If you work in youth media or marketing and have an idea for a guest post, feel free to email me.

Today's Latino Youth: How Marketers Can Navigate Their 'Two Worlds'

The Pew Hispanic Center’s recent study, “Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America” offers up some important insights that today’s marketers not only need to be aware of, but should take action on if they want to succeed in engaging these increasingly influential consumers. Understanding the complex identity of today’s Latino youth and how they are different from non-Latino youth consumers will enable marketers to identify opportunities for relevant brand experiences.

Identity is complex, fluid and dynamic.

The Pew study reveals that young Latinos show a strong preference for describing themselves first by their family’s country of origin (52%) over American (24%) and Hispanic or Latino (20%). As can be expected, this changes a bit when we look at young Latinos who are 1st generation (born outside the US) vs. 2nd generation (born in the US with at least one parent born outside the US) vs. 3rd generation (born in the US with both parents born in the US.) “American” becomes a more preferred term among 3rd (and higher) generation young Latinos with 50% of them selecting that description; however only 33% of 2nd generation and 3% of 1st generation young Latinos say they would describe themselves first as “American.”

In conducting research with young Latinos throughout the years, I have found this to be true, especially in the context of pride. Young Latinos are proud to be able to express different sides of their identity … Latino, American, or both. The fact that they are teens and young adults means they want to be active participants of US youth culture, and they are able to do so by being part of the same social networks, watching the same channels and going to the same web sites as many of their non-Latino friends.

However, that doesn’t mean they have to forget their Latino roots. On the contrary; they exhibit a pan-Latino pride that few previous generations of Latinos have. Through music, fashion, food, language and traditions, young Latinos are expressing the Latino side of their identity – and much of this is facilitated through technology and social media. Their fluency in these areas means that – in an instant – they can chat with relatives from their parents’ country of origin, upload a video of themselves dancing "bachata" or download Juanes’ latest ringtone to their cell.

The “fluid” aspect of their identity comes into play through daily interactions with friends, peers, coworkers and family. As I found through my work in co-directing The Intelligence Group’s 2009 Cassandra Multicultural Report, young Latinos report having to act more American in situations like being at work or going to school if there are not many Latino students around; they speak and act differently than when they are at home. Their behavior switches once they reach their neighborhoods or walk into their houses and they feel more Latino. Mannerisms change and they start to speak Spanish or Spanglish – a mixture of English and Spanish. In fact, the Pew Study shows that 70% of Latino youths say that when conversing with family and friends they use Spanglish. Their daily lives are a constant balancing act between two cultures; they see this as both a survival tactic and a source of empowerment.

For marketers…
What this means for marketers is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for engaging young Latinos. They consume Spanish language media, English language media, and Spanglish media (MTV Tr3s, mun2, SiTV, etc.) and their options will only continue to increase.

1. Marketers should seek to understand how their brand can fit organically into the different aspects of Latino youth identity. Young Latinos are proud of being American and Latino and expect marketers to understand that they are unique.

2. Do not depend solely on Spanish language to market to young Latinos. Instead of focusing on in-language communication, strive for in-culture messages that are more likely to be culturally relevant.

3. Allow young Latinos to tell their stories within the context of your brand. They are fluent in technology and social media and want to see their voice represented in the media.

About Gonzalo
Gonzalo Perez is owner and principal of Motivo Insights. In this role, he partners with marketers and advertisers who seek to connect with today’s youth, urban and Hispanic consumers. Motivo Insights leverages meaningful consumer understanding to provide brands with strategic insights that will help ensure their relevance to these increasingly influential consumers. Gonzalo provides services such as focus group moderating, strategic planning, brand strategy ideation, and new business pitch development.

Now, despite the company's efforts to solicit input from a group of high-profile black women, including Cookie Johnson, wife of former basketball star Magic Johnson, some parents are saying the dolls aren't black enough. They complain that five of the six dolls feature fine-textured, waist-length hair; half of them have blue or green eyes. Moreover, all have the freakishly skinny body of a Barbie (something that irks some white parents as well).

As holiday shopping season kicks into full gear, I imagine the disappointment of these parents is felt even more acutely. Barbie body types aside (sigh), these rare mainstream commercial representations are powerful symbols for young girls and an exciting prospect for parents. So regardless of how much consultation/research involved or genuine thought and effort invested by doll designer Stacey McBride-Irby (must say, I love the smart girl/mentorship angle!), when a finished product falls short of  expectations  you can expect frustration from select critics  to be as palpable as it is in this article. Not so much because parents fear any immediate harmful effect on tween girls, but for the more subtle aftermath that leads to questions like "Why don't I have good hair?" (Apparently the question that was asked by the 4-year-old daughter of Chris Rock to inspire him to create the documentary "Good Hair.")

For Mattel as a business, these criticisms may also mean a missed opportunity on the holiday sales front. Or they may not: Disney has fielded similar concerns about racial sensitivity (including those expressed by our own YAB member Meg) for "The Princess and the Frog" which is also the product of careful market research.  Merchandise for the film, specifically Princess Tiana dolls, is already outselling other Disney Princess-branded items by double digits even though the movie does not open until Dec. 11. It's likely that for many African-American parents, the historic nature of the toy and the sheer force of desire coming from young girls with eyes on the princess-prize could trump parental concerns over the relative small stuff. In other words, while not a perfect effort, it is a thoughtful effort and it's what's available in the marketplace now. Now, however, being the operative word.

That said, what should be encouraging – if not for this season – is that Mattel has taken these comments and from critics to heart and does have plans to expand the line in the fall of 2010 to include dolls that offer a wider range of hairstyles and facial features. So no, you can't inspire all the people, all the time. But you can keep trying.

For more coverage of the tween space, check out the Ypulse Tweens Channel.

I wanted to write a post on this in light of Variety reporting that The Multicultural Motion Picture Association would be honoring "Glee" with the favorite new television cast ensemble award at the 17th annual Diversity Awards. On the one hand, the cast is a diverse bunch to a degree that you don't often see on a mainstream teen television show on cable. At the same time, that's one of the reasons why it is so disappointing that these parts have not been given the respect or dimensions of Rachel, Quinn, Finn or Kurt. Apart from fairly thin adjunct story lines to the main characters' (even in the episode New York Magazine acutely titled "Minority Report" in its recap), some stinging one liners (like Mercedes' killer delivery of "My dad's a dentist" after someone makes a reference to her class) and a handful of solos and dance numbers, there is hardly any depth to the roles of Mercedes, the outspoken soul singer who draws "Aretha" comparisons, or Tina, a shy, stuttering Asian girl who dresses in goth (as of now, the same could also be said of the wheelchair-bound Artie). We have yet to even enter any of their homes.

For some this has been a criticism of the show from the beginning. Over on the blog Racialicious, concerns were raised over the stock types of Mercedes and Tina, in particular, when the show first premiered during the summer, even bringing in an always-heated comparison to the painfully stereotypical Long Duk Dong from "Sixteen Candles." Others, however, have more recently defended the show with the belief that although the critique is legit as of now, "Glee" just needs more time to deepen the backgrounds of its remaining players in the same way it has with the main crew. I land somewhere in between these two camps. While I don't see the show as committing any egregious missteps so far and have enjoyed the edgy satirical commentary on high school stereotypes served up by Jane Lynch as Cheerios' taskmaster Sue Sylvester, the defense that there hasn't been enough episodes to pay more attention to those supporting roles seems weak to me.

It became even harder to shake that feeling this past weekend when I re-watched the first season of ABC Family's show "Greek," a show with an equally diverse ensemble that seems to have consistently done a much better, more seamless job of splitting the focus between all members of the cast and gradually fleshing out the supporting roles into full-fledged believable teens and young adults. Granted, the race and ethnicity aspect of characters is played very differently in each show with "Greek" putting it largely in the background in favor of defining identity by other means (school, family, the Greek system), but the structures are similar enough to beg the question of "why not?" with the time argument. Not that the show has a responsibility to make the most of its potential to do more with the talented assortment of actors and actresses, but after seeing how skillfully it was handled in the case of Kurt and watching the show repeatedly use race and ethnicity as material, I can't help but hope to see the show live up to the honor of the "Diversity Awards." For now, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and hoping the remainder of the season will do just that.

Sorta Related
In defying labels, the millennials are leaving their mark on TV [Boston Globe]

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

I grew up in the South – Nashville, TN – granted, it's not the deep South, but drive about 15 miles outside of the city and you will definitely find some deep Southern flavor. I definitely heard stories when I was in high school and even when my younger sister was in high school of white racist parents threatening to disown their teens for having African American friends or heaven forbid, a boyfriend or girlfriend. But that was [ugh] over 20 years ago.

Having lived mostly in major cities for the majority of my adult life, reading various research for Ypulse about how this generation is much more comfortable with interracial dating and having friends from different backgrounds, discussing the power of the internet to bridge across racial lines and of course, witnessing the mass youth movement around Obama's election, I may have bought into the post-racial vibe somewhat as well. Watching the teens in the documentary who came together to attend this high school's first integrated prom spoke to changes around racial attitudes that are happening within this generation — even in the deep South. Still, despite Morgan Freeman paying for ONE integrated prom (he is a resident of the town), there were enough white parents against the idea (along with their teenage children, some pressured, some sharing mom and dad's views) to go ahead and hold a separate "white prom."

I also watched a bit of CNN's Black in America 2 last night, which profiled an African American student (one of around 90) at a small liberal arts college who spoke about the subtle and occasionally not so subtle racism he still experiences from his peers on campus. I recommend watching both "Prom Night In Mississippi" and "Black in America 2″ – if only as a reminder that in spite of our hope for change and desire to overcome racism, race relations, even among teenagers, are still complex and not quite "post racial" yet. I'm confident though that some of today's teenagers, like the brave teens who attended that first integrated prom, will be catalysts for bringing about social change when it comes to race relations in America.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

danah boyd breached the subject in her keynote, expanding on some observations she made in a controversial blog essay she wrote two years ago based on her ethnographic research with teens across the country: that the ongoing racial and socio-economic stratification within social networks, specifically the divide between MySpace and Facebook, are in boyd's words "a modern incarnation of White Flight."

Effectively waving a red flag, boyd quoted the language of condescension invoked by high school students from privileged backgrounds, who characterized MySpace as "ghetto" and "cheesy" and "less safe" than Facebook, a notable echo of the sentiment that we've heard expressed by the media with varying degrees of tactfulness.  While these divisions were not born on the net, they continue to live there, passively creating a new manifestation of  "second class" citizens. The message to politicians thus being twofold — that speaking only through Facebook or Twitter or any one social network limits the conversation to a certain segment of their constituents,  and that the opportunity to create a meeting point, while a formidable challenge, still exists.

The topic was picked up again later in the day at a panel on empowering the youth vote by Maria Teresa Peterson from the Latino voter activist group Voto Latino. Peterson pointed out the top two reasons Latino youths had historically refrained from participating in political activities were they didn’t feel smart enough, and no one was asking them.

In Voto Latino's effort to address these issues and engage the young Latino population during the election —  the fastest-growing minority group in the U.S. with 50,000 Latinos turning 18 every month, 92 percent of whom are eligible to vote — MySpace played a crucial role as a platform for public service announcements that spoofed telenovelas and featured celebs like Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama.

Offline these efforts continued with the help of "ShoBoy," a popular Bay Area DJ who hosts a bilingual show and partnered with the organization to host monthly registration drives at concerts, colleges and malls in the area and pre- and day-of-election text message blasts reminding people to go out and vote. Peterson also made the point that with many young Hispanics acting as the gatekeepers within their home, direct mail, done right, may also prove to be an effective strategy.

In the wake of November 2008, the emphasis for all of the youth-centric groups is on identifying best practices like these and maintaining the momentum that lead up to a phenomenal finish on election day.  Now that they've been activated and are ready to be engaged, what's the next step?

Author and youth vote activist Mike Connery observed, that despite ongoing efforts such as the redesign of whitehouse.gov and the recent launch of  the "craigslist for service site" All For Good, "No one has found silver bullet yet."  A symptom, fellow panelist Greg Miller of the Open Source Digital Voting Foundation, identified as part of a larger issue of lack of structural support for civic engagement with high school students only having to take a course or less to get by. According to Miller, engaging the youth vote in a sustainable durable conversation requires a mechanism that starts with voter registration (which he proposes should be automatic for U.S. citizens from birth) and continues from there. Continues to where exactly? Well, hopefully that's the question on PDF attendees' minds.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

Understanding identity, the role of class, and connection is what is really important. For instance, a kid may be Hispanic, living in L.A. and his or her interest lies in skateboarding. The community of skateboarders, the fashion associated with it, and the indigenous language used by skateboarders have the biggest impact on that person's identity, more so than the fact that they are Hispanic. Ethnicity is just one minor part of the mix.

And then highlights a couple dissenting views from John Parikhal, a global leader in media strategy, marketing, research and consumer trends, and Ken Smikle, publisher of Target Market News:

[Parikhal] asks: "How does Walker conclude that it's minor? Based on what evidence?" Parikhal, referenced the Black America Study, which reveals that Black youth often lead parallel lives and provides a clear rationale for targeted efforts: "Black Onliners," for example, are primarily Black men who are 97% online, educated, moderate income earners, have a majority of Black friends and respond to targeted Black advertising. However, although "Digital Dividers" have a similar demographic profile to Black Onliners, they are different. They are higher income earners, yet have fewer Black friends. "Ethnic identity is a big deal for some Blacks and minor for others," says Parikhal.

Smikle agrees and adds this about Hispanics: "He [Walker] makes the point about the two identities that all people of color have: Hispanic/Skateboarder, i.e., Background/Interests. What he doesn't get is that being Hispanic comes first. And it's the only part of the identity that doesn't change — ever."

What I was hearing from the collection of marketers who spoke at our pre-conference was not that race/ethnicity is "minor" but that for this generation, it is not as defining as it may have been for past generations. And that it shouldn't be the primary driver of youth marketing budgets, i.e. buckets set aside for targeting specific racial groups vs. more interest based campaigns that may or may not have some element that appeals to a young person's sense of racial/ethnic identity.

To counter Smikle's point, if asked, Hispanic may come first to a young Hispanic skater. But what's more impactful — a brand attempting to reach all Hispanic youth with an obviously Hispanic message on Hispanic media platforms? Or a brand sponsoring a pro-skater who happens to also be Hispanic or sponsoring a skateboarding event and hiring a well-known Hispanic graffiti artist to paint while a DJ plays hip hop in the background.

So while racial and ethnic identity is still a very important part of how young people identify, and may be more or less important depending on class — my take away is that it is no longer the defining part, and that to target youth based on race alone will have far less of an impact than creating nuanced marketing efforts that acknowledge the interest-driven tribes as well as racial or cultural identity. To acknowledge that in many ways technology has played a big role in helping to knock down the walls between young people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, connecting youth of different races according to interest and creating a much more diverse playlist.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

Princess Like Me: Questions Raised By Disney's 'Princess And The Frog'

I'm personally really excited about "The Princess and the Frog." Like most little girls in the nineties, I grew up with Disney classics like "Bambi" and "The Little Mermaid." Honestly, Disney is doing SO many things right with this movie: Anika Noni Rose, of "Dreamgirls" is voicing Tiana, the lead, Randy Newman is doing the music, and they even got Oprah involved! I think it's awesome that Tiana has a goal—opening her own restaurant—and isn't just sitting around waiting to be saved. Plus, tween girls of all races already are already looking up to Sasha and Malia Obama as "real-life" princess role models

Disney is not just trying to be politically correct with the release of "The Princess and the Frog." It's not just about the Obamas being in the White House, and it's certainly not because there's no racism in our country, or that people have "gotten over" our distinctly rocky past. Disney is a company, and it, too, needs to make money. It's definitely filling a unique niche in kid's entertainment.

But based on the company's past history with other "ethnic" princesses, I'm a little nervous about what cultural faux-pas it's bound to create with "The Princess and the Frog." For examples of what I mean, look at the "barbaric" image of the Middle East in "Aladdin." Or, check out their treatment of Native religions in "Pocahontas." Eek!

Speaking of which, Tiana is from New Orleans, but she's not the first American princess as some have mistakenly claimed. Pocahontas is. And, in fact, is probably the "truest" American princess there could be. It's true that Tiana is the first one to wear a long poufy dress and a tiara, but keep in mind: not that much about the other Disney Princesses, even their accents, is noticeably "un-American." The fact that Sleeping Beauty is from a fairy land isn't going to alienate young viewers any more than the fact that Tiana is from New Orleans will necessarily make her any more endearing.

A couple elements of the storyline already have made me cringe (the "voodoo" doctor villain, for one), but the thing that disturbed me most about the trailer for this movie wasn't Tiana's hairstyle, name, or skin color (all of which have been debated extensively in blog posts, message boards, and in the press. It was the firefly. As "Enchanted" so hilariously parodied, EVERY Disney Princess needs cute talking animal sidekicks. But the buck-toothed, grizzled-looking firefly the trailer introduced is a far cry from Gus and Jacques, or even Sebastian the crab. Several bloggers have come out about this, too, wondering if Disney means to evoke a "dumb slave" stereotype with the character's hick accent. I'm not sure, but I do wonder at Disney’s choice. No little girl I know would want a stuffed animal of that sitting on her bed.

While I'd like to dismiss the comments of people who say that having Tiana's Prince Naveen (who hails from a fictional foreign country) have light skin and features that are decidedly NOT African American is somehow an insult, there is another more complex issue at stake. I applaud Disney for validating interracial relationships, and I'm all for having a black princess fall in love with whomever she chooses. But when are we going to have a black Prince Charming? There are plenty of black male figures in the media, but whether they're sports stars or the president, I can't think of many black male characters in kid-aimed entertainment that are heroic romantic leads, or even serious crushes, for black OR white tweens.

Yes, Disney consulted with leaders in the African American community while making "The Princess and the Frog," and yes, I know it's "just a movie." It's great that black girls like me will be able to dress up like a princess that actually looks like them come Halloween, or can have a pretty darker-skinned doll to join Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and the rest. But I hope that that isn't at the expense of the other important issues. My question is, what will the response from the rest of America be? I'm fairly sure "The Princess and the Frog" will be a marketing success, but maybe I'll be best able to judge the impact this film has had when I see my cute blonde nine-year old neighbor come trick-or-treating as Tiana.

About Meg

Megan is a college student, freelancer and hardcore bookworm. She began writing fashion articles for her hometown newspaper at age 15, and her work has since appeared in publications like Boston magazine, Mountain Living and CosmoGirl. Meg also loves theatre and the arts, and when she's not sending postcards, devouring YA novels, or reading up on 19th-century cultural studies, she's probably dragging someone along on a late-night ice cream/Starbucks run. Meg has lived in three (soon to be four) countries and five states, though she currently resides in Arizona.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

Ypulse: What changes have you seen in the Hispanic youth market over the years? What aspects do you expect to continue to change?

Gonzalo Perez: This is definitely an important question. First and foremost the growth in population and the impact on the overall U.S. cultural landscape… With this growth in numbers comes a growth of influence, which will continue to change and evolve. Young Hispanics are influencing mainstream culture as well as their own households. You can already see their buying influence through their role as gatekeepers within the home, translating and being the go-to person for older family members who are not as comfortable with the English language and American culture. And in the mainstream you see this with their cultural influence on entertainment, fashion and music.

[With this influence] I think there’s also an increase in empowerment.. In generations past, young Hispanics were looking to blend in a little more, assimilate more, acculturate more. Young Hispanics now are proud to wear the badge of being Hispanic.

I’ve heard first hand young Hispanics talking about non-Hispanic friends wanting to learn Spanish, wanting to learn about Hispanic food, culture, etc. You see a Pan Hispanic sense of pride, whether that that be a parade, radio stations playing crossover Hispanic artists like Shakira or Daddy Yankee… [Hispanic youth are] wearing their flags on their cars and speaking Spanish and speaking spanglish to show pride in their culture.

YP: In what ways has Hispanic youth culture remained traditional and how have they adapted to modern youth culture?

GP: It’s definitely a combination of both. There’s definitely a hybrid identity today that young Hispanics are exhibiting. They’re taking from their national Hispanic roots and mashing that with American culture. They want to maintain their cultural side, they see the value in that for their own personal growth. And many things Hispanic are appealing to mainstream culture. There's been a definite rise in stories in the media as well as a rise in Hispanic actors and actresses. They're definitely looking to maintain cultural ties and identity, but they want to balance that with mainstream U.S. culture … this way they can be accepted participants of youth culture, but still be a little different.

YP: Could you name a brand or two that has done a successful job of connecting with young Hispanic consumers? Which ones and how?

Well, I used to work for this company, but I think MTV Tr3s — MTV's Hispanic targeted channel. They’ve definitely been able to leverage that equity they’ve been able to build with youth culture and add a Latino flavor to that. They make it personal and make it culturally relevant. Even their playlist is bi-cultural. You can see Daddy Yankee right next to 50 Cent. So yeah, MTV Tres is one brand that’s been able to do that successfully

And most recently, Universal Studios partnered with Mr. Cartoon, a icon in graffiti, tattoo and car culture. He's also a Latino from California who has a lot of credibility with the urban youth culture. He designed a mural for the "Fast and the Furious" movie that contributed to the overall buzz for the movie and really helped ramp up the marketing efforts. For the opening weekend, a recent Variety article reported that 46% of the audience was Hispanic.

YP: What common mistakes do brands make with this audience? How can they be avoided?

GP: Two common mistakes. [One is] assuming young Hispanics can be marketed to like all Hispanics or older Hispanics and taking the traditional Spanish language approach.

[The other] is assuming that young Hispanics are like all young people. There are cultural differences that distinguish them from general youth.

The way to avoid these mistakes is by understanding Hispanics in the most meaningful way possible. Through a lot of market research and plugging into the different lifestyles.

YP: Now to switch gears a little bit, what recurring trends have you seen in mobile as far as the youth market?

GP: One thing that has obviously come up in self expression through mobile is ring tones.. that's one way young consumers will continue to express themselves and show creativity. There will also be an increase in focus on the urban youth market with mobile. I think Boost Mobile has done a good job of appealing to that segment. Beyond their traditional marketing efforts, they had an initiative where they encouraged urban youth to participate in community service, and in exchange, rewarded them with concert tickets for shows in their area. This is a different way to remix mobile and community. I'd also say we'll continue to see an increase mobile web content, especially as it pertains to the urban market. Multicultural consumers are accessing mobile content in a big way and I don't think that will end anytime soon.

YP: What can attendees expect to take away from your presentation at Urban/mulicultural pre-conference?

GP: I think what they can take away is a deeper, better understanding of what we call the urban youth consumer and how their preferences for mobile are unique… versus general market youth consumers and also some ways to leverage mobile to stay connected to urban youth.

More on Gonzalo:
Gonzalo Perez partners with marketers and advertisers who seek to connect with today’s youth, urban and Hispanic consumers. He most recently collaborated with brands such as MTV, MTV Tr3s, ESPN and Pepsi on key consumer insights initiatives. Motivo Insights also partnered with Alma DDB, the award winning Hispanic advertising agency, and co-directed The Intelligence Group’s 2008 Latino Intelligence Report, which provides marketers and advertisers with an in-depth look at today’s Latino youth consumers. He began his work in branding and consumer research over 10 years ago at The Bravo Group, a Young & Rubicam subsidiary specializing in advertising to the U.S. Hispanic market, while managing accounts including AT&T, Citibank and the U.S. Army.

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.

The lineup was a diverse collection of industry professionals (with industry meaning everything from health care to street art curator) tied together loosely by an underlying theme of "making things better." The "thing" I thought would be the most relevant for Ypulse readers? Digital multiculture. This was the basis of the presentation "Ghosts in the Machine" from Celestine Arnold, a consumer insight strategist, who took a closer look at the representation — or lack thereof — of race in games like GTA and virtual worlds like Second Life.

Early on Arnold pointed out, that aside from all of the troubling ethical implications of not accurately representing ethnic minorities in games and virtual worlds, it also just didn't demonstrate good business sense — according to recent research, white players (30.8 percent) have fallen notably behind Hispanic (42.1 percent) and African-Americans (36.3 percent). Not only that, but studies have shown that African-Americans and Hispanics spend more money on games each month than Caucasians. According to Arnold, "they're missing out on millions of dollars." So then what can be done to embrace this potentially lucrative, currently under-served consumer target?

Arnold's suggestion for the "narrative problem" in these games and worlds where white male characters dominate and non-white characters are cast in the supporting roles of sidekick or villain (thugs for Black characters, terrorists for Middle Eastern characters), were simple changes to add a "360 perspective."

These changes included allowing players to choose the color of their skin, even if the only part of their body showing is the hand of a first-person shooter game. Also, providing the option of taking on the role of the "enemy" character (in particular with war games that take place in the Middle East.) Through these small modifications an exclusive model becomes an inclusive one.

Her parting thoughts: "Video games are the new movies. They need to do what movies [like 'Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle' and Tyler Perry] have done. " Priceless words of wisdom that may very well be worth millions of dollars

For more coverage of urban/multicultural youth culture, check out the new Ypulse Urban Channel.