Business

We’re moving from a time of scarcity to an era of abundance, experiencing megatrends that are changing commerce, transportation, and healthcare: connected consumers, on-demand services, internet-enabled connection and commerce.  So why do people wring their hands and get so worked up about the future of media? As it turns out, scarcity was perhaps the one thing that made media relevant, reliable, and even resilient.

In many countries, consumer sentiment has improved since 2015. Consumers have become more bullish about their ability to spend.

States have enormous responsibilities. They must not only meet their citizens’ needs on a wide range of issues—from education to healthcare to housing and job security—but also manage enormous budgets, often larger than most countries. How they do it, and do it well, is an important question. And for those that are succeeding, how are they succeeding? Measuring performance and developing a fact base for decision making is critically important for states to understand what they’re doing well, where they need to improve, and what their residents value most.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies are accelerating the creation of intelligent enterprises and enabling companies to integrate themselves into people’s lives, according to Accenture Technology Vision 2018, the annual technology report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) that predicts key technology trends likely to disrupt business over the next three years. However, capitalizing on growth opportunities while also having a positive impact on society requires a new era of leadership that prioritizes trust and greater responsibility.

For a decade, emerging markets have ignited the global economy, contributing more than 80% to its economic expansion. Today, these markets consistently perform a remarkable three to four times better than their developed market counterparts in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) announced the launch of Se Habla USA, a purpose-driven campaign to promote the value of diversity, inclusion and the important role Hispanic culture and Spanish language play in America.

Welcome to the third installment of a trilogy -or maybe a tetralogy- that will attempt a detailed SWOT analysis of the various paths a marketer can choose when hiring talent to roll out its communication campaigns. The first installment two weeks ago addressed the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats of using in-house agencies* for such purposes. Last week the topic was conventional agencies** (conventional as in Madison Avenue-style shops).   By Gonzalo López Martí  – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

The convergence of demographic trends, business outcomes and new research strongly suggests that female leadership is good business.  The dominance of Millennials and the rapid growth of our multicultural population are fueling a cultural shift towards compassion, collaboration, connection, diversity and change at home and in the workplace.  Couple this with the First Round Capital findings reported in Forbes revealing that companies with female founders performed 63% better than those with all-male founding teams. So why is it that female founders received just 2.2% of all Venture Capital funding as reported in Fortune?  By Mary Ellen Holden

Welcome to the second installment of a trilogy -or maybe a tetralogy- that will attempt a detailed SWOT analysis of the various paths a marketer can choose when hiring talent to roll out its communication campaigns. The first installment last week addressed the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats of using in-house agencies* for such purposes. Today: conventional agencies (conventional as in Madison Avenue-style shops, if you catch my drift).  By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc./ LMMiami.com

The 4A’s unveiled a unique, far-ranging program aimed at creating safe and productive work environments that create cultures of inclusion, equity, creative dialogue and social transformation. The intent is to support agencies in eliminating discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation and retaliation.

As the U.S. population continues to shift to a “minority majority,” multicultural marketing research firms have evolved to meet the growing demands of multicultural marketers tasked with tapping these hard to reach audiences. Over the last 10 years, this transition has occurred in waves.

In recent years I have read 3213 blogs on “How to Get the Job!”  They include:  “Five Secrets Interviewers Never Reveal,” “Five Secrets Your Resume Reveals,” “Five Methods to Instant Hiring” and “Five Reasons Interviewers Hate You.”  Perhaps you’ve seen those blogs.  Few, if any, of these well-meaning pieces match my experiences in the process of hiring.  The “five tips” articles may be true in the halls of business schools, textbooks and HR manuals but that’s not how a person is chosen for a job.  I have hired and witnessed the hiring of thousands of people at private and public companies.  I have hired at 100-year-old companies and at start-ups.  I’ve hired people who earn much more or much less than I did. 

The Board of Directors of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has named Fernand “Fern” Fernandez interim CEO and President.

Stephen Palacios joined Azul to drive ideas and business opportunities.

More retailers are looking to technology to simplify the shopping process and automate a lot of redundant tasks. But are consumers ready?

Welcome to the first installment of a trilogy -or maybe a tetralogy- that will attempt a detailed SWOT analysis of the various paths a marketer can choose when hiring talent to roll out its communication campaigns. This first installment will probe the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats of using in-house agencies for such purposes.  By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

Have you been part of an agency pitch lately? If so, you will have seen a very different pitch than you would have seen five or 10 years ago. Of course that’s normal, given all the change that is happening in our industry.  Agency RFPs now include lengthy requirements for data, insights, marketing technology and other digital components. These are not “fluff” requests like “increase likes” or “drive search results.”  by Maarten Albarda

Companies will spend more than $1 trillion globally on marketing in 2017, by one estimate. This puts chief marketing officers stewarding their brands squarely in the crosshairs of CEOs, CFOs and corporate boards, who want to know where all this money is going and what they’re getting in return—“brands be damned.”  To respond to these pressures, CMOs have turned to marketing mix optimization (MMO), an analytical approach to figuring out which elements of the marketing mix—media, creative and so on—are working more and less effectively, and then spending more on the winners and less on the losers.  By Cesar Brea, Laura Beaudin, Andreas Dullweber and Brian Dennehy

Billboard announced that Raúl Alarcόn Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc., tops Billboard’s annual “Power 100”.

Last December, the ANA CMO Masters Circle and the ANA’s Educational Foundation organized a roundtable hosted by the CMO at Hyatt Hotels, Maryam Banikarim. The roundtable topic focused on how to channel the highest quality of talent into a career in marketing or advertising with key stakeholders like CMOs, agency leaders, academic professors, and millennial marketers (who joined us from Hyatt). The insights on the industry from the millennial viewpoint were particularly important.  By Elliot Lum