Business

To thrive in today’s rapidly evolving technology environment, companies should become “kinetic”—continually moving and adapting to changes.

In honor of LGBTQ Pride Month, findings from a new Ogilvy survey released of over 1,000 Americans including over 400 LGBT allies revealed that nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) believe that LGBT-inclusive brands/businesses are good for the economy and similarly (64%) believe that these initiatives reflect our country’s diversity. However, the majority (68%) report that in order to be an LGBT ally, brands/businesses need to “walk the talk” following through on promises and plans.

Inner city bodegas, staples in urban communities, are having difficulty competing with big box stores and retail chains. Many of these small, independent, store owners are immigrants and lack the resources and access to capital to keep up with tech-savvy retail chains. 

Growth leaders are adept at finding money to invest in initiatives that drive revenue.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc / LMMiami.com

• We know damn well in this business that metrics in the digital space are rife with fraud and tainted with misleading analytics.
• We simply choose to believe something we don’t fully understand.
• In many cases, something we don’t understand at all.
• What is an algorithm?
• Has anyone in the room seen one?

Need to add a little extra “oomph” to your content marketing? Incorporating an executive voice can make your assets more compelling and persuasive. But while you may garner more interest this way, there are a number of routes toward making your executive communications program go sideways fast.  By Paul Carlstrom, VP of operations, TDA Group

Baristas Coffee Company announced that it has expanded its advertising to target US Hispanic-Americans with Spanish TV spots on Telemundo, Galavision, Fox Deportes, CNN Espanol, ESPN Deportes, and Spanish speaking radio stations.

Most of us can remember a couple of favorite ads. They’re funny, clever, thoughtful. Creativity can delight, even inspire. But does it generate business value?

A group of more than 150 CEOs from some of the world’s leading companies have signed on to the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. By signing on to this commitment, CEOs are pledging to take action to cultivate a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected, where employees feel encouraged to discuss diversity and inclusion, and where best known—and unsuccessful—actions can be shared across organizations via a unified hub, CEOAction.com, in an effort to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

The employment outlook for creative talent is expected to remain relatively steady in the second half of 2017, according to new research from staffing firm The Creative Group. Nine percent of advertising and marketing executives surveyed said they plan to expand their teams. The majority of respondents (64 percent) anticipate maintaining staff levels and hiring primarily to fill vacated roles.

While I  agree that marketers probably could do more, I take issue with the tone of this and other industry reactions to the one-year anniversary that not much has changed. From working directly with some of the largest advertisers in the world, I can tell you that a LOT has changed.  by Maarten Albarda

Global adspend will grow 4.2% to US$559bn in 2017, according to Zenith’s new Advertising Expenditure Forecasts. That’s down from 4.8% growth in 2016. However, 2016 was a ‘quadrennial year’, and benefited from extra adspend stimulated by the US elections, Summer Olympics in Rio and the football championships in Europe, making the annual comparisons tougher for 2017.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc / LMMiami.com

• What is science?
• In the marketing/advertising/public relations biz we know very well how science can be manipulated and packaged to forward one-sided arguments.

In its latest report on global advertising market trends, MAGNA forecasts media owners’ net advertising sales to grow by +3.7% to $505 billion in 2017

The misapprehension is that closing the gap between advertising exposure and purchase occasion is a good thing. The whole ‘marketing in the moment’ trend is based on the idea that if you can reach someone during the shopping process then your advertising will stand more chance of influencing the sale. There are a couple of reasons why this idea is flawed.  by Nigel Hollis

Your salesforce needs help to remain objective, build trust, get the price right, and keep selling until the deal is done.  By David Levitch, Aditya Pande, and Brian Selby

Since 1999, AHAA has honored those that have made significant contributions to the U.S. Hispanic advertising and marketing industry. Expanding on this program, AHAA has established the AHAA Hall Fame, which recognizes a select group of visionaries, leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the Hispanic advertising and marketing field.

Rosemary Ravinal has joined Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) as Vice President of Entertainment and Consumer Public Relations. Ravinal will oversee publicity efforts for UCI’s portfolio of Spanish-language entertainment, broadcast and cable networks and serve as a primary point of contact with consumer media.

The UPS study found that almost all avid U.S. online shoppers (97%), made purchases on marketplaces, up 12 points from 2016, and that 81 percent cite price as the most important factor when searching for and selecting products online. According to respondents who purchased from an international retailer (47%), 43 percent were driven by lower prices on U.S. marketplaces and 36 percent wanted unique products not found from U.S. retailers.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc / LMMiami.com

• Not too long ago I was scolded by an acquaintance of mine because, as an advertising professional, I supposedly “contribute to climate change”.
• The accusation was two-pronged, to wit:
• I help companies sell wasteful products to people who don’t need and can’t afford them, therefore stacking up the landfills of the world with trash. And the oceans. And the atmosphere.
• I contribute to the constant cacophony of contradicting, confusing, misleading and overwhelming information about the environment and the state of our planet’s fauna and flora, therefore eroding the ability of science to amalgamate public opinion and solve our looming existential threats.