The United States spent $5.3 trillion on healthcare in 2024, approximately $15,474 per person. Healthcare spending represented nearly 18% of the entire U.S. economy.

With a figure of this magnitude, one question is hard to ignore: what are we getting in return?

This was one of the central questions in the conversation between Mario Carrasco and Aaron Fields, MHA, ACC, on The New Mainstream Podcast. For Fields, understanding where value is being created within all this spending is fundamental to thinking strategically about the future of healthcare.

This is part of what Alejandra Soto, Director of Latino Communications at Planned Parenthood, shared with Mario Carrasco in the latest episode of The New Mainstream Podcast: understanding Latino audiences requires much morethan speaking their language.

“Latino consumers” may seem like a clearly defined audience. In reality, it includes people with very different identities, experiences, generations, languages, and cultural contexts.

And that difference matters.

A recent immigrant who is predominantly Spanish-speaking, a second-generation bilingual consumer, and a fourth-generation Latino who primarily speaks English may allidentify as Latino—but they can consume media, respond to messaging, and engage with brands in completely different ways.

Speaking Spanish Doesn't Mean Understanding Latinos

For brands, reaching Latino audiences requires much more than translating an existing campaign.

It means understanding who the audience is, what cultural context shapes their behavior, where they get information, and what makes a message feel authentic.

In her conversation with Mario Carrasco, Alejandra Soto explains how research, listening, and the ability to adapt strategies are essential to building more relevant multicultural communications.

Authenticity Can't Be Manufactured

Cultural relevance also isn't about adding recognizable cultural symbols to an advertisement.

A campaign can use the right language, imagery, or cultural references and still fail to connect with its audience.

The difference lies in whether those elements reflect a genuine understanding of the community or simply reproduce stereotypes.

For brands looking to Understand, Reach, and Engage multicultural audiences, that distinction can be decisive.

AI and Why Human Curiosity Still Wins

Artificial intelligence is transforming the market research industry at an unprecedented pace. From survey analysis to synthetic data and predictive modeling, AI is making research faster, more scalable, and increasingly accessible.

If AI can analyze data, what becomes the role of the researcher?

In the latest episode of The New Mainstream Podcast, Mario Carrasco sits down with Vera Chien, a research and strategy leader with extensive experience in entertainment and consumer insights, to discuss how AI is reshaping the futureof research and why human curiosity is becoming more valuable than ever.