Agency

Financial headwinds are the new normal, and U.S. consumers are feeling the effects across the board. Whether it’s spiking food and gas prices, surging energy bills, mounting health care costs, higher payroll taxes, or all of the above, rising costs of living are putting the squeeze on everyone’s wallets.

So how do marketers approach a base of consumers that’s struggling to keep their heads above a rising tide? A key first step is gaining a solid understanding about how people are fighting the economic challenges. By comprehending specific consumer difficulties, marketers can design appropriate strategies and tactics to help consumers navigate rough economic waters.

The chief marketing officers of Unilever, IBM, VISA and Adobe chaired the first ever CMO round table at the Cannes Lions Festival, where they and more than 60 other CMOs and leading marketers discussed early findings of the Marketing2020 study.

How often have we heard the well-worn sentiment of ‘perfect partners’ – tomato and basil, ying and yang, Fred and Ginger? For me, this romantic perfection is not a reality. Far more interesting are those partnerships that challenge each other – risotto and strawberries, the ANC Youth league and the South African Communist Party, Homer and Marge. It’s not perfect but the union amplifies mutual benefits. Imagine a set of knitting needles and wool – how do you achieve your mission without one or other?

Telemundo Station Group announced the opening of a new Business Development office in Mexico City. The new unit will support and generate investment from companies in Mexico and Latin America that are seeking to reach the U.S. Hispanic market at both national and local levels.

Terra announced the official launch of its new channel, “Sabores de America,” through which visitors can embark on a gastronomic journey discovering flavors, spices and culinary secrets from all over the world.

For those of you that know Ralph Paniagua, the Hispanic entrepreneur has been a true Pioneer in the Latino Marketing space for the past 30 years. Among his “First” includes the broadcast of the Caribbean World Series, the development and promotion of Latinos in Baseball, sponsorships of Championship boxing with HBO that set the way promoters market PPV events, and some of the best concerts produced in the city of New York.

MGSCOMM announced a company-wide restructuring, that diversifies its client offerings and streamlines delivery of its communications solutions.

Total advertising expenditures in the first quarter of 2013 declined 0.1 percent from a year ago and finished the period at $30.2 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media.

GLR Networks announced the addition of Sachari Milian as the Programming-Content Director and Executive Producer.

Health Media Network (HMN) is launching its newest information and education network created specifically for Hispanic healthcare physicians and consumers.

A few weeks ago, iMedia hosted its InFocus Summit, which placed a spotlight on digital women and moms. Many of the speakers discussed how brands are not reaching this powerful audience, and the need for marketers to bridge this gap. I agree: It’s time for brands to focus on a woman’s interests and priorities, rather than her gender or age.

Sprint announced the kick-off of its CONCACAF Gold Cup sponsorship. The summer sponsorship includes the unveiling of an official Fancaster who will rally Gold Cup fans around the country via traditional media, grassroots and social outreach. Sprint takes sports fanaticism to the next level as it aims to provide a unique experience where soccer fans can get closer to the excitement and passion associated with following their favorite teams during the Gold Cup tournament.

Findings support the importance of considering racial diversity in audience segmentation. Non-whites were more likely than were whites to actively seek information. Print media use was more predictive of information seeking and processing than was Internet, television, or radio use. Implications for audience segmentation in public health campaigns are discussed.

Public relations agencies have been under fire for their lack of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity at senior management levels (Fiske, 2011; PR Week, 2001a). Agencies have responded by focusing on recruiting a pipeline of racially and ethnically diverse talent. This study explores the perceptions of the Millennials who are part of this diverse pipeline, as well as the perceptions of Millennials with dominant identity markers, to explore perceptions of agencies’ commitment to diversity and respondents’ identification of diversity problems through online asynchronous discussion groups.

In recent years, diversity has been one of the prominent issues that companies have addressed on their Web sites. Yet, few studies have investigated public relations efforts on diversity communication via corporate Web sites.