Business

Marketing executive Graciela C. Eleta has been elected to the National Board of Directors of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), effective November 2013. Her term will run through June 30, 2016.

NBCUniversal announced the appointment of Raquel “Rocky” Egusquiza to Vice President, Community Affairs, Hispanic Enterprises & Content at NBCUniversal effective December 9. Egusquiza will report to Joe Uva, Chairman, Hispanic Enterprises & Content, NBCUniversal and will be based in New York.

A new ANA (Association of National Advertisers) study entitled, “Payment Terms – Current Practices for Marketing Services,” reveals that 43 percent of marketers have extended payment terms this year on at least one marketing service in their portfolio. That portfolio includes agency fees, research, media, production, and talent payments.

It used to be that choosing a college major in any “content-related” discipline was the equivalent of an employment death sentence. English, philosophy, history, you name it — merely mentioning the possibility of focusing on any of these areas would make even the most well-intentioned parent of the ‘80s and ‘90s cringe, sigh, and cross their fingers in the hopes that their children would, above all else, not move back home at the end of it all.

Bolstered by growing ecommerce sales and time spent across digital channels, the US retail industry will grow its digital ad spending more rapidly this year than in 2012, according to new figures from eMarketer.

There’s a hot topic getting tossed around quite a bit as of late: programmatic direct, which furthers the notion of all online advertising headed toward an automated, dashboard-driven future.

Advertisers are spending more than expected on real-time bidding, which is expected to account for a significant share of all display ad spending in the US this year and in the near future, according to a new eMarketer report, “Programmatic Advertising: Forecast and Future Growth Trends.”

Datalogix announced that it has named former Starcom MediaVest Group executive Steven Wolfe Pereira as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the company.

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, released his discussion draft of tax reform legislation that includes a provision that will, if enacted, severely impact the economy and lead to significant job loss. This provision would allow advertisers to deduct only 50 percent of all advertising expenses in the first year and amortize the remaining 50 percent over the next five years. Advertising currently is treated as a fully tax deductible ordinary and necessary business expense.

Despite some early season promotions, retailers still expect consumers to be active for the official start of this year’s holiday shopping season. According to a survey of top retail chief marketing officers by BDO USA, LLP, retailers anticipate a 3.1 percent increase in sales on Black Friday this year, mirroring their projections from last year. However, retailers have moderated their expectations for growth in Cyber Monday sales, predicting that sales will grow by 3.7 percent this year, down slightly from last year’s sunnier 4.3 percent growth projection.

As the market for broadband connectivity, wireline and wireless services becomes saturated, US telecom carriers, cable TV operators and internet service providers are using online and mobile channels to promote new technology, faster networks, superior video quality and more profitable “bundled” services and data pricing plans, according to a new eMarketer report, “The US Telecom Industry 2013: Digital Ad Spending Forecast and Key Trends.”

HATUEY beer launched a new marketing campaign based on HATUEY and the Arts winning design, “Beer Me,” staying true to the brand’s commitment to the community and the arts.

You know what bothers me?  All talk and no action.

HispanicAd.com had the opportunity to interview Frank Flores / VP Hispanic Marketing & Sales, SiriusXM.

Native advertising exchange Hexagram, in collaboration with specialist research and public relations consultancy, Spada, have published the results of the most comprehensive survey conducted on native advertising to date. In September 2013, a questionnaire was distributed to a cross-section of professionals working in publishing, advertising and PR agencies.

The Ram Truck brand recently launched the 30-second television ad “Beyond the Encore”. A 60-second spot, “Anthem,” will debut on Univision during the Latin Grammy awards ceremony on Nov. 21. An additional 60-second ad will be revealed in December in anticipation of Juanes’ new single and album release while similar ads, “The Long Haul” and “Chasing the Sun”, will air in the coming weeks. The campaign focuses on the class-leading innovations of the 2014 Ram 1500, emphasizing values such as hard work and determination shared by the brand and Latin cultures.

LEGISLATIVE ALERT!!!  Last month we reported on indications that, according to AdWeek, some in Congress are thinking about revising the tax code to eliminate, or at least seriously reduce, the deductibility of advertising expenses. We have a follow up.

While everyone gets excited over “native advertising,” the challenge remains that nobody can agree exactly on what it is — or isn’t. Or if it’s something that has existed for a long time — or hasn’t. Not only has the term native advertising become a cliche, its frequent usage to describe the indescribable has made hearing it somewhat tiring.

Until recently, I sold products based on the relationships that I had formed during career in media and advertising. Agencies like GroupM, OMG and Starcom Mediavest were accessible to me because of the people I knew and the people they knew. I took pride in the fact that I could sell products based solely on my connections.  I don’t think that way anymore.

13th Floor Studios announced that Sue De Lopez has joined the team as Chief Marketing Officer. De Lopez will focus on promoting its main service as Content Marketing Solutions Company to US Hispanic and Latin American markets.