Business
Gisela Girard
With a Bachelor's of Arts and Political Science, and a Master of Arts and Urban Studies, Gisela Girard started as a researcher conducting commercial real estate feasibility studies, and, with her own company, she marketed international properties in the U.S.A., Mexico and Argentina. But in 1999, her strategic mind guided her in a new direction. Along with her husband Al Aguilar (a former founding partner of pioneering giant Sosa, Bromley,Aguilar & Associates), they embarked on a joint entrepreneurial journey and founded Creative Civilization--An Aguilar/Girard Agency.
Carmen Sepúlveda
Carmen Sepúlveda was born a changemaker in the PR and Communications field and is a natural and gifted communicator. For her, driving change is not just a role, it’s a purpose she has delivered on throughout her entire 30+ year career. This is particularly true as it pertains to reaching and including diverse and multicultural communities through PR. She has dedicated her career to advocating for multicultural communities and building bridges between the brands she represents and communities they serve. Additionally, she has championed and helped advance the work of ethnic media to promote a diverse media landscape, not only by ensuring they are included in pitches so they can break the stories for the communities they serve but also by encouraging her clients/employers to support trade organizations, such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalist and National Association of Black Journalists, that nurture and promote ethnic journalists and producers.
The War on “Woke” and the Future of Multicultural Marketing
In June 2020, The ANA and its diversity initiative, the Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), acknowledged the limited progress made in all aspects of DEI. In a letter to its board of directors and members, the organization pledged to do everything it could “to end systemic racism and achieve equality and justice” in the marketing and advertising industries. By David Morse - New American Dimensions
Ingrid Otero-Smart
Ingrid Otero-Smart has become a powerhouse in Hispanic and Multicultural marketing and advertising; one that has nurtured many current and future leaders in our industry. She started her advertising journey at McCann Erickson in her native Puerto Rico, and in 1987, she joined Mendoza Dillon & Asociados. She worked at MD&A for 18 years, leaving as President /COO in 2005 before heading to Anita Santiago Advertising, where she was President until 2008. For the last 15 years, she has served as the President/CEO of Casanova//McCann, where she brought a renewed sense of vitality and creativity to the agency; one that has established a multi-year winning growth trend. In 2020, Ingrid acquired the majority stake in Casanova from IPG, becoming a McCann affiliate and making Casanova a certified female-owned and minority-owned enterprise.
Millie Carrasquillo
Since starting her career, Millie Carrasquillo has been an enthusiastic innovator and driving force in the area of Hispanic consumer research and media measurement. At a time when the required tools and technologies did not exist, Millie was committed to creating methodologies and designing studies to more accurately reflect Hispanic consumer attitudes, behaviors and media consumption to inform our marketing strategies and media investments.
Jackie Bird
Those that know Jackie Bird know she’s an energy-filled powerhouse and an accomplished professional who has shattered multiple glass ceilings throughout her career. She paved the way for female professionals at Procter & Gamble in Puerto Rico, where she became the first female brand manager on the marketing team. Later, she made history as the first woman to be named President by a global ad agency parent company in Latin America, and also the first female member of the agency's Executive Committee for the region, while working at Grey Advertising.
Isabel Valdés
Isabel Valdés, one of the most renowned In-Culture Marketing™ experts in the nation. With two decades of experience consulting for Fortune 100 and 1000 companies, Isabel is a true business development guru. She’s also a published author public, speaker and trainer
Monica Lozano
Monica C. Lozano is a powerhouse – before serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of College Futures Foundation, she had a highly successful career in media. She was editor and publisher of La Opinión, the country's leading Spanish language daily newspaper, and then went on to become CEO of the parent company, ImpreMedia. Under her leadership, the company evolved into a multi-media content company while staying true to its mission of informing, educating, and empowering the Latino community.
Rossana Rosado
Rossana Rosado spent over 30 years in the media industry as an executive and award-winning producer. She was the first female CEO, Editor, and Publisher of El Diario La Prensa, the oldest and largest Spanish-language newspaper in the country. During her career in Journalism, she was drawn towards the stories of society's most vulnerable and was inspired to become a champion for social and economic justice. In doing so, she ensured the rapidly growing Latino community had access to the critical news and information - in Spanish - that was necessary to stay abreast of the times and advance in society.
This Women’s History Month, the team at d expósito & Partners paid tribute to the many Latina Leaders in Hispanic advertising and media with a social media series.
This Women’s History Month, the team at d expósito & Partners paid tribute to the many Latina Leaders in Hispanic advertising and media with a social media series. The DEX team saw it as an important time to acknowledge the leadership, courage and contributions of these fearless women, as well as celebrate their accomplishments in a way that inspires the next generation of multicultural advertising professionals in order to continue promoting progress.
ALICIA CONILL
We begin our Women’s Month series featuring a pioneer who could arguably be considered the Madrina (Godmother) of Hispanic advertising in the US: Alicia Conill. Alicia began her advertising career in Cuba in the late 1950s, as live announcer talent for an agency in Havana, called Mestre Conill. After the Cuban Revolution, she became a Cuban exile in NYC, where she worked as Creative Director for the William Estey Company, on client campaigns for Latin America. In 1968, she and her husband, Rafael Conill, founded Conill Advertising, one of the pioneering agencies in Hispanic marketing that ushered in clients like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Campbell’s Soups, Amtrak, and many others. Conill Advertising would go on to be the largest U.S. Hispanic agency in that era.
NORMA ORCI
“In the ‘80s, there was a resistance among marketers to learning a new culture, learning a new language, and learning new forms of media” shared Norma Orcí with the LATimes in 2017. “We are facing a similar situation now.” Norma is a highly respected industry veteran and trailblazer, who co-founded La Agencia de Orcí with her husband, Hector, in 1986. Together, they saw an opportunity to create a positive impact when the U.S. government aimed to encourage millions of undocumented immigrants to come forward and obtain citizenship, and La Agencia de Orcí was awarded the task of creating a campaign to mobilize the community.
TERE ZUBIZARRETA
The life of Tere Zubizarreta was an exemplary story of The American Dream. She started her career in advertising in the 1970s with no college degree, working as a secretary at McCann/Marshalk Advertising. In 1976, she founded her own agency, Zubi Advertising, with limited resources, including a borrowed desk, telephone and typewriter, and a $465 retainer from her first client. As her agency grew and prospered, she would be joined by her children, Joe and Michelle. Under their leadership, the agency would grow to over 100 employees with revenue surpassing $200 million in billings and would eventually be acquired by WPP.
AIDA LEVITAN
Today, we’re excited to share the story of another incredible and highly accomplished Latina: Aida Levitán. In 2017, she became the first and only Cuban-American female board chair for a U.S. commercial community bank. Now that’s impressive, but there’s more. Just 4 years later, she took U.S. Century Bank public! As a result of her service and this accomplishment, in 2022 Forbes selected Aida as one of their “50 over 50,” a list of top female business leaders, entrepreneurs and financiers, curated in collaboration with Mika Brzezinski from MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Making the numbers count
Talent is the lifeblood of marketing. Brands need to meet their needs for a better lived experience if they want to attract and retain the very best. Ranjay Radhakrishnan, Chief Human Resources Officer at Reckitt, explains how the company is championing diversity and inclusion to make Reckitt a great place to work.
Global Ad & Marketing Spend Continued to Rebound 7.9% in 2022, But Expected to Grow at Tamer 5.3% in 2023, As Macroeconomic & Secular Media Trends Hamper Digital Growth
Global advertising and marketing spending continued to rebound 7.9% to $1.568 trillion in 2022, but spending is projected to grow at a tamer 5.3% in 2023, as challenging macroeconomic and re-emerging secular industry trends hamper the fast-growing digital & alternative media channels that fueled the strong recovery from the pandemic, according to new research released by PQ Media.
Agencies’ Reversal of Fortune Explained
The largest agency holding companies have now reported their full year earnings results for 2022, and outcomes were, for the most part, very good. There has been a perception over many years among that agencies were poised to experience secular decline. Needless to say, I didn’t agree then and continue to believe that significant opportunities remain ahead for the industry. By Brian Wieser / Madison & Wall
Working From Home Caused a Spatial Shift in Daytime Population Away From Traditional Job Centers
The daytime population of traditional U.S. job centers plummeted in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and lockdowns and social distancing pushed more people to work from home.
When It Comes To Advertising, Multicultural Representation Is Not Enough
As we close another Super Bowl cycle, I've been approached by some media outlets asking my opinion about the lack of representation of multicultural consumers, mainly Hispanics, in this year's roster of brands that invested in the big game. By Isaac Mizrahi - CEO of ALMA Agency
