General Mills’ Hispanic marketing platform Que Rica Vida expands reach to Television & Social Media.

General Mills Inc. announced the launch of a year-long partnership with the Univision Network, the country’s leading Spanish-language television network, which will expand the reach of its highly successful Hispanic marketing platform, including the Spanish-language lifestyle magazine, Que Rica Vida, into television. The network’s Despierta America (“Wake-up America” M-F, 7 a.m. ET/PT; 6 a.m. Central) co-host Karla Martinez will be its new spokesperson. As such, Ms. Martinez will star in a series of 30-second vignettes that will air coast-to-coast over the next 12 months. Like the popular magazine, the vignettes will provide viewers with cooking- and nutrition-related tips, each featured by one of Que Rica Vida’s 14 participating General Mills brands.

“As a young mother who has created a new life for herself and her family in the United States, Karla is the perfect person to facilitate Que Rica Vida’s conversations with consumers; the kind of person anyone would like to have as a friend,” said Que Rica Vida editor Ursula Mejia-Melgar. “We are excited to have her represent our initiative, which strives to be, ‘Una Amiga Para Siempre’ or ‘a friend for life’ to other Latina moms.”

All our research shows that since its inception two-and-a-half year ago, Que Rica Vida has been extremely successful in helping Latina women

Translated, Que Rica Vida means, “What a Good Life.” The magazine, along with its website (www.QueRicaVida.com), is the cornerstone of General Mills’ two-and-a-half-year-old, multi-brand Hispanic marketing initiative of the same name. Together, they constitute an important resource for Hispanic moms, who seek lifestyle tips, culturally relevant recipes, and solutions that preserve their heritage and traditions. With an overall quarterly circulation of 350,000, Que Rica Vida is distributed free of charge via direct mail, as well as at stores and community-based venues. Starting in 2009, a condensed version will also be distributed to more than 600,000 households as a free standing insert in various newspapers around the country.

In addition to venturing into the world of television, this year the publication also has enhanced its online presence with the creation of various Spanish-language brand micro-sites within www.QueRicaVida.com. The website will also include state-of-the-art graphics, podcasts and blogs written by several of the magazine’s regular contributors.

“All our research shows that since its inception two-and-a-half year ago, Que Rica Vida has been extremely successful in helping Latina women,” said General Mills Multicultural Marketing Director Rudy Rodriguez. “We want to build on that success by engaging our readers on other fronts, as well. The Internet especially allows for greater interaction – an on-going dialogue around a virtual dinner table, which for Hispanics is very familiar, and which they call a sobremesa, meaning, ‘over the table’.”

Sobremesas to Latinos are similar in tone to the water-cooler conversation that takes place in the general market, in which personal events and stories of the day are exchanged in a chatty way. Part of that conversation, both online and off, will include a new section sure to put a smile on readers’ faces. “Recetas para la Vida(TM)” or Recipes for Life(TM), is a unique, personal advice column in recipe form that will begin running in the magazine, as well as on the website. Created and written by two San Diego-based Latinas, Mexican-born Becky Krinsky and Argentine-born Iliana Berezovsky, their recipes “provide nourishment for the soul.”

“Life is a great kitchen, from where we all eat, which is why it’s so important to keep bettering its flavor,” the two authors explain. “It’s not always necessary to make drastic changes in our lives to be happier, just spice things up with new ingredients. Sometimes we can greatly improve our quality of life, simply by removing certain condiments that may be ruining our emotional palate. That’s what our recipes try to do.”

In addition to these enhancements, Que Rica Vida will also be launching this month a culturally-relevant health education initiative for Latinos called, Mente Sana en Cuerpo Sano (Sound Body, Sound Mind). The program is being co-sponsored by the Latino Nutrition Coalition, the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition and 14 community-based partners from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Northern California. It is expected to provide vital health and nutrition information at the grassroots level to more than 10,000 people in its first year, alone.