The NBA: Where Language Happens

So the NBA wants to get itself out there in Spanish, for Hispanics—which technically just means “Spanish-speaking people.” Their enebea campaign, which launches today, has all sorts of nice touches like community outreach, a focus on Hispanic players and new courts for neighborhoods that speak a lot of Spanish. The unquestionable emphasis, though, is on language.↵
↵
↵It may seem like an oversimplification, especially when “Hispanic” encompasses such a range of cultural groups. There’s nothing more infuriating than someone who doesn’t get that, say, Cubans and Mexicans come from very different backgrounds. In that sense, you could accuse the NBA of painting with too broad a brush, or maybe even being a tad bit insensitive.↵
↵
↵But if there’s anything the NBA’s learned in its international marketing efforts, it’s that all that really matters is having quality product and making it accessible to people. In that respect, language is king. Hispanic players don’t matter across ethno-cultural lines because everyone identifies them, but because they can give post-game interviews in Spanish. It’s not even clear that the target audience is Americans—since, after all, they speak Spanish in a ton of countries all over the world.
↵
↵Read the rest of this entry >>↵