Is it about Politics or is it about Market?
By now everyone has heard the remarks made by self-proclaimed “9 times billionaire” Donald Trump on his announcement for President when he was reported as saying derogatory things about Mexico and its people.
Most have heard of the swift reaction among corporations in severing their relationships with “The Donald”. Last week, the Spanish language network Univision announced it was dropping the Miss USA pageant from its broadcasts. Donald Trump owns the Miss Universe pageant which produces the Miss USA pageant. Yesterday, NBC which co-produced these pageants, announced that it was ending its relationship with Trump due to his comments made about Mexican immigrants. Televisa followed suit and today, Macy’s announced that it will phase out the Trump menswear collection which has been sold at Macy’s since 2004. In a statement Macy’s said that “We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico. We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray and accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nations”.
Quickly Trumps defenders cried “Politics!” Ted Cruz, another candidate from the Republican nomination for President said that it was politics which led to NBC’s actions. Fox News anchor Sean Hannity also came to Trump’s defense citing “political correctness” as the reasons for these actions against Trump.
But is it politics? Or is it something else…… like the growing Hispanic market? One of the fastest growing demographic, the Hispanic population is now 50 million strong in the US and will reach 133 million by 2050. This consumer marketplace is growing in numbers regions and influence. This translates into $1.2 trillion in purchasing power. Coupled with the growth rate, this means Hispanics have money to spend on the brands they like and want.
NBC, Televisa and Macy’s may have seen the writing on the wall and know the math. $ 1.2 trillion is greater than 9 billion.
