Business

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that 65% of US TV households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a video game system, a smart TV set, a Blu-ray player, and/or a stand-alone device (like Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire TV) — up from 44% in 2013, and 24% in 2010.

Julie Mendez, Associate Vice President of Tractenberg & Co. and board member of the New York chapter of the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA-NY), passed away at the age of 33.

Hispanic growth in income and population across all ages will drive increases in consumer spending that will exceed the shopping totals of the millennial demographic by 2020, Morgan Stanley analysts said Monday.  By Tonya Garcia / MarketWatch

“The Last Emoji” is a sculpture made from a junkyard wreck that warns Miami drivers of the dangers of texting and driving.  Created by Coconut Grove, FL based ALMA.

Online survey among US adults ages 18 and over who work full-time in the marketing/ advertising industry. To qualify for the survey, respondents had to be decision makers/ representatives for a specific brand, or work for an agency that is responsible for making decisions on behalf of brands.

Writer Richard Rodriguez calls Richard M. Nixon the inventor of Hispanics.  His logic? In 1972, Nixon signed a federal mandate called Statistical Directive 15, establishing the current system of classifying Americans into five racial or ethnic groups: White, African American, American Indian / Alaska Native, Asian / Pacific Islander, and Hispanic.  In Rodriguez’s words: “I have traveled throughout Latin America and I have looked for Hispanics. Everyone tells you there are no Hispanics there. Essentially, the whole category of the Hispanic is in fact an American fabrication.”  By David Morse / New America Dimensions

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

• Would you accept it if, say, your advertising or PR agency offered you an astroturfing campaign?
• I’m sure you’ve heard the pitch.
• It goes somewhat along these lines: “… we have a team of influencers ready to open the floodgates and plug your product, service or brand. Just say the word, write the check and we’ll pull the trigger.”
• According to the British daily The Guardian* “astroturfing is the attempt to create an impression of widespread grassroots support for a policy, individual, or product, where little such support exists. Multiple online identities and fake pressure groups are used to mislead the public into believing that the position of the astroturfer is the commonly held view…”

U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Javier Palomarez once described Hispanic entrepreneurs as “America’s business future.” Mark his words because it’s looking as if he’s right. Not only is the Hispanic and Latino community expected to make up a third of the entire U.S. population by 2050, but this demographic is also creating businesses at 15 times the national rate today, according to a report from analytics firm Geoscape and the USHCC.

It was the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death this weekend.  It’s quite an achievement to be remembered for what you wrote over 400 years later. The British bard was obviously an enormously gifted wordsmith.  I was reminded of the importance of wordsmithing as I was working with a client on process, architecture and organizational structure.  We jointly creating a new approach to allocating budgets, defining target audiences and creating integrated marketing plans. But we soon realized that language stood in the way of clarity.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc / LMMIAMI.COM

• Showrunners: the Orcí clan.
• It keynote speaker: Wendy Clark.
• Other speakers of note.
• Miss AHAA 2016: Ariadna Gutiérrez.
• Big disappointment: the session with award-winning creatives.

U.S. digital advertising revenues reached an all-time high of $59.6 billion in 2015, according to the full-year IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and prepared by PwC US. This marks a 20 percent surge over the earlier record-breaking 2014 revenues of $49.5 billion – and represents the sixth year in a row of double-digit growth for the industry.

Spending on paid media worldwide will climb 5.7% in 2016 to $542.55 billion, propelled by increased investments in digital advertising. This is lower than eMarketer’s previous forecast, but still represents accelerated growth when compared with 2015 (5.0%).

Spending on brand activation marketing in the U.S. rose 5.5 percent in 2015 to more than $560 billion, accounting for almost 60 percent of advertisers’ budgets, according to a new study by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) in partnership with PQ Media. This year, brand activation is expected to grow 6 percent, to nearly $600 billion.

By Gonzalo López Martí        Creative director, etc  /  LMMIAMI.COM

• Marketing & advertising trade pubs tend to be littered with manufactured press releases & carefully curated gossip.
• It is not necessarily good or bad, it simply is.
• It don’t hurt to ruffle some feathers every now and then though.
• Hence my friend & benefactor Eugenio “Gene” Bryan, founder & editor of this prestigious media outlet, kindly asked me to bring a creative’s POV to his kingdom.
• If possible, one devoid of makeup or sugarcoating.
• The harsh truth with a playful tone.
• Or, at least, the harsh truth as yours truly sees it.
• If we want our industry to keep paying our mortgages we must keep it on its toes.
• We must call into question our complacency, our tried & true conventional wisdom, our tired truisms.
• While protecting the tenets of our culture and the cohesion of our community.
• Every now & then, this mission requires to pick a fight.

U.S. advertising as a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product continues to slow — signifying major changes in the ways that advertising resources are used.

Maybe future media/entertainment deals will all be about profit participation — not just flat fixed fees.

Just over a year ago we reported that Javier Farfan had departed his post as Head of Music, Entertainment, and Culture Marketing at PepsiCo to assume his new post of Director of Marketing at Verizon Wireless.

Millennials are igniting a transformation in B2B sales and marketing, and becoming key purchase decision makers.

Horowitz Research has expanded its senior leadership team with two new additions. Mariana Diaz-Wionczek, PhD, joins the team as the new Senior Director of Research and Strategy, and Claire Dinaso has been named as Senior Director of Research.

Univision Enterprises in partnership with Houston-based Bancomer Transfer Services, Inc. (BTS), announced the launch of Univision Remesas, an international digital money transfer service for Hispanics