AMA HONORS LAS MADRINAS – The Visionary Women of US Hispanic Advertising in Texas.

SAVisión, the Hispanic marketing arm of the American Marketing Association, inducted Bonnie Garcia, Gisela Girard, Victoria Varela Negrete and Jessica Pantanini into the Godfathers of Hispanic Marketing Hall of Fame at a tribute luncheon sponsored by Arbitron on February 4th.

These ad pioneers, called “Las Madrinas – The Visionary Women of Hispanic Advertising,” have been active leaders in the Hispanic advertising industry for the past quarter century. All are currently CEOs or COOs of nationally recognized Hispanic ad agencies which service prestigious national brands: Market Vision, Creative Civilization, Impact-O and Bromley Communications. In addition, Gisela Girard serves as current Chairman of AHAA, the Association of Hispanic Ad Agencies, the leading industry trade group, while Jessica Pantanini is incoming Chair. Each of the 4 inductees has received numerous national awards recognizing their industry leadership and contributions.

Based in San Antonio, these four women were instrumental in the growth of the industry, and are responsible for guiding their respective agencies to market leadership. San Antonio was the birthplace of Hispanic media and the Hispanic advertising industry which grew out of those media opportunities. 150 media and advertising professionals from around the nation attended the luncheon held at La Hacienda de Santa Maria.

“Arbitron is proud to sponsor this event and join the industry in celebrating the achievements of these leaders in Latino advertising”, said Clara Carneiro, VP Multicultural Marketing at Arbitron Inc. “San Antonio is widely recognized as the home of the first full time Spanish-language radio, station, and as such we find it very fitting to join in honoring these talented women of San Antonio.”

Longtime friend and colleague, Lionel Sosa, moderated a panel discussion about the challenges these women overcame in their careers, reflections on the state of the industry today and thoughts on the future of Spanish-language advertising industry.

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