Agency

Dallas-based ad agency Richards/Lerma has been selected as creative agency of record by Pizza Patrón. The relationship will have the agency assisting in traditional, digital, social media and public relations programs for the Mexican centric pizza chain as well as some creative input on naming and product development work.

Everybody’s Phone Company, Inc. announced that its 2014 advertising and pre-paid home phone service packages will target the Hispanic market, which is Texas’ fastest growing demographic.

iNSPIRE! Agency received four ADDY Awards from the Dallas chapter of the American Advertising Federation, formerly the Dallas Ad League.

The overall verdict: The internet has been a plus for society and an especially good thing for individual users

In early February, Anheuser-Busch InBev, America’s largest brewer, signed a deal to buy the Blue Point Brewing Company, a well-respected Long Island craft beer company. With Anheuser-Busch InBev’s success, and its strong portfolio of beer brands that include Budweiser, Stella Artois, Beck’s, and Corona, why would the company feel impelled to buy a craft beer company?

Devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops and portable gaming systems have made it easy for consumers to multitask while watching television. However, a November 2013 study by TiVo found that three-quarters of US TV viewers were more focused on what was on the tube, even when using a second screen.

The advertising industry is in a state of existential crisis, thanks to technology; analytics; migrating, fickle and/or distracted eyeballs; Netflix and other on-demand services; piracy; privacy; attribution; the decline of print as a medium; stagnating television audience numbers; and the fact that we can finally start to understand which 50% of our ad spend is wasted.

As a headline in today’s Wall Street Journaldeclares,“For Some Retailers, Success in Simply Staying Alive.” The lede does it even better: “For some of the country’s weakest retailers, less red is the new black.”

This month, just a week after being awarded “Best of Show” at the American Advertising Federation’s 52nd annual American Advertising Awards in Houston, Lopez Negrete Communications, Inc. also won Full Service Agency of the Year at the Media Alliance of Houston Star Awards Gala.

Dallas based TruMedia has change its name to truMC to better reflect their focus.

Adam Kasper, chief media officer at Havas, predicts that the content marketing business will grow, as content comes closer to media buying, and automation will have a huge impact on this growth.

Tippit & Moo, a full-service independent advertising agency based in Houston, has appointed David Flynn, Jr. as its new General Manager.  A seasoned and widely renowned analytical and strategic authority in the industry, Flynn will lead the highly awarded team at Tippit & Moo, whose premier clients include Fiesta Mart, Inc., Sonic Drive-Ins, Gabbanelli Accordions, Michaels Stores, Professional Sports Partners, Universal Technical Institute, InComm, and Zadok Jewelers, among others.

New Accenture research reports that more than 89 percent of female professionals around the globe and a similar number of male respondents believe building their “career capital” – those differentiated skills that define and advance their careers – is key to success in the workplace. The research, based on a survey of 4,100 male and female professionals in 32 countries, also found that professionals welcome change and are confident of their ability to succeed in the workplace.

I’ve been in the media industry for over six years in New York and San Diego at various ad agencies, and one of my favorite parts of the job is my interaction with sales reps. It could be argued that we work in the best industry in the world, because we’re tasked with innovating, strategizing and socializing. The list below includes dos and don’ts for both media buyers and planners and sales reps, based on my own observations, heart-to-hearts with some of my favorite reps, and conversations with fellow media people. If we all follow these simple rules, we can minimize frustrations and have more time for happy hours.

As the mobile ecosystem explodes, entertainment brands of all sizes are looking for ways to utilize the channel to deliver their messages and build demand. Mobile video is proving to be an extremely effective and valuable marketing channel for brands, and it is currently the fastest-growing ad format in all of mobile. When delivered with the right technology, with the right content, to the right audience, mobile video advertising can deliver impact even greater than television advertising.

Millennials – and younger ones in particular – are voracious content consumers across all media channels – television, online, games, apps and mobile. These teens are an attractive demographic that marketers are eager to capture through traditional and emerging channels alike. The greatest opportunity comes by creating and leveraging connections between the channels teens rely on, and nowhere is that truer than the screens that matter most: television and mobile devices. Unfortunately, few have figured out how to drive measurable cross-screen engagement. That needs to change and there are early signs that change is beginning.

Recently, Kathy Sheehan of GfK Consumer Trends and I presented highlights from our Decoding Y: Millennials Revealed research partnership in a live webinar.  As I continue on our roadshow with this exciting research, I find myself comparing and contrasting Hispanic and non-Hispanic generation-mates and identifying where Hispanics are leading total market trends.  By Roberto Ruiz / Univision Communications

According to a comprehensive new report, there is a startling contrast in economic prosperity between successful and struggling American communities. America is divided into nine different community profiles, ranging from the successful — the “Affluent Metroburbs” — to the genuinely troubled — the “Endangered Communities.” Fifty percent of the American communities studied are struggling to find their way forward after the Great Recession.

The Hispanic population grew to 53 million in 2012, a 50% increase since 2000 and nearly six times the population in 1970, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data. Meanwhile, the overall U.S. population increased by only 12% from 2000 to 2012. Hispanic population growth accounted for more than half of the country’s growth in this time period.

In response to the rapidly-changing demographics of the nation, marketing professionals have been experimenting with multicultural marketing models and adopting a “Total Market” strategy to realize greater synergy and marketing impact aimed at the new American mainstream. While there are different definitions of Total Market and a lack of standardization, AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, in collaboration with a broad coalition of advertisers and general market and cultural marketing associations, has found that marketing firms, as well as clients, are equally clear that the time has come to place multicultural segments at the center of growth strategies, rather than as an add-on or parallel effort.