Today we would like to focus on the rapidly expanding and emerging Hispanic markets and introduce a company we find very interesting.
The X-Change Corporation announced today that it has reached an agreement with Los Angeles-based technology company IPTVWorld, Inc., to work as partners in the development and deployment of a broad range of Internet-based services, with a first release of a new product line scheduled for staged release beginning May, 2010. Read the full release at Yahoo Finance
Hispanic Online Market Share Growing Quickly
Now is a great time for businesses to concentrate on reaching the Hispanic market online! So far, there has been a positive increase of Hispanics here in the United States using the Internet. In a released report on the Hispanic Internet market here in the United States that was completed in April of 2009 by comScore, a leading company on measuring online audience activities and participation, the Hispanic online population reached a record 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, representing 11% of the total U.S. online market. This is a tremendous increase of 6% from the year before. During the past year, the growth of the U.S Hispanic Internet audience overtook the total U.S. online population in terms of number of visitors, time spent and pages consumed, as Hispanic online adoption and engagement increased at a rapid level. Hispanic Internet users also exhibited a surge in online engagement, including strong increases in time spent and pages consumed. The total amount of time spent online by Hispanics increased 6.9% in 2009, while total pages consumed grew 6%. This is at least 3 to 4 times faster than the total U.S. population actively using the Internet.
Hispanic Mobile Marketing Market
Recent studies from Forrester Research and the Mobile Marketing Association show that
the Hispanic market segment use the mobile phone more than other demographic
groups (Young 2005; MMA 2006) These insights were further supported by a January
2007 study commissioned by edioma, a provider of mobile language assistance
solutions, and conducted by Galloway Research of San Antonio, Texas (http://www.gallowayresearch.com). The purpose of the research was to determine Spanish-dependent mobile phone user preferences and trends related to wireless carrier choice, data usage patterns, proclivity toward 3rd party mobile application Purchase, and interest in e-learning products.
During a six-week period commencing December 15, 2006 Galloway placed over 9,000 calls to
mobile phone users throughout Dallas, Houston, El Paso, and the Rio Grande
Valley. Galloway then narrowed down potential candidates and conducted over 225
interviews of 12-15 minutes each, posing 40 questions to each respondent. The
research methodology employed resulted in a statistical sample accuracy of
approximately 90%.
The findings for this study should be of particular interest to both mobile content
and mobile advertising providers:
- 32% of respondents use T-Mobile as their wireless carrier, followed by Cricket/Pocket/Metro PCS
(21%), Sprint-Nextel at (27%), and Cingular (11%). - Over 75% subscribed to their wireless service on an annual basis, while 23% indicated they
purchased minutes/data on a pre-paid basis. - 34% of those questioned access the Internet over traditional means at home or work, the
majority of which (48%) surfed the Web less than 3 times per week. - Over 48% of persons interviewed were interested to receive more information on learning English
over their mobile phone. - Average price users were willing to pay for a mobile language instruction service was
approximately $21.50 per month. - Over 73% of respondents indicated they would be willing to watch a 2-3 second
advertisement on their mobile phone in exchange for free/discounted English
lessons.
Although based on research conducted in a single market (Texas) these findings are
indicative of national trends. According to a recent study by Yankee Group,
Hispanics average 15% higher ARPU, 21.5% more minutes of use per month than the
average user, and spend 35% more per month on data services than the average
user (Amoroso, 2006). Based on such research, it appears that that low-cost or
advertising-subsidized mobile language instruction services may offer consumers
a unique means to not only improve their quality of life and access to
information, but also represent a highly attractive medium for mobile
advertising.
Hispanic TV Marketing Importance
On the eve of the lastest US Census, we are about to find out that the Hispanic population in the US is growing faster than any other US demographic. Not only Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the US, the Hispanic population is highly dynamic. Its purchasing power is growing faster than that of any other group, at twice the average national rate. In 2008 the US Hispanics purchasing power leaped to $870 billion. In 2015 it is projected to reach $1.3 trillion. This means approximately 12 out of every 100 purchases made in the US in 2015 will be made by Spanish-speaking households.
In itself, this is hardly the news. Businesses in the US have been aware of the demands and power of the Hispanic market for a few years. As a result, companies scrambled to develop Spanish-language sales and customer support options. Still, many businesses were missing the point that to successfully market a product to a Spanish-speaking audience, they had to market it in Spanish in the first place. Research showed that even second-generation Spanish speakers, who might even be more fluent in English than in Spanish, retained preference for Spanish-language messages.
Put it simply, it wasn’t just the parents or grandparents that preferred Spanish-language ads, but the children and grandchildren. And a Spanish-language TV network and e-commerce site present the best way to deliver marketing messages to this audience.
We’ve found a company a we think blends in quite nicely
in this niche market.
“X-Change Corporation Recently Announced its Intention to
Adjust the Strategic Direction of the company to focus on serving the diverse
and growing Hispanic Markets in the US and Caribbean Countries. Their
announcement and recent press releases have propelled the company’s stock price
in recent weeks with surging volume and tremendous stock price appreciation. We
like this company and where it is headed. As we are on the verge of the new US
Census results, there is no doubt that the results will show huge growth in the
Spanish speaking Hispanic market demographics in the US which is the target
market for X-Change Corp. (XCHC)”
X-Change Corp. (OTC: XCHC)
Company Overview
The X-Change Corporation is a multimedia and e-commerce venture serving the diverse
and growing Hispanic markets of North America by providing services tailored to
their cultural expectations and preferences. These services initially include a
bilingual home shopping network accessible through the web, mobile devices, and
TV, and an entertainment service delivering Latino-targeted content to web
browsers and mobile devices. The Company intends to seek out or build
complementary products that help it achieve its goals for growth and
profitability.
Company’s New Strategic Direction
X-Change Corporation recently announced adjustments in the company’s strategic direction.
Under the direction of President and Chief Executive Officer Haviland Wright and
new board members, The X-Change Corporation intends to form and develop two
divisions focused on serving Hispanic markets in North America, a bilingual home
shopping network and a Latino-targeted media-delivery service.
Management intends to develop and leverage relationships with existing home
shopping networks to build significant Hispanic audiences that purchase
merchandise on the web and through mobile devices. These relationships and the
know-how of management will conserve capital that would ordinarily be required
for buying, inventory warehousing management, development of an online sales
infrastructure, shipping and returns, customer service, and the focus on
effective merchandising and marketing. The Company’s management understands and
is in a position to monitor the buying preferences and behaviors of its
markets–each of which has unique characteristics. The Company will develop
intriguing episodic productions that feature popular Hispanic talent promoting
their product lines, an approach that has been successfully implemented at other
home shopping platforms such as QVC.
The Company’s media-delivery network will be similar to the approach taken by video
services such as Hulu® with a focus on providing popular Hispanic entertaining
and informative content as streaming media to the web and mobile devices. The
state of the art of video-delivery technology is sophisticated and advanced, and
this business is considered a content-licensing and promotion play, where the
entity’s value grows with viewership. Revenue shall be derived from advertising,
subscriptions, and the sale of smartphone applications. Channels will organize
content on offer to the widely varying tastes of its markets and individual
subscribers, ranging from romance to mystery to science fiction to drama to
police procedurals. The content will be a combination of individual segments,
serial productions, and motion pictures.
Management
Senior management for The X-Change Corporation include:
Haviland Wright, Ph.D.,
President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Wright is an international technology consultant and investor who served as
chief development officer for Profitability of Hawaii, a Honolulu-based software
development firm. In addition, he is a director of Ventura-based software
company, Elixir Technologies Corporation, where he was chairman from 2003
through 2006 and managed a successful turnaround. He also serves as an
Independent Director of Boston-based Compass Group of Mutual Funds, managed by
MFS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Life of Canada. He was a director of LCD
display developer Nano Loa, Inc., based in Kanagawa, Japan, which he founded
with LCD pioneer Akihiro Mochizuki. Dr. Wright was formerly chairman and CEO of
LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) display manufacturer Displaytech, Inc. He
served as chief scientist and senior vice president of Interleaf, Inc.,
following Interleaf’s acquisition of Avalanche Development Company, an SGML
pioneer that he founded in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Wright received his B.A.
degree from the University of Pennsylvania in mathematics and history; his
M.B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, where
his areas of concentration were accounting and systems sciences. He completed
the CPA and CMA accounting certifications, has held faculty positions at the
University of Colorado and the University of Denver, and has authored numerous
articles for research and industry publications.
Fernando Antonio Gómez,
Executive Vice President
Mr. Gómez is a senior sales and marketing executive with over twenty-five years of
experience in broadcasting, cable television, and news media within the United
States and international markets. His background includes strategic marketing
planning and sales and affiliate relations work throughout his career with Maya
Entertainment, Batanga.com, Starmedia/Wanadoo, MSN Latino, Prime Deportiva, C3D
Digital, Bravo International, The Weather Channel Latin America, The
Inspirational Network, Univision, and Galavision.
Board of Directors
Directors and Officers of The X-Change Corporation include:
Richard T. Steele
Mr. Steele is President and Chief Executive of Network Distribution Group, Ltd., a
Cable Television, Satellite, Broadcast, Media and Internet consulting company,
which assists cable television networks with their respective network
distribution onto cable television systems, broadcast stations, as well as
satellite, and assists start-up internet/media companies with financial
planning, funding and distribution. In the past four years, Mr. Steele has
become involved with a number of Spanish-language media projects, including a
children’s cable television network, a cable television shopping channel, a web
membership-based enterprise, and an on-line shopping venture.
Ron Vigdor, Treasurer
Mr. Vigdor is an entrepreneur and active member of his family’s international
trading and investment company, where he has worked from a young age. In the
late 80’s, Vigdor founded an ISP and long-distance calling-card company and
gained telecommunications and trade-financing experience in South America and
the Caribbean. Vigdor served as lead investor and founding Chariman of the Board
of Fort Lauderdale-based Balize, Inc., an early-to-market social-networking
venture. He has served in senior executive and directorial capacities at
companies around the world. In the last several years, Vigdor has been active in
several companies, including the Canadian e-commerce and auction processor
Kyozou (www.kyozou.com), GPS vehicle locator system Skyewatch, and
safe-baby-bottle manufacturer BornFree, Inc. (www.newbornfree.com). Vigdor is a
US citizen, married with children and living in Boca Raton, Florida.
Latest News at Yahoo Finance
