National Association of Hispanic Publications Convention By Kirk Whisler SAN DIEGO— The 2025 National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) Convention delivered a powerful message: Latino media is growing, unified, and more influential than ever. Held November 12–14 at the University of San Diego, the convention unveiled nearly $2 million in new grants, strengthened cross-industry alliances, and set the stage for unprecedented opportunities for Hispanic publishers and media partners nationwide. The NAHP has experienced extraordinary expansion, with membership surging 71% since 2022—now representing 771 print and digital outlets. This growth reflects the association’s sharpened focus on empowering members as multiplatform Latino content creators, not just traditional publishers. Collectively, NAHP members now reach 15.4 million Latinos every week—that’s 32% of all Latino adults in the United States. For brands and agencies, this represents one of the largest, most trusted, and most culturally relevant media networks serving Latino communities. At a time when some Latino media operations are only focusing on English-speaking Latinos, the NAHP focuses on reaching Latinos in the language they want, Spanish and/or English. The 2025 convention underscored NAHP’s deep commitment to cross-community coalition building. Today, NAHP collaborates closely with Black, Asian American, and Alternative media organizations nationwide, strengthening shared advocacy and expanding opportunities for partners who seek authentic multicultural reach. This unity gives brands, agencies, and philanthropic partners a single, strategic entry point into diverse media sectors—grounded in community trust. Speakers and allies included some of the most influential leaders shaping today’s news and media ecosystem, including: · Gary Acosta, Founder & CEO, NAHREP · Natalia Gonzalez, Program Officer, Knight Foundation · Dr. John Warren, Chair, National Newspaper Publishers Association · Todd Stauffer, Association of Alternative Newsweeklies · Regina Brown Wilson, California Black Media · Julian Do, American Community Media · Matt Pearce, Rebuild Local News · Tina Wu, News Media Alliance · Mago Torres, Google News Initiative Their collective insights reinforced that Latino media is critical to the future of American journalism, community trust, and equitable representation. Over the past two years, the NAHP Board has modernized its bylaws and operations to align with a digital-first publishing environment. The newly elected Executive Board includes: · Alvaro Gurdián, La Noticia – President · Evelyn Castro, La Prensa de Houston – Vice President · Jesús del Toro, La Raza – Marketing Vice President · Hector Felix Jr., El Informador del Valle – Membership Vice President · Ricardo Hurtado, El Sol Latino – Sales Vice President · Silvana Diaz, Noticia Long Island – Secretary · José Zepeda Jr., Aviso Community Media – Treasurer To better reflect the industry’s evolution, NAHP also introduced newly elected Industry Sector Directors, representing key media formats: · Anthony Ibarria, El Especial – Weekly Newspaper Director · Jesús Sanchez, El Comercio de Colorado – Less-than-Weekly Newspaper Director · Ghisela Eljach, InSouth Magazine – Magazine Director · Bel Hernandez, Latin Heat – Podcast Director · Daniel Ajzen, Hispanopolis – Website Director This expanded leadership ensures that every platform—from print to digital to audio—has a strong voice shaping NAHP’s future. In 2025, NAHP strengthened and expanded collaborations with leading institutions and brands, including:  Knight Foundation, Google News Initiative, T-Mobile, Wells Fargo, Diageo, Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, California Black Media, and Scouting America. These partnerships reflect a growing recognition of the essential role Latino media outlets play in civic engagement, economic empowerment, and culturally relevant communication. Celebrating Excellence: The José Martí Awards This year’s José Martí Awards saw an 18% increase in submissions, with especially strong growth in digital categories—showing the innovation and evolution happening across Latino media. Highlights include: · Latina Publisher of the Year: Hilda Gurdián, CEO, La Noticia (North Carolina) · Latino Publisher of the Year: Hector Felix Sr., Publisher, El Informador del Valle Their leadership reflects the talent, resilience, and creativity driving Latino journalism forward. The 2025 NAHP Convention made one thing clear: This is the moment to invest in and partner with Latino media. For Hispanic publishers, joining NAHP means gaining access to: · National partnerships and grant opportunities · Training, advocacy, and digital transformation support · A unified network that strengthens your voice and reach For agencies and brands, NAHP offers: · Direct access to trusted, locally grounded Latino outlets · Scalable national reach with cultural authenticity · Partnerships built on transparency, accountability, and community impact The future of Latino media is bright—and NAHP is leading the way. For more information on membership, partnerships, or programs, visit nahp.org. Sign up for the Empowering Latino Futures Book Club or other newsletters Learn Why More Latino Business Owners Tune into  NAHP Media Outlets Than Any Other Media On October 30, 2025, LatinoLYTICS will focus on BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.  1.46 million Latino Readers Own a Small Business: Learn about their Success and Needs.  This reach is one of the STRONGEST bonds that NAHP media has with it’s readers – and you can use it to benefit your company. We are inviting you to attend one or more of a free series of presentations from an in-depth, multiyear study, The National Latino Media Study, on the media habits, consumer preferences, language usage, and demographic insights of the 15.4 million Latino Readers across the United States, the audience of the National Association of Hispanic Publications. The NAHP is the oldest & largest Latino media organization in the USA, representing over 770 Latino newspapers, magazines, podcasts, websites, enews, and more, and weekly reaches a unique audience of 15.4 million across the USA. The research will be presented by Kirk Whisler, President of LatinoLYTICS, and Anita Grace, MBA, CEO of Grace Multicultural.  This study surveyed 10,640 Latino readers across the USA on their media preferences, consumer habits, and demographics. Learn more about how this audience is rapidly evolving in many ways. The research was carried out by LatinoLYTICS, which has completed 680+ readership studies for Latino media outlets over the past four decades, as well as mainstream research for over a dozen Fortune 500 companies and entities like SAG-AFTRA.  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE JANUARY 22ND WEBINAR ON LATINO READERS AND VOTING – GREAT INFORMATION Registration is targeted towards marketing, media, corporate, and community professionals. See current presentation & have access to the other six studies. Other upcoming and past webinars in THE POWER OF LATINO READERS: Insight Presentations. All presentations are at 2 pm New York time, 11 am Los Angeles time.  ·       October 30, 2025: BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.  1.46 million Latino Readers Own a Small Business: Learn about their Success and Needs.   ·       January 22, 2026: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & VOTING.  Latino Readers Over Index on Becoming Citizens & Voting. They represented 44% of ALL Latino Voters this past year.  ·       Already aired:  DIGITAL & TELECOM. Latino Readers will spend $15.4 billion on cell phone this year  ·       RETAIL and FOOD SHOPPING. Retail Shopping – what companies are getting those consumer trips? How Latino Readers Will Spend $125 Billion on Food This Year?  ·       AUTOMOBILE BUYING. Owning 15.7 Million Automobiles – and looking to purchase more. Learn where all the brands rank and what vehicle styles readers prefer. This audience purchases over 100,000 new autos a month. ·       FINANCIAL TRENDS & INVESTMENTS.  Financial Institutions that connect with Latinos; Home Ownership is on the Rise; Insurance usage by type; the 32 Billion Dollar Latino Reader Travel Market; & more. ·       HEALTH NEEDS.  14.1 million Latino Readers are seeking more information and services on a wide variety of health issues. That’s 91% of the audience – learn what they want help with. We look forward to sharing landmark data.  Background on the presenters Kirk Whisler has Changing Images & Empowering People as the driving forces for his career. On the nonprofit side he is President of Empowering Latino Futures whose programs include the Latino Book & Family Festivals, 74 produced since 1997; the International Latino Book Awards, one of the 10 largest book awards in the USA; the International Society of Latino Authors, the largest organization of Latino authors in the USA; Latino Books into Movies Awards; Education Begins in the Home, which has given away 270,000+ books to underserved kids; and North County Informador, the largest audited print publication in North San Diego County. On the corporate side, Kirk oversees WPR, whose signature program is currently LatinoLYTICS, which has surveyed over 70,000 Latinos and is currently producing the National Latino Media Study.  Over the decades, Kirk has served on the boards of over a dozen key organizations including the National Association of Hispanic Publications (Founding President); National Association of Latino Independent Producers (co-chair); Los Angeles Int'l Latino Film Festival (co-founder); and National Latino Media Council (co-Founder). Also a founding member of the NAHJ, which was founded at the same time as the NAHP. Kirk start his professional career working for Gallup in the 1970s. Kirk lives in Fallbrook, CA, with his wife Magdalena, an educator. Anita Grace is President & CEO of GRACE Multicultural, a woman and minority-owned company. She is an experienced Multicultural Marketing & Communications Specialist working with the country’s most influential Spanish language print, digital, and social media organizations. Anita has created engaging marketing and outreach strategies for mom-and-pop, corporate, national companies, and associations to build relationships with the Hispanic consumer for over 25 years.  Her infectious energy and positivity mixed with long-standing relationships, knowledge of independently and corporately-owned multicultural media outlets, along with her respected reputation in the world of Multicultural Print and Online, make her one of the top independent Hispanic marketing strategists in the country. She has worked with NAHP for over 13 years, bringing some of the most successful campaigns NAHP Media has ever seen. Anita has strategically and successfully executed campaigns such as: US Department of Health & Human Services, Verizon, T-Mobile, Diageo, and more! She is fluent in English and Spanish as well, and she holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Grand Canyon University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and Marketing from Northern Arizona University. Please contact Kirk Whisler at 760-579-1696 or kirk@whisler.com with any questions   California's Latino GDP Surges Past One Trillion Dollars History of the Latino GDP The Latino GDP Project provides a factual view of the large and rapidly growing economic contribution of Latinos living in the United States. The effort to calculate the Latino GDP began with David Hayes-Bautista around 2004. Hayes-Bautista's idea was to use established government data programs to calculate a robust summary statistic for the economic performance of U.S. Read More From Our Partners 2024 Guadalajara FIL Insights For Us All to Grow On By Kirk Whisler, Empowering Latino Futures Growing at a Time When Some Say ‘People Don’t Read Anymore’ The Guadalajara market area, with a population of 5.5 million, has about one-third the population of the Los Angeles DMA. Yet, it now hosts the largest Book Festival in the world, the Guadalajara Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL). Let’s look at a few statistics: 907,300 general public attendees and another 18,100 professional attendees. With visitors staying an average of 4.5 hours, that means over 4.1 million hours spent lookingat books and listening to authors. Presentations: 632 book presentations, 263 literary forums, 210 professional activities, 106 youth FIL activities, 106 academic forums, and 92 musical activities. Over 2.3 million books were purchased, not counting those to be delivered later. The larger stands had continuous lines of 15 to 30 people waiting to buy their books. The FIL is the only meaningful International Literary Rights sales event in North America, with 162 literary agents attending. It’s important to look at the demographics of the attendees to fully appreciate what is happening within the FIL. On one side, 194,239 schoolchildren attended the FIL through efforts organized by schools. Another estimated 320,000 young people aged 15 to 30 came on their own at other times to buy books and enjoy the activities. Seeing hundreds of thousands of young people investing their time and money into books is truly heartwarming and unseen at this level in the USA. Empowering Latino Futures’ Presence at the FIL Over the nine days of the FIL, I saw over 170 authors or publishers who have earned recognition from our International Latino Book Awards, either in 2024 or in previous years. The Empowering Latino Futures booth hosted 42 of those authors. Just the authors from our booth were interviewed at least 130 times by Mexican TV networks, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and podcasts. It was wonderful seeing so many talented authors who loved being surrounded by book lovers. What the U.S. Media & Library Industries Can Learn from the FIL There were 849 media representatives present at the Guadalajara FIL, yet only 24 were from the USA. Twelve were members of the National Association of Hispanic Publications, the oldest and largest Latino media organization in the USA. Not a single mainstream English-language newspaper, magazine, TV network, or radio network was present. All major Mexican TV and radio networks, newspapers, magazines, and podcasts were there not only covering the event but interviewing hundreds of authors. I’d love to see this kind of major attention on reading in the USA. The New York Times, which was not represented in Guadalajara, ran an Op-Ed article in 2013 calling Mexico “The Country That Stopped Reading.” The highly biased and totally inaccurate piece ends by stating, “…the Mexican government is not ready for its people to be truly educated.” From my over two decades of seeing the FIL evolve and grow, I can only state that the United States can learn a lot from how the FIL is ingraining reading into their youth. What Should the Next Step Be? Here in the USA, we need to collectively realize that we can all learn from what the Guadalajara FIL is doing right. Let’s recognize that young people do want to read, as long as we are presenting them with books they can relate to. Let’s work to increase the diversity of books offered here in the USA. While the USA is one of the most diverse countries in the world, you would not know it from the books covered in mainstream media and presented in schools. Let’s all start the year by making plans to be in Guadalajara from November 29 through December 7, 2025. We still have more to learn and books to get out to an interested audience. Please forward this free newsletter on to others who may find it useful. Please unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive it. Trouble viewing this e-mail? Read it on the web. HM101 Thank you.  Sinceramente,  Kirk Whisler Executive Editor,  Hispanic Marketing 101 email: kirk@whisler.com   voice: (760) 579-1696  web: www.hm101.com

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