Editor’s note: Mario X. Carrasco is co-founder and principal of ThinkNow Research, a market research agency based in Burbank, Calif. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared here under the title, “Hispanic content in 2018: The year of the 200 percent.”

Segmentation of the U.S. Hispanic population has evolved through the years as Hispanic marketing has gone from a novel idea to a lifeline among brands in desperate pursuit of new markets. Once driven primarily by language (Spanish-dominant to English-dominant), segmentation became more granular, looking closer at acculturation levels (less acculturated to more acculturated) to craft a more relevant marketing message.

Both segmentation tools rely on a linear progression, or a movement from less to more, assuming all individuals move neatly across a predetermined spectrum. But the flaw in that methodology is the assumption that consumer behavior is that predictable. Latinos do not move systematically along a predetermined range. Language, acculturation and culture ebb and flow throughout a person’s life as they amass different experiences. Those experiences impact brand loyalty, adoption of technology and even consumption of content across various forms of media.

Consider the concept of “the 200 percent – 100 percent Latino and 100 percent American.” It embodies the shift away from a predetermined roadmap and embraces the complexity of how Hispanics in the U.S. see themselves in relation to their country of origin and the U.S.

Forward-thinking online content studios like mitu and Remezcla have embraced the concept of the 200 percent, not only for Hispanic audiences but cross-cultural audiences in the U.S. by developing content that infuses the Latino point of view with mainstream entertainment to create a synergist community.

We can expect the concept of “the 200 percent” to catch fire in 2018, shaping Hispanic and cross-cultural content in ways we’ve never seen. Here’s how:

  1. Digital first content start-ups have made headlines recently with their plans to pursue their share of the 200 percent in 2018. Most notably, BeSe, founded by Latina actress Zoe Saldana will create content “for young audiences craving positive portrayals of the modern Latino experience.” We expect to see more content start-ups focused on highlighting diverse stories in 2018, many expanding beyond a Latino focus to the fastest growing group in the U.S., Asian-Americans.
  2. Cultural consultants will be a hot commodity not only for major movie studios in 2018 but digital content providers across the board. A great example of this is the success of Disney’s new release, Coco. The studio’s careful attention to detail shows the tremendous impact sensitivity to cultural nuances can have on the success of the content. We’ll see more studios follow suit in 2018.
  3. Multiculturalism and diversity is a competitive advantage. It not only creates buy-in among audiences but bolsters the bottom line. Whether it is team composition or representation in media, a brand’s commitment to diversity and cross-cultural representation should play out in the content it produces, the people it employees and the partners they work with. Consumers are expecting the brands they love to be curators of real-life experiences, and 2018 will be no different.

The 200 percent is not just for Latinos. Our bidimenisional model shows African-Americans, Asians and Whites have a multidimensional view of themselves in relation to their ancestry and the U.S. Exploring this tension through media is universal and whether the person on screen looks like us or not is irrelevant. The authenticity of the story is what matters and 2017 has proven that.

This will be a year that audiences fracture even further. With the help of cultural consultants, user-generated content and intentional innovation, content studios will mine both quant and qual data to look for the nuances that defy the pre-determined spectrums and create content that better reflects life as we live it. And that’s a future worth looking forward to.

Note: This blog post was originally published on Engage: Hispanics. The mark 200 percent is a trademark of Telemundo. All rights reserved. Used with permission.