The Hispanic Agency and their thinking by Dolores Kunda.

Dolores Kunda – CEO & President Lapiz

Dolores Kunda – CEO & President of Chicago based Lapiz leads on of the true examples of a Hispanic agency that delivers a full range of Hispanic advertising, marketing and communications solutions owned by a multinational ad agency group. We asked her the same questions once posed to the independent agency heads several weeks ago and we will see if there are any similarities or differences in thinking.

Q and A ….

1. What, in your eyes, defines a “Multinationally owned Hispanic Agency” these days?

A Hispanic market-focused shop, operated by Hispanic employees, where the operation is a division of a multinational holding company-e.g. IPG, Omnicom, WPP, Publicis Groupe.

2. What value do you believe a multinationally owned Hispanic Agency brings to its clients?

An ability to tap into the resources of many specialized agencies in the holding company network and joining forces with sibling companies, provide clients with integration led by experts in a variety of disciplines. Because all the companies are from one network, efficiencies are delivered to the client.

3. Why do you believe it is good to be a multinationally owned Hispanic Agency? What advantages do you think we have as indies?

An ability to tap into experts as mentioned in #2 above. Since all the companies are from one holding company, relationships are smoother and politicing is minimal.

4. What is it like to be a multinationally owned Hispanic Agency in these days of holding company consolidation and continued acquisition?

We have not been affected by consolidation, etc.

5. What do you think is the future of the multinationally owned Hispanic Agencies in relationship to the general market, or the market overall?

On the one hand, clients continue to seek efficiencies in all their relationships-Hispanic operations in multinational holding companies have the potential to deliver efficiencies. On the other hand, the desire for support of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) is becoming more of a business imperative. Each path has its potential benefits; it depends on what is more valuable to the individual company at the time.

6. What do you think the next generation of multinationally owned Hispanic Agencies look like?

They will be providing their clients with a wider range of services to ensure expanded consumer engagement. For example, as the Hispanic market grows in proficiency, electronic interactive mediums as a way of reaching the Hispanic consumer will grow.

7. What unique challenges do you feel multinationally owned Hispanic Agencies face in today’s marketplace?

The major challenge in the Hispanic market is the same regardless of agency type: convincing corporate America that Hispanic marketing is a business imperative with quantitative robust data-we’re getting there, but we still have a way to go.

8. Do you believe there are entities or forces who are or are not supporting Independent and Holding Company-Owned agencies equally and fairly?

It is all about business. We need to make a business case for our market, for our services, for what we bring to the party. If we cannot make a business case, shame on us.

9. Do you believe there is a unique sense of responsibility Multinationally owned Hispanic Agencies bear (or should bear) insofar as the further development and growth of the Hispanic marketing and advertising industry? If so, please give your views.

The biggest Hispanic agencies continue to be part of multinational holding companies. When AHAA was started, the decision was made to include multinational holding company-owned Hispanic agencies (and the representatives of the multinational-owned shops sat out the decision). Speaking for myself, the multinational-owned shops do have a responsibility to the market overall because we often have the relationships with the leading-edge marketing companies. We have the responsibility of fostering growth in the industry, leading the charge on improvement of measurement tools to be able to quantify our value to corporate America, to being spokespeople for the importance of our market and our people in this country.

10. What advice would you give a future Independent Hispanic Agency professional interested in working for a Multinationally owned Hispanic agency?

Be expert in your area of choice and do not be shy about teaming with holding company backed shops. Those (holding company-owned Hispanic shops) that are worth their salt are eager to bring quality solutions to their clients regardless of origin.