Viacom Outdoor Hosts First Latino Marketing Edge Conference.

Hispanic buying power continues to rapidly grow in major U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and Miami. The Hispanic population’s buying power in the United States is expected to reach $634 billion by 2006, according to The U.S. Hispanic Market, yet few marketing campaigns focus on the Latino market.

Viacom Outdoor wants to educate its buyers on the importance and potential advantages in Hispanic marketing through, Marketing Edge. Marketing Edge is a Viacom Outdoor-sponsored series of educational and informational seminars on Latino marketing and media in the 21st century. The first Marketing Edge seminar was held on June 9, 2004 at CBS Headquarters. Featured speakers included; Oswald Mendez, Vice President of Integrated Communications for The Vidal Partnership, Manuel Chinea, Banco Popular’s Director of Marketing, Arthur Rockwell, Viacom Outdoors’ Vice President of Sales – Latino Division and Jerry Hough, President of Primera Latino Marketing. These men gave their expertise on Hispanic marketing; focusing on: Latino lifestyle, case studies of successful Latino marketing campaigns, creative and innovative marketing strategies and the key factors in Hispanic marketing. The next seminar in the series is currently scheduled for Fall 2005.

The Hispanic population in the United States comes from 20 plus countries and has a vast array of cultural differences. According to Jerry Hough, “there are three key Hispanic pillars that do not change with country of origin: family, food, and faith.” Hough also spoke about the differences between land and sea Hispanics and how to market accordingly. “Direct marketing allows company to get their messages directly into the mailboxes of Hispanic households. Seventy-two percent of Hispanics read all of their mail to become more informed consumers,” said Arthur Rockwell. Rockwell who discussed creative marketing strategies, such as direct marketing, preceded Hough.