Agency

Sensis announced that it has been retained by the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) to launch a comprehensive rebranding initiative that will include a new name, logo and identity to be rolled out by the end of Q1 2015. In addition, the contract includes social media and public relations support to help launch the organization’s new identity.

As Gardiner Morse wrote in a recent Harvard Business Review article, “a marketing revolution is under way and nowhere is that more visible than in the CMO’s transforming role.” Morse was specifically referring to Unilever’s CMO, Keith Weed, who notably now oversees both marketing and communications and sustainable business. It is a shift from the model that exists at the majority of companies, namely that sustainability exists in a separate division.

Marketers are not scientists or magicians, but they are quickly spearheading the journey from the unknown into the known.  Let me explain…

Miller Coors announced that the Miller Lite creative assignment for mainstream has been assigned to TBWA Los Angeles and the US Hispanic Markets portion has been assigned to Dallas based Dieste.

Programmatic buying is dominating political ad spending this year as 85% of agencies plan to use programmatic for their media buying efforts. That is a key finding of a recent STRATA political survey of leading advertising agencies representing approximately 75% of total political advertising billings.

Total advertising expenditures increased 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2014 to $35.6 billion, according to data released today by Kantar Media, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. During the first six months of 2014 ad spending grew 3.1 percent.

The Industrial Internet of Things represents a tremendous opportunity for innovative companies looking to unlock new revenue sources by packaging their products with new digital services, says Accenture in its new report, “Driving Unconventional Growth through the Industrial Internet of Things.”

CEOs cite interacting and connecting more with customers as their top priority; Concerns that products and services will quickly lose relevancy.
In a recent study by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, chief executives indicated their companies will be significantly more customer-focused over the next three years to more effectively deliver value and advance their brands.

By Gonzalo López Martí@LopezMartiMiami

• Apple launched the Apple Watch with big fanfare last week.
• In the meantime it is still wiping off the egg on its face after some media outlet recently reported about its dismal diversity track record.
• It just so happens that the kingdom of the late Steve Jobs rarely hired individuals who are not male and white for its managerial ranks.
• Apparently a few Asian males had managed to percolate into the upper middle echelons of its payroll but that’s about it.
• Tim Cook, CEO of the Cupertino giant, had to apologize publicly for his employer’s human resources inclinations.
• Ipso facto, the company put its HR & PR machinery in overdrive and announced a string of multicultural, gender unbiased recruitments.

FCB Chicago announces international advertising executive and FCB veteran Walter Boza has joined the agency as SVP, strategic planning director. Boza hails from FCB Caracas, where he was general manager of the Venezuelan agency.

Guitar Center has awarded media agency Starcom USA its US planning, buying, analytics and human experience strategy business following a competitive pitch.

The Latin Recording Academy, Eventus and Univision announced that Conjunto Primavera, J alvarez, J Balvin, Los Rieleros del Norte, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Noel Torres, and Voz de Mando will headline the 2014 Latin GRAMMY Street Parties.

Clear Channel announced that it has become iHeartMedia, reflecting the company’s success in becoming a one-of-a-kind multi-platform media company with unparalleled reach and impact.

This is historical on so many levels for Latin American and US-based Hispanic agencies alike.  It reaffirms the benefit of being a little fish in a big pond, driving global depth through cultural empathy.    By Gabriela Alcantara-Diaz, Founder, President of G ADMarketing Communication, Inc.

Marketers believe that their organizations are customer-centric and that their customers would agree. Unfortunately, marketers also reveal that this might be wishful thinking as lackluster ratings in organizations’ ability to listen, respond and effectively engage with customers in an agile, personalized manner fall well below average.

An outright majority of marketing professionals worldwide plan to increase their spending on brand awareness in the next 12 months, according to research conducted for eMarketer in August 2014 by InsightExpress—compared with just over four in 10 who said they would be spending more on demand generation.

The project is a move to transform La Opinión into a multimedia brand that will serve the Hispanic community of California through all platforms – from print to mobile – with new and revamped content offerings, an improved look and a greatly enhanced reader experience for this iconic brand.

Consumers still choose brick-and-mortar locations when they want to get pretty.

Tiesto, Skrillex, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Afrojack and Avicii are not household names to anyone 35 years old and over. Skrillex and Afrojack may sound like appliance names or an over the counter hair gel to older folks. But to Millennials (generally defined as Americans born between 1982 and sometime in the early 2000′s), these Electronic Dance Music (EDM) DJs are celebrities producing music that is defining and giving an identity to their generation.

Marketing itself hasn’t changed, but the world around it has. Great marketing will always be great marketing because it is borne of an insight, has a strong idea inside it, a clear sense of who it’s for and a pathway to creating demand and commercializing it effectively.