Businesses that don't target the Hispanic market through advertising risk losing a significant segment of Tucson's population, a panel of experts told advertising professionals yesterday.

Peter Roslow, president of New York-based Roslow Research Group, told the meeting of the Tucson Ad Federation that simply translating ads into Spanish may not be enough to connect with the Latino market.

"The Hispanic market is different," he said. "It takes more than just advertising in Spanish."

He said factors such as brand awareness, product use level and brand market shares are different in the Latino market than they are in the general market.

"Sometimes products were even used differently by Hispanics," he said.

In one case, he said a bottled water manufacturer found that Latinos were using their product to wash their fruits and vegetables.

He said knowing what Latinos look for in a product category and what message they will respond to are key to a successful Spanish-language campaign.

Roslow said his studies show advertising to Latinos in Spanish is much more effective than ads in English in terms of recall, message communications and persuasion.

He said his research shows English-language ads are 45 percent less effective among bilingual Latinos than Spanish advertising.

Roslow stressed that advertisers can't rely on their general market campaigns to reach Latinos, even bilingual Latinos.

"If you think your general marketing campaign is delivering Hispanics, you're probably wrong," he said. Roslow said advertising to the Latino market is necessary but requires effort to do it effectively.

"I think the punch line is it really isn't so easy," Roslow said. "You have to do a little bit of homework; you have to do your research."

Bob Feinman, director of Hispanic operations for Clear Channel Radio in Tucson, said advertisers shouldn't ignore 35 percent of Tucson's population just because of limited advertising funds.

"If you have a small budget, how can you not want a total return on your investment?" he asked.

Jose Felipe Garcia, economic development specialist with the Tucson Mexico Trade Office, said a small advertising budget doesn't necessarily mean a company can't put together an effective campaign.

Garcia said the Vamos a Tucsón program was able to advertise in Mexico on television, radio, billboards and in newspapers through in-kind trades and other methods - for $5,000.

Michael Bolchalk, president of the federation, said even though Tucson is only the 74th-largest television market in the country, it ranks 24th in the size of its Latino market.

And, Latinos' spending power in Tucson is about $4.3 billion. "The numbers are just too significant to ignore," Bolchalk said.