AOL Time Warner's (NYSE:AOL) America Online division is courting Latino Americans with the release of AOL Latino, a new Spanish language version of its online service. For a company trying to boost its lagging subscriber numbers, going after the country's largest minority group with a targeted approach is a good idea.
AOL Latino isn't just a Spanish translation of the usual America Online account and service. It will offer lots of specific content for Latino Americans from providers like Univision, La Opinion, BBC Mundo, and El Diario-La Prensa. America Online Latin America, AOL's joint venture to provide Internet service in South and Latin America, will also provide some original content for the service. In addition, users will have access to all of AOL's English content.
There are an estimated 40 million Hispanics in the U.S., and about 12.5 million of them are online. AOL currently has about 2.3 million Latino subscribers, most of whom speak mainly English. The new service, though, will likely attract users who speak mostly Spanish, or both Spanish and English.
AOL has worked hard to make the service appealing and relevant to Latino Americans, with a dual focus on issues they face in this country, as well as topics and news from their home countries. If AOL can effectively market to and resonate with this increasingly large audience, AOL Latino should be a success, and should help the company broaden its subscriber base. For AOL and its shareholders, this opportunity to reach untapped markets is a positive development.
AOL Time Warner is one of David Gardner's market-beating recommendations in Motley Fool Stock Advisor.
