The Vidal Partnership, Conill & Grupo Gallegos take Oros at HispanicAd.com 2007 HAPE Awards.

The second annual HispanicAd.com Account Planning Excelencia (HAPE) awards were presented to 18 winners in four categories. HispanicAd.com CEO Gene Bryan, creator of the awards, handed out the honors during the luncheon at the 23rd semi-annual conference of The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York.

The HispanicAd.com Account Planning Excelencia (HAPE) awards were designed to identify and reward the best account planning in the industry. “Our goal this year was to increase the number of entries which we did by 30 percent from 37last year to 50 this year,” says Gary Bonilla, president of the awards jury and vice president, strategic planning director with Wing Latino. “The work of planners lives in the background of advertising most of the time and the creative output ends up being the proof of our existence. HispanicAd.com is changing that with this awards program that recognizes the significance of our discipline and the growing importance of the professionals who make it happen in Hispanic agencies.”

Account planning seeks to understand the motivation behind consumer behavior and reveals closely held attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about brands, self, family and lifestyle. Insight and consumer perspective combined with innovative concepts, strategic analytical thinking, and instinctive curiosity guide planners in developing the platform for brilliant creative execution. The account planning profession plays a key role in an interdisciplinary approach to serving clients and delivering demonstrated business value.

Judged on insight, creativity and effectiveness, the case study entries summarized a business challenge and described the skillful solution that changed or guided the course of communications development. A distinguished panel of judges representing advertising agencies within the Hispanic and general market evaluated the entries in four categories: cultural interpretation; cultural transformation; culture specific; and, pro bono. “The panel of judges was the dream team,” says Bonilla. “We brought in world class talent to judge this competition.” Matt Herrmann, director of strategic planning at Goodby Silverstein and Partners; Nat Puccio, chief planning officer at Grey Worldwide; Alvaro Cabrera, integrated planning director, Contrapunto BBDO, Madrid comprised the panel; and to address the new Latino and bi-cultural aspects of planning Gonzalo Perez, formerly with MTV Tr3s, joined the team. Award winners Antonio Lopez from Conill Advertising and Rocio Fernandez from Dieste Harmel & Partners completed the panel.

The winners of the second annual HAPE Awards Competition are:

Gold
Nextel, The Vidal Partnership, Cultural Interpretation
Toyota Camry, Conill Advertising, Cultural Transformation
Comcast Cable Latino Local, Grupo Gallegos, Culture Specific

Silver
Comcast High Speed Internet, Grupo Gallegos, Cultural Interpretation
Gatorade, Dieste Harmel & Partners, Cultural Interpretation
MTV Tr3s, Creative On Demand, Culture Specific
Cheetos, Dieste Harmel & Partners, Cultural Transformation

Bronze
Tide, Conill, Cultural Interpretation
Comcast Cable Latino National, Grupo Gallegos, Culture Specific

Honorable Mention for Cultural Interpretation
Lay’s, Dieste Harmel & Partners
Toyota Yaris, Conill Advertising
T-Mobile USA, Conill Advertising
Bud Light, Latinworks

Honorable Mention for Cultural Transformation
Washington Mutual, Zubi Advertising
Volkswagen, Creative On Demand
Honda Civic, La Agencia de Orci
National Pork Board, Bromley

Honorable Mention for Pro Bono
International Latino Film Festival, Dieste Harmel & Partners

Bronze
The Partnership for a Drug Free America, Grupo Gallegos, Pro Bono

“AHAA congratulates all of the winners of this very important awards competition,” says Jackie Bird, chairwoman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and president of Wing Latino. “As the complexity of the Hispanic consumer continues to evolve, account planning professionals are a critical part of our business. Creating effective advertising that communicates with the multi-dimensional Hispanic market requires strategic thinking and creativity demonstrated by these winners. AHAA is proud to partner with HispanicAd.com on this and other awards programs to recognize excellence in our industry and create an atmosphere of friendly competition that will challenge our industry to strive to be the very best.”

“It is very important to me to bolster the integrity and professionalism of our industry,” says Gene Bryan, CEO HispanicAd.com. “The quality of work just keeps getting better and it is inspiring for our industry to recognize and reward the value they bring to Hispanic advertising. We appreciate the support from AHAA and look forward to continuing this tradition of honoring excellence in all areas of Hispanic advertising.”