Conferences

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) announced the transition of leadership to new Chairwoman Jackie Bird, president/CEO of winglatino. Jose López-Varela, chief executive officer of ADN Communications assumed the role of chair-elect and Laura Marella, senior vice president/chief growth officer for Casanova Pendrill was elected to the position of vice chair. The AHAA Board of Directors created and approved the new Vice Chair board seat last year to ensure continuity in the association leadership and vision.

Carl Kravetz, chairman/chief strategic officer of cruz/kravetz:IDEAS steps down from his role as AHAA chairman but remains a critical leader on the board of directors responsible for the organization’s research initiatives. AHAA’s new research plans to explore the complexity of Latino identity and benchmark the value that Hispanic advertising agencies provide to advertisers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Gone are the days of simple online advertising – banner ads and Web site sponsorships based on traditional metrics and marketing. Today, U.S. Hispanic advertising professionals at the AHAA 22nd semi-annual conference confirmed social networking, affiliate marketing, and search engine optimization are among the hot new media trends used to connect with Latinos. But are corporate marketers willing to invest more to expand into digital marketing or are dollars being shifted from traditional media spending?

As brands compete for the coveted Latino consumer in the United States, some are just beginning to explore the emerging digital space as a new medium to deliver their messaging. But are U.S. Hispanics really online?

Researchers at the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies 22nd semi-annual conference confirmed that 13.9 million Hispanic adults are indeed online and of those 8.5 million have broadband. But, even more impressive and important to marketers is how Hispanics are interacting online, the frequency and time spent online, and the types of activities Latinos are engaging in while connected.

ADnotas, Inc. and ADnotas.com announced that the 2007 Puerto Rico C-Level study that tracked the way executives on the island use technology and how they consume business news has just been finalized.

The findings of the study will be released at a special event to be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Isla Verde from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., hosted by PR Newswire, the global leader in news and information distribution services for professional communicators.

Yahoo! Telemundo has partnered with Simmons Research to gather research and insights on how U.S. Hispanics consume media. Conexión Cultural/Connected Culture.

Former Vice President Al Gore will deliver the keynote address at the PODER-New America Alliance Green Forum Friday, April 20, 2007, PODER magazine. Gore will speak during the fourth edition of the annual gathering of hemispheric business, academic, political and cultural leaders.

U.S. marketers are not effectively reaching the burgeoning population of U.S. Hispanics because, according to Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

In many ways, Hispanic behavior and perceptions are significantly different from those of Anglos, AAHA Chairman Carl Kravetz told the ANA Multicultural conference. | ALSO: Comment on this article in the “Your Opinion” box below.
More ANA Conference Items:

Chairman Carl Kravetz, most marketers “are not speaking” that demographic’s language — but he made clear he was not talking about Spanish.

By Laurel Wentz
Courtesy of Advertising Age