Agency

Emerging cities such as Shanghai and Singapore may outperform traditional metropolises in the new knowledge economy, based on a global study released by the Partnership for New York City and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The study, Cities of Opportunity: Business-Readiness Indicators for the 21st Century, examined 11 major cities using nine indicators and 32 variables, such as broadband capacity, transportation infrastructure, diversity and working age population.

Online Hispanics in the U.S. are “media mavens,” consuming and adopting media and technology at a higher rate than the general population, according to new research released by Yahoo! Telemundo and Experian Simmons Research. The study found that Hispanics lead the general market in “media meshing” and use of key mobile phone features as they spend more than half of each day engaged with television, Internet and technology gadgets. Overall, Hispanics identified 51 hours of total daily activities, including 14 hours with technology and 13.5 hours with media. Online U.S. Hispanics regularly combine TV and Internet to enrich their media experience and would like to see more online options in Spanish.

Global business executives assign nearly 60 percent of the blame to CEOs when companies lose reputation after a crisis strikes, according to a new Safeguarding Reputation survey by global public relations firm Weber Shandwick with KRC Research. This finding did not significantly differ among regions.

Global public relations firm Weber Shandwick released a new study revealing that companies can gain a significant competitive advantage by creating marketing programs that target baby boomers’ expansive relationship networks. The survey, conducted with KRC Research, found that Boomer-to-Friend (B2F) communications are untapped in their potential to influence purchasing decisions for products and services.

Univision Communications Inc. announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved its acquisition by Broadcasting Media Partners Inc. (“BMP”), an investor group that includes Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Saban Capital Group. The acquisition, at a price of $36.25 per Univision share in cash, is expected to close this month.

For the month of January 2007, commercial foodservice sales rose a modest two percent over January 2006, a slower rate of growth than in any of the five prior months, according NPD Group. This slowdown partially reflects the comparison to a very strong January 2006, when the nation saw its mildest temperatures in 112 years.

New segmentation analyses from Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) delve beyond demographics to provide marketers with a deeper understanding of the lives of U.S. teenagers. Based on the latest MRI Teenmark study, the various segments focus on the attitudes that often dictate youthful consumer behavior.

Humor can be an effective way to reach young acculturated Hispanics, but using stereotypes can backfire, suggest the results of new market research conducted by New American Dimensions.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau urged Congress to protect consumers’ access to information and entertainment on the Internet, and to guard against interest-group pressure to pass ill-considered “spyware” legislation that would hinder Internet commerce and the free exchange of information.

Rarely had the prestigious British publication, The Economist, taken time to look into Puerto Rico’s economy. This time, it focused on several aspects of which Puerto Ricans are certainly not very proud. Lower levels of employment than in the states and high levels of public aid and welfare enrollment are undeniable. However, once the poorhouse of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico became the shining star of this area.

Recent growth has given Latin America the economic health to tackle its pressing challenges: poverty, educational needs, and business-choking red tape.

AARP announced it will host its first ever National Hispanic event, Feria de la Segunda Juventud (Festival of the Second Youth), on May 5–6, 2007, at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan.