Agency

Luis Miguel Messianu, President/Chief Creative Officer at Miami-based ad agency Alma, announced a search has been underway to find new creative leadership to join its award-winning team, Diego Yurkievich and Hernan Cerdeiro have left to pursue other interests.

Los Angeles based Sensis has hired Ken Deutsch to lead its media department.

With consumers becoming increasingly cynical towards overt marketing messages, storytelling is more important than ever before. Everyone responds to a great story. But brands don’t tell stories that are going to be read curled up on a sofa – they have to do something far more sophisticated. They have to translate their emotional core in mere seconds, in just a few pictures and images. And these stories have to be distinct and powerful enough to live and breathe across a wealth of different media.

There’s a theme in marketing today that can be summarized very succinctly: marketers can finally use “what they know” to power “what they do.”

Marketing procurement organizations remain focused on cost as a key success metric. However, many are beginning to embrace the value of non-cost-centric metrics, and especially ROI measures, according to a new ANA (Association of National Advertisers) white paper.

Based on comScore’s permission-based panel of one million U.S. online persons and survey data from 139 pharmaceutical studies, these benchmarks show that online direct to consumer (DTC) marketing is more effective than ever in increasing conversion among patients and prospects. The study also introduces new insights into conversion lift rates across various medication categories.

For Hispanic Adult Millennials, it’s cool to be pragmatic. Being smart with their money may be borne of necessity, but they find it fun to be thrifty. Their practicality does have an enemy, however – and that’s convenience. Because they’re often very busy, sometimes they just go with whatever is easiest. By Insight Tr3s

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.