Professional Québécois and Québécois Professionals.

I often look at the issues being debated among Hispanic marketers in the U.S. and their practices because they face many of the same challenges we face when dealing with French Québec as part of national marketing programs.

The two obviously do not compare from a socio-demographic standpoint nor in terms of their preferences and consumption behaviour. Yet there are lessons to be learned from how organizations deal with Hispanic marketing.

One such lesson is the difference between ‘Professional Hispanics and Hispanic Professionals’.

It was the topic of a post by Alberto J. Ferrer in Ad Age back in 2007. Here’s an excerpt:

Professional Hispanic Defined
Professional Hispanics are folks who are Hispanic and have chosen their ethnicity as their profession. They have no specific expertise in Hispanic Marketing (or even marketing per se, for that matter) but rather ride the ethnicity of their name to define and build their career.
They can come from all walks of life in a client organization and from all levels.

Professional Hispanics usually see the market with very old-fashioned, traditional eyes (what they remember from growing up) rather than seeing it as the vibrant, ever-changing, dynamic, complex space it actually is. They tend to prefer things like street festivals and local radio. This is because they are not really marketers and thus do not continue learning about the market, changing with it, experimenting with it, etc. They continue using their personal experience as a filter, not realizing that their own selves 10 to 15 years ago are not the target.

Hispanic Professional Defined
Hispanic Professionals are good marketers who understand their target market, are experts in engaging with the target, exhibit savvy communications decision-making, etc. They just happen to be Hispanic and working in Hispanic Marketing at their organizations.

These folks have passion for what they do and believe in the potential of the Hispanic market. They usually come from marketing and communications backgrounds and have the experience and education of solid marketing professionals.

The key difference is that while Professional Hispanics ride their culture and ethnicity to career advancement, Hispanic Professionals leverage their efforts, experience and expertise.

Needless to say that we (at Headspace Marketing) consider ourselves Québécois Professionals instead of Professional Québécois. We offer expertise in marketing-communications that happens to be focused on the Québec market. Our knowledge isn’t based on gut feel about Québec because that’s where we grew up. While that experience is critical, as marketers we rely on reliable and actionable data to avoid the clichés about Québec.

Notice the similarities, the differences, and the absence of poutine... It's about knowing when to adopt, adapt or create for Québécois or Hispanics.