Agency

Despite the rise of mail order as a retail channel for prescription medications, U.S. drug stores are still the predominant vendors of prescription drugs in the United States, according to consumer research data from Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI).

The virtual world of finance is starting to add up to some real money. Financial institutions large and small are rushing to open virtual branches, offering higher savings yields and lower interest rates to entice consumers to switch or stay.

In an effort to offer the latest information, trends and insight into the exploding diversity marketplace, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (CAB) has launched its new online Diversity Marketing Center.

Smirnoff Ice announced a strategic partnership with leading Hispanic entertainment company Batanga. The alliance will offer consumers an opportunity to “complete their party” this summer with free music downloads at the Batanga Music store from today’s hottest Latin artists.

Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the advertising industry’s ANA/AAAA Joint Policy Committee on Broadcast Talent Union Relations (JPC) announced that Booz Allen Hamilton has been selected as the independent study consultant to examine alternative methods of performer compensation consistent with the understanding between the unions and the industry that the purpose of study is not to reduce the aggregate compensation historically paid to performers.

The Western Union Company announced the expansion of the 4plus1 Program to the State of Veracruz. Since last year, Western Union has been working with federal, state and local officials in Mexico to implement this pioneering initiative, supporting economic development projects across local communities in Zacatecas and four other Mexican states.

The Mexican-born population in the U.S. has continued to increase but the rate of growth appears to have slowed beginning in mid-2006. This preliminary assessment is based on data that indirectly reflect the pace of migration over time.

Segmentation is more than a way to classify the market. It acts as a strategic framework for understanding, marketing to, and reaching customers and prospects. Taken to its fullest potential, segmentation provides the organizing principle—the lingua franca—for the way the entire organization thinks about its customers and prospects.

Dear Honorable Senator: I am writing on behalf of the membership of The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies ( AHAA ), which represents 98 percent of the U.S. Hispanic advertising, marketing and media firms and more than $5 billion in corporate spending to reach the Latino community in America . Given the immigration debate we are compelled to reiterate our view on the importance of immigrants as contributors to our nation’s economy.

Each year, the major U.S. cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies must submit reports to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that outline the total amounts they have spent to market the products they sell and the amounts they have spent in different marketing categories (such as magazine and newspaper ads, internet advertising, coupons, promotional expenditures at retail outlets, direct mail, and the like). The 2005 total includes $13.1 billion in cigarette marketing and $250.8 million in smokeless tobacco marketing. In 1998, the tobacco companies spent $6.9 billion on marketing ($6.7 billion for cigarettes and $145.5 million for smokeless tobacco).

How do you get your clients excited and committed to your market? I have found the variety of approaches we multicultural marketing professionals take to sell our market to corporate America inspiring, amusing and at times, just flat out embarrassing. And while we have become more sophisticated in communicating our target’s business value, it is fair to say that the most important step in marketing brands to Latinos starts with “marketing latinos” to brands.

Search Engine Strategies (SES) is hosting the second annual Search Engine Strategies (SES) Latino Conference and Expo in Miami, Florida, on June 18-19, 2007. Executives and their marketing and web development teams will attend the event to gain insight on how to reach this highly lucrative Spanish and Portuguese speaking audience. SES Latino will offer its sessions in English along with live translation in Spanish and Portuguese.