Agency

AHAA, in partnership with Círculo Creativo, has announced its most powerful conference agenda to date. Four C-suite level executives have signed on to spearhead a series of can’t-miss sessions taking place at the AHAA 2013 Conference between April 29th and May 1st at the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami. In addition to WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, AHAA announced the following additions to its lineup: Laurence Boschetto, CEO and President of Draftfcb; Adam Ostrow, Chief Strategy Officer of Mashable; Mark Tutssel, Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide.

How specialized does a marketing services agency need to be to be considered a specialist in their field?

Katz Marketing Solutions, the national marketing arm of the Katz Media Group, announced its findings of a new study that quantified the importance of audio elements in successful television commercials. The results show that audio, or radio, can efficiently and cost-effectively enhance a brand’s identification and messaging.

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for success that manufacturers can use to satisfy consumer demand for innovation. There are, however, ways to increase the odds. Nielsen’s research shows that best-in-class innovators take a holistic view of their initiatives, keeping an eye on three key dimensions as they develop their innovations: strategy, consumer viability and sales potential.

TD Bank has selected Jeffrey Group as its first Hispanic Public Relations Agency of Record.

Miami-based G ADMarketing Communications, led by advertising veteran Gabriela Alcántara-Díaz, has been appointed by Amscot Financial to spearhead their multi-cultural Hispanic integrated communication and marketing efforts, including creative, public relations and social media.

Arguably, the most critical conclusion a brand or agency can make is an accurate definition of its prospective target audience. Defining the right target leads to clarity and focus, which leads to insightful and relevant creative, which in turn positively affects your client’s business. It sounds so simple, but with so many consumer segmentation models, new cultural buzzwords and the lingering ghosts of archaic language-based models, it can be challenging to pinpoint the “right” Hispanic consumer. By Nancy Morkovsky – Brand Planning Director, Richards/Lerma

Following an extensive strategic marketing career at Coca-Cola, José Espinoza joins Mercury Mambo as VP of Strategy and Business Development and will contribute his strategic experience and insights to new business acquisition and existing client growth opportunities. Espinoza will be responsible for expanding agency capabilities to address the
evolving marketplace dynamics.

With brand marketers always looking to get the most out of their advertising budgets, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released “A Comprehensive Picture of Digital Video and TV Advertising: Viewing, Budget Share Shift and Effectiveness,” a Nielsen research study commissioned by the IAB investigating how moving dollars from TV ad budgets to digital media – especially digital video – affects reach and costs. The report reveals that a 15 percent shift in media spend to digital will drive a distinct increase in advertiser reach across verticals.

In my last blog, I discussed the distinctions between ethnic — particularly Hispanic — heritage, identity, and culture. I ended by posing this question: beyond the sharing of a pan-Latino identity, does a U.S. Hispanic culture really exist? Or are Hispanic and Latino merely convenient umbrella terms for embracing the various U.S. ethnic cultures rooted in Spain and the different Spanish-American nations? By Carlos E. Cortés / Univision Insights

Everyone – from Adelaide to Hong Kong, Istanbul to Stockholm, Tallahassee to Zürich – is dancing ‘Gangnam’ style. A handful of brands have embraced the music track, or its dance moves, in a bid to capitalise on the instant recognition they spark in consumers of all ages, and from all cultures. By Dr Inka Crosswaite_Cultural Insight and Semiotics Specialist_Added Value South AfricaPost originally written for TREND.

Many small businesses are already using some form of content marketing to promote themselves—74% as of a January survey of US small businesses by BusinessBolts.com. It’s a tactic that must be paying off, because three-quarters of small businesses also said they planned to do more content marketing this year than last—and just 4% said they had no plans to do any content marketing at all.

For many years I have conducted qualitative research with Latino women and have generally found that they are very willing to yield to their children’s requests for purchases, even if these are non-essential. I have had the suspicion that this is particularly true of Hispanic women in comparison to other mothers but have not had the quantitative data to explore this idea. By Felipe Korzenny, Ph.D.

República will partner with BIPI to develop and execute a total market strategy that will tap into multiple divisions of the agency including research, advertising, media, branding, public relations, social media, community relations and promotions.