Agency

By now, I am sure that you are all tired of reading news, analysis and commentaries on Google’s announced intention to buy DoubleClick. Don’t worry. This is not going to be yet another “Insider baseball” analysis of the likely winners and losers in the deal. It is not going to be yet another “Kremlinologist-like” analysis of what the deal will mean to the market dynamics among Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, independent and vertical publishers, “long tail” publishers, ad agencies, brand advertisers and direct marketers. Plenty of that commentary has already been written. Plenty more will be written.

According to the latest Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index survey, 65 percent of consumers say they save some money regularly, while 31 percent report that it’s hard enough just to make ends meet. The survey also revealed interesting statistics about consumer financial concerns, credit card usage, quality of life and spending habits. In addition, the Personal Credit IndexSM is down 15 points to 90, which is the lowest level since November 2006.

Chicago advertising agency Lápiz has been selected by H&R Block as the agency of record for the U.S. Latino market, responsible for executing targeted communication across television, radio, OOH, web and other related efforts.

According to the latest study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, The Infinite Dial 2007: Radio’s Digital Platforms, consumers are continuing to explore radio in all its digital platforms—Online Radio, Satellite Radio, HD Radio, and audio podcasting—while maintaining a broad use of AM/FM radio.

Media and entertainment executives see the growing ability and eagerness of individuals to create their own content as one of the biggest threats to their business, according to results of a survey released by Accenture.

In its annual survey of senior executives in the media and entertainment industry, Accenture examined the growth strategies of companies across the landscape of advertising, film, music, publishing, radio, the Internet, videogames and television.

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.

Constance Marie, lead actress on ABC’s George Lopez Show and “Napoleon Dynamite” actor Efren Ramirez have teamed up with Celebra La Vida Con Salud, a national Hispanic health education campaign to promote illness prevention and health education among Hispanics in a new series of public service announcements focusing on illnesses that disproportionately impact latinos.

Last Friday afternoon, I went on my weekly shopping trip to the local grocery super-center. There, I began my multi-hour adventure, mulling over a two-page list of items to pickup, that I received from my girlfriend. While scanning over the list, I began to rethink a book I had just read for Dr. Korzenny’s Multicultural Marketing class. Guy Garcia’s The New Mainstream: How the Multicultural Consumer Is Transforming American Business, is a book that explores 21st century America, and how important and prevalent muliticulturism is within our society. I begin to think about my first reactions to one of Garcia’s (2004) opening statements, that only 50 percent of the population will be made up on non-Hispanic whites by 2050-that this multiculturalism is reaching “critical mass”-that America is becoming the first real multicultural society.

While they are definitely savvy marketers, retailers have a reputation for being skittish when it comes to adopting new technologies. That said, major retailers are increasingly making use of Web 2.0 tools like video, blogs, RSS, social content sites and wireless delivery for its email campaigns.

I’m planning my Fall back-to- school strategy and I want to stand out creatively from the clutter in the Hispanic teen market. What are some out-of-the- box or non-traditional methods that I can use?

Azteca America said today that The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has denied a request by NBC Telemundo to withhold a license renewal of its station affiliate in Los Angeles. The result is a clean bill of health for our operations, which fully respect US regulations and institutions.