Agency

Social TV has turned watching TV into an interactive experience—an experience that connects viewers in the moment with friends, content creators, stars, and likeminded—or not so likeminded—fans.

Top 15 states with highest percentage of immigrants, California, New Mexico, New York.  A sharp rise in the number of immigrants living in the U.S. in recent decades serves as a backdrop for the debate in Congress over the nation’s immigration policies. In 1990, the U.S. had 19.8 million immigrants. That number rose to a record 40.7 million immigrants in 2012, among them 11.7 million unauthorized immigrants.

What makes a great ad? It’s an age-old question with no simple answer despite the countless hours and dollars that have been spent to find out.

More than 10 million Hispanics are eligible to gain health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, representing unparalleled opportunity for businesses aiming to succeed in the emerging New Health Economy focused on delivering consumer-centered care, according to “Hispanics: A growing force in the New Health Economy” a new report from PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI).

Digital advertising spending is expected to grow faster in media and entertainment than in other US industries covered by eMarketer. A key driver behind the projected increases is the heavy use of video and rich media ads, the two fastest-growing ad formats, by marketers of news media, movies, TV shows, games and music.

As retailers focus more on strategic initiatives amid more upbeat economic news, the 2014 BDO Retail RiskFactor Report found that they are also contending with growing workforce challenges.

MARCA Miami announced that Henry Gomez has been hired as its Senior Director of Strategic Planning.

Cristy Verdeja Zaldívar has been promoted to Account Manager at the Miami headquarters of Pinta. She previously worked as a Senior Account Executive coordinating a variety of public relations and marketing campaigns for clients including T-Mobile, Nat Geo Mundo and Terra.

AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing announced its Annual “Thinking Under the Influence” Conference will return to the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami on April 25 to 27, 2015. With its high-level speakers and breaking new research, AHAA will continue its dialogue on the extraordinary evolution of the American landscape and the power of multicultural apparent not only in the marketing industry-at large but also across consumer trends, purchasing behavior, pop culture and entertainment.

Univision and Eventus announced the dates and lineup of the artists who will headline the 2014 “Premios Juventud” VIP Tour (PJ VIP Tour) presented by Dr Pepper, a series of private concerts featuring performances by today’s hottest Latin music stars, including past and present “Premios Juventud” nominees and winners.

Consumers are increasingly “going mobile,” but U.S.-based Hispanics in particular have adopted and embraced mobile technology at an equivalent or greater extent than non-Hispanics across a wide variety of mobile device activities, according to a new PwC US report titled “Mi Móvil: Hispanic Consumers Embrace Mobile Technology.”

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and the Brand Activation Association (BAA) announced that their boards of directors unanimously approved plans for the ANA to acquire the BAA as of July 1, 2014.

Digital has become a key driver of business decisions across industries, with a significant number of those choices falling under the marketing function. Digital and its possibilities continue to impact the role of the CMO, but is there a danger that by placing so much emphasis on analytical skills, marketing leaders may be overlooking other vital skills? What skills will the CMO of the not-so-distant future need to be successful? To help answer these questions, Spencer Stuart surveyed more than 160 senior marketing leaders in advance of our annual CMO Summit, spanning the consumer, financial services, technology, life sciences, industrial, media and advertising, and nonprofit sectors.  By Arthur S. Brown, Grant Duncan, Thomas Seclow, Greg Welch

The US consumer packaged goods (CPG) and consumer products industry’s advertising spending on digital media will hit $4.20 billion in 2014 and steadily increase to $7.04 billion by 2018, according to a new eMarketer report, “The US CPG and Consumer Products Industry 2014: Digital Ad Spending Forecast and Trends,” part of our new report series, “2014 Digital Ad Spending Benchmarks by Industry.”

Culture is moving at an ever increasing rate. Consumers are cynical, tired of being sold to. The marketplace isn’t getting bigger yet competitors continue to flood the market. Meaningful differentiation and true innovation is increasingly hard to unlock.

Agencies are searching for a way to remain relevant in the data age of marketing. As a result of this quest, many are announcing “big strategic deals” with publishers like Facebook and Twitter.  These deals are intended to guarantee publisher revenue in exchange for preferred levels of service, but isn’t that what agencies are supposed to provide on their own?  Why do agencies have to be “all-in” in order to achieve efficiency?  Don’t these kinds of deals infringe on the agency’s ability to be nimble, strategic and flexible enough to find the right way to spend their client’s money?

Universal Pictures announced an intensified commitment to its multicultural marketing division by promoting Fabian Castro to oversee the department and extending Talitha Watkins’ contract. 

America’s milk companies launch Milk Life campaign in Spanish, the new multi-million dollar, cross-platform campaign designed to reinforce how milk’s many nutritional benefits – including high-quality protein – can help power the everyday potential of Latino families.

Dallas based iNSPIRE! announced that Matt Reyes has officially joined the team as Director of Digital & Social Strategy. Matt will lead social and digital campaign development for clients such as Tecate, Indio, and Sprint reporting to iNSPIRE! President, Lonnie Limon.

Americans appear ready to move on from worrying about the recession and one thing seems clear: they need a vacation.  Mintel’s annual comparative audit report, American Lifestyles 2014, suggests that renewed consumer spending is in line with pre-recession trends and consumer optimism is higher than it’s been in years.