Agency

We don’t need the headlines to tell us that ad spending is down. Most of us are uncertain about how the economic downturn will affect our client relationships and, of course, our revenue.

One thing is certain: The call for accountability on all ad spending is clear. Measurability and proof of ROI are no longer expected just of online advertising. Agencies that specialize in traditional TV, radio and print also must prove that what they’re doing is working to keep the ad dollars flowing.

Where there used to be a wall between ads that build brand and those that drive response, today there is an edict to prove return on investment for every ad dollar spent. While perhaps precipitated by a troubled economy, this shift to an ROI-positive advertising approach is exactly what the ad industry needs.

Tracy Decker Executive VP Media Director for Global Hue will depart the agency early next week.Industry insider speculate that Ms. Decker will be joining Siboney USA in New York as VP Media Director to replace outgoing Media Director Marcelo Salup that joined the agency last year. Ms. Decker’s departure comes on the heels of the highly publicized departure of Global Hue Latino President Linda de Jesus-Cutler.

Marketers are also planning for renewed activities when the recession ends and the recovery begins. Media budgets will be increased (68 percent) along with social networking/word-of-mouth (41 percent) and budgets for innovation and testing/learning (40 percent). Seventy-three percent of respondents said they would ideally implement these increased marketing activities three to six months before the recession ends, and an additional 16 percent as soon as it ends.

The Pew Hispanic Center released a report that finds that Hispanics now make up more than one-in-five of all children in the United States – up from 9% in 1980 — and as their numbers have grown, their demographic profile has changed.

Consumer confidence in the overall economy moved up sharply in May, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA-CNET Indexes also show that consumers continue to feel more confident about future spending on technology and consumer electronics (CE).

Hispanic Marketing blogger Laura Martinez brought to our attention that he Grammy-winning Norteno music group Los Tigres Del Norte talked about the recording industry, staying in touch with their audience, and how they find material for their songs with an audience at the Stanford Graduate School of Business April 19 before bowing to popular demand and singing a couple of songs. The San Jose, Ca., group, whose concerts regularly packs stadiums in Latin America, appeared at the invitation of MBA students who had taken part in a study trip to Mexico in March.

d expósito & Partners, LLC and Novartis Consumer Health, Inc. (formerly a client of CMS Partners, a company that was acquired by d expósito & Partners, LLC) have parted ways.

VPE Public Relations launched commUNITY, its Latino Social Media specialty area to broaden clients’ online Hispanic marketing platforms.