Agency

Industry insiders state that the move is firmly based on finding overall accounting efficiencies in reduction of fees paid for the buying media, not advantageous CPMs, rates, marketing & media strategy performance or ROI.

This is an alarming trend that Hispanic Agencies are challenged by, when their efforts and results are not enough to offset the accounting process when an advertiser is more interested in saving fees than increasing market share.

The Heineken buying at The Vidal Partnership was the last element of Hispanic buying that MediaVest did not handle for Heineken, last year the Tecate brand handled by Los Angeles-based Grupo Gallegos was consolidated.

Can these large media buying units deliver the same Hispanic market know-how & skills, media relationships & partnerships and improve on impressive local, regional and national Hispanic ROI?

At the end of the day … Performance must be the metric. Time will tell.

SPECIAL OPINION EDITORIAL/Gene Bryan – CEO of HispanicAd.com: Taking a look back at the over 25 plus years we have been in the US Hispanic advertising and media business, we have seen dramatic change in the agency, client and media landscape in the US Hispanic Market.

Remember when it was NOT COOL to work for a Hispanic-focused agency, media company or even let someone in the advertising business environment know that you spoke Spanish. We do!

No … this is not a Jerry Maguire moment. Now, Spanish is cool and money talks.

Undocumented immigrants at the center of a political firestorm in America are now joining the public debate on immigration. The vast majority say they are willing to comply with most requirements of legislation that would allow them to qualify for “Z” visas and regularize their status, even if it includes stiff fines and background checks.

Vertis Communications announced the results of its proprietary Customer Focus OPINIONES study, which revealed that Hispanic adults in the United States are just as likely, and in some cases more likely, to use technology as are non-Hispanic adults. Findings show that 33 percent of Hispanics plan to use text messaging in the next 12 months, compared to 26 percent of non-Hispanic adults.

The global entertainment & media (E&M) industry is experiencing sustained growth and will increase at a 6.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to $2 trillion in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2007-2011.

When it comes to today’s consumer, it’s difficult to figure out which way is up. It gets even more perplexing when the voices of consumer experts, Wall Street analysts and media talking heads chime in. Some say incomes are up, job growth steady, and that people have more net worth to invest than ever. Consumers should feel fine and be at the malls and restaurants spending up a storm.

Arminda Figueroa, founder and President, announced the launch of Latin2Latin Marketing & Communications (L2L) to provide clients with creative marketing solutions that reach the exploding Hispanic consumer segment. L2L offers a wide spectrum of services including marketing plan development and implementation, event planning and promotion, entertainment sponsorships, business development, public relations and talent management.

Miami-based Firefly has assigned media planning and buying to Miami-based Del Cueto Media Group (DMG).

Harris Interactive announced the launch of a groundbreaking research solution that identifies the linkage between employee attitudes and loyal customer behavior. The solution, called Employee Ambassadorship, allows companies to calculate current levels of employee commitment and provides actionable direction on how to better manage employees to become more committed and active brand ambassadors.

With a packed grand ballroom of The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the New York Chapter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities/Hispanic American Commitment to Educational Resources (RMHC/HACER) celebrated its 20th Anniversary in a grand way – by awarding $500,000 in scholarships to deserving Latino High School Students. Eighty-one scholarship recipients celebrated their accomplishments with their families, members of the Ronald McDonald House Charities, McDonald’s Owner/Operators and Corporate representatives (local and national) and the New York Hispanic media community.

Despite rising fuel costs, commuters continued to drive their cars in 2005, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau analysis of data from the American Community Survey. The survey, gathered over the course of the year, found that driving to work was the favored means of commute of nearly nine out of 10 workers (87.7 percent), with most people (77 percent) driving alone.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) and its home care brands Tide, Febreze and Dawn announced that they have teamed with Target to launch the “Touch of Scent on Every Room” campaign to help enhance the moods and the environment of Hispanic consumers with scent tips, based on the research results by taste and smell expert Dr. Alan Hirsch.