Culture-First Marketing Emerges As Key To Reaching Latino Consumers.

iHeartMedia is urging advertisers to take a culture-first approach to reaching Hispanic and Latino consumers, arguing that audio’s strong role in the daily lives of those audiences can help brands build trust, relevance and measurable business results. The nation’s Latino population represents a significant opportunity for marketers because of its size, purchasing power and relatively young demographic profile.

Jasmine Mejia, VP of Multicultural Brand Partnerships and My Cultura Podcast Network, notes there are 68 million U.S. Latinos, representing $4.1 trillion in purchasing power, according to the company. Hispanic consumers also have a median age of 29, younger than the overall U.S. population, creating what iHeart described as long-term opportunities for brands seeking future growth.

The company said marketers should avoid treating language as the primary means of connecting with Latino consumers. While some consumers primarily identify as American and others more strongly as Hispanic, many have bicultural identities.

“Language alone does not define identity,” iHeart said, adding that culture, community, values and lived experiences can be more important than language preferences.

That approach forms the basis of what the media group calls culture-first marketing. Rather than simply translating advertising into Spanish, marketers should develop campaigns that reflect the cultural experiences and identities of the audiences they want to reach.

Audio, iHeart said, provides a particularly strong avenue for establishing those connections. Hispanic adults spend about five hours a day with audio and spend substantially more time with the medium than the general population, according to the company.

The relationship between listeners and audio personalities is also a key factor. iHeart said 84% of Latino audiences view their favorite radio and podcast hosts as friends, while Latino consumers are more likely to agree that radio supports their cultural identity.

The company linked that level of trust to a broader consumer desire for human connections in media. It cited research showing that 90% of consumers consider it important to know that media was created by a real person, while 92% say nothing can replace human connection.

iHeart said its “Guaranteed Human” approach uses trusted personalities, live conversations and storytelling to give advertisers opportunities to connect with audiences through people rather than attempting to compete for attention in crowded digital feeds.

The company said its audio and media ecosystem generates more than 469 million monthly Hispanic impressions across radio, podcasts, streaming, social media, creators and live events. Citing Nielsen and Comscore, iHeart said it reaches 90% of Hispanic adults monthly.

Trusted hosts are another important component of the strategy. iHeart said research shows 78% of Hispanic consumers are more likely to try a new product after hearing about it from a favorite radio or podcast host.

Host-read advertisements, creator integrations, custom content and social storytelling can allow brands to participate in relationships that already exist between audiences and personalities, the company said.

iHeart also highlighted My Cultura, its Latino-focused podcast network, which features programming spanning culture, entertainment, personal growth, true crime and Spanish-language content. The company said advertisers can combine podcast advertising with creators, social content, influencer partnerships and experiential marketing.

The company pointed to its iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina event as an example of that broader strategy. In 2025, the event generated 343 million on-air impressions and 12.1 billion social impressions, along with more than five weeks of promotional support and amplification, according to iHeart.

Ultimately, iHeart said culture-first marketing is intended to produce both representation and business results. It said campaigns conducted through My Cultura have generated improvements in authenticity, purchase intent, positive brand perception, cultural relevance and audience connection.

“As the new Latino narrative reminds us: language is a tactic. Culture is the strategy,” iHeart said.