Marketers sometimes make the mistake of defining Spanish-speaking people only in terms of the language they speak, Carvajal said, ignoring important distinctions in country of origin, culture, religion and level of acculturation. When an English message is translated to Spanish with no consideration of these distinctions, cultural and linguistic differences can cause misunderstandings and dilute the effectiveness of the marketing.

“People don’t always take the time to identify the intricacies and individual characteristics within the Latino market,” Carvajal said. “Latino has a new face. Simply translating your message to Spanish is not going to work anymore.”

Instead of translation, he said, Profundo Media offers “transcreation,” interpreting messages in a culturally accurate, sensitive and effective manner.

Carvajal joined the AMA in November to be an active part of the marketing community and to offer assistance for fellow AMA members as they reach out to Latino communities.

“Just use common sense,” he advised AMA members who are marketing to Latinos. “Honor the diversity within the group.”

Carvajal started his career at PAX TV as master control operator, and he has done freelance independent production work for Telemundo and Univision. He moved to the United States seven years ago after studying film and TV production at La Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota.

His clients have included Oregon Department of Education, the Portland Timbers, Les Schwab, Portland State University, HSBC and Mayor Tom Potter, and more than 300 of his Spanish-language commercials have aired in Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho.

About the writer: Alissa Barron Stranzl is EasyStreet Online Services’ marketing assistant and a freelance writer. She can be reached at AlissaS@easystreet.com.