A Farewell & A Hello!

In the next few weeks, I’ll be completing my tenure as the CMC Chairman of the Board, and after two exciting and productive years, I’ll be passing the baton to my colleague Gonzalo del Fa. It’s only fitting to look back as well as ahead, and reflect on the state of our industry and the future of our organization.

First, I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved during these past years. We have renamed our organization to reflect a broader membership base as well as the evolution of our industry, reinvented our annual conference, launched our CMC Hispanic Marketing Smart Brief, created an industry-wide Job Center, established new events like the Rising Star recognition, enhanced our Eduardo Caballero Awards to a formal industry Hall of Fame, revamped the CAPE Awards, recognizing the most effective ideas in our industry, hosted several webinars, and delivered on a new research with proprietary data and insights.

Moreover, we led our industry at critical junctures assuming our leadership position as the first multicultural marketing organization to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce opposing the inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 Census. We have also reached out to lapsed industry advertisers to invite them to our events and re-engage with them and started an industry-wide effort to educate and motivate Latinos in this country to register to vote as a way to further enhance our voice in the marketplace (more news to come on that front soon).

All these efforts did not go unnoticed, as the industry has responded positively to these changes. Our conferences are a success again, with a complete focus on fresh content and dialogue, instead of the same old, with the usual speakers, messages, and industry favorites. Our CMC membership is once again growing, and in the process, we also improved our financial stance.

All of this was achieved with minimal resources, always guided by a few powerful beliefs:

• First and foremost, we are driven by the power of the demographic changes in America, and the ever-growing importance of Hispanic consumers.
• Second, we believe in the power of segmentation, and the importance of specialists helping brands leverage the opportunity the Hispanic segment represents.
• Third, and particularly critical to me, we believe that our industry should be guided by high ethical standards, with no room for “pay for play,” lack of transparency, and decisions made by a few based on personal, commercial interests.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s much more we could have done and still can do in the future, and I believe we can accomplish much more if we work together as an industry.

I want to thank each and every one of you who supported me during my tenure at the CMC, including all current and previous board members, past CMC chairs, committee members, CMC staff, and external team members. I’d also like to thank all my Alma colleagues, starting with Luis Miguel Messianu, and our leadership team for their support and generosity, allowing me to serve our industry while sacrificing some of my time at the agency.

Speaking about generosity and support, that’s how I’d like to end this article, with a kind and friendly “Hello.” I am leaving my position, but I will continue to serve the CMC as a board member, not because I need to, but because I believe that as leaders in our industry we must give back to a business that has been so good to many of us.

I am also energized by the number of people who want to help, and I would like to invite those who enjoy staying on the sidelines, judging the ones volunteering their time to our industry to join us and be part of the change they want to see in our organization.

The next two decades will bring to our country unprecedented demographic changes, and more than ever, our skillset will be required to help Corporate America find its way to growth since there’s little upside outside the multicultural space.

Onwards!

Isaac Mizrahi – Co=President of ALMA / Chairman of the Culture Marketing Council