Following a year of decelerating growth of 5.7% in 2023, U.S. multicultural advertising and marketing spending – including Hispanic, African, and Asian American markets – is forecasted to grow 8.4% to a record $45.8 billion next year, based on just-released research from PQ Media.
Driving much of this growth will be Hispanics, expected to account for a significant share of political ad budgets during 2024's presidential election, although the segment figures to be one of the most important constituents of any candidate seeking a high state or federal office, especially in the largest states with the most votes, including Florida, Texas, and California. That's good news for radio, as stations targeting Hispanics are projecting a 25% increase in political ad spend, to $41 million.
While Hispanic media already commands 68.3% of multicultural media spend, and accounts for more than double the combined share of the other two multi-ethnic segments – African-American (28.8% share) and Asian-American (2.9% share) – PQ Media sees both those segments posting accelerated growth of nearly 8% in 2024.
This would represent a major leap from overall multicultural media spend for 2023, which was just 5.3% of total U.S. ad and marketing spend, showing little growth from 2017's 5.2%. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans combined made up 39.3% of the population in 2023, and have constituted the fastest-growing demographic in the country for years, even as their combined share of ad spend remains in the 5-6% range.
The predicted ad spend growth rate for 2024 stands in stark contrast to 2023's slowed growth, which came, PQ's report says, as a result of “fears of an impending economic recession that never materialized, the U.S. Supreme Court reversing its ruling on affirmative action at universities, and the reaction of the 'Woke' movement, which led to negative financial impacts on major U.S. brands, such as Target and Bud Light.” Those factors, according to the report, led to slashed multicultural ad budgets this year, particularly by newer emerging brands.
PQ Media's longer-range forecast sees noteworthy growth for spending on ads targeting Hispanics beyond 2024, specifically during FIFA's 2026 soccer World Cup in North America, with the report saying it “may completely disrupt the U.S. soccer landscape, firmly positioning the country on the map as a soccer powerhouse.” Adds PQ Media CEO and founder Patrick Quinn, “The 2026 FIFA World Cup could be the phenomenon that finally supercharges the multicultural markets – and particularly the largest and fastest growing demographic therein, Hispanic Americans – into the double-digit range of total U.S. media spend for the first time ever."
Also set to positively impact multicultural ad spend in years ahead, according to PQ, is growth in experiential marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing, out-of-home advertising, and pure-play digital advertising, all of which are poised to post their highest growth rates of all time in, not only the multicultural media sector but the overall U.S. ad & marketing industry.
Comments