Public Relations

With increased demand from existing and new clients for Hispanic programming, Alison Brod has brought Adriana Lopez on board as Director of Multicultural Relations.

Las Vegas based Quillin Advertising, Public Relations & Social Media announced the addition of Marilyn Valenzuela.

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) announced its call for entries for the 2014 National ¡BRAVO! Awards.

Traditional journalism has been significantly impacted by the growing number of Americans who turn to social media to source, share and engage with news.

A new comprehensive study of U.S. online news users by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Edelman Berland shows that relevancy (90%) is the top factor in sparking interest in in-feed sponsored content, yet it also clearly demonstrates that the public’s feelings about the advertiser itself determines the success of this type of native advertising. Criteria such as brand familiarity and trust (81%), as well as subject matter expertise (82%), were identified as critical in driving news reading consumers’ interest in sponsored content.

Havas PR North America formalizes Havas Conexiones, an agency within an agency that helps brands connect with Hispanics with offices in California, New York and Texas.

The so called “American Exceptionalism” is still alive and well. The United States continues to live to the beat of its own and unique drumbeat. The belief in the “American Dream” and its meritocracy continues to be strong. Millions of people around the world still desperately want to come to “the land of opportunity,” the country that continuously advocates and supports democracy, freedom and liberty around the world.  By Carlos G Giron

In a fast changing world with high expectations and top performers; learning can’t be about sitting in a class room nodding off at PowerPoint presentations. It’s got to be actionable in the long term. It’s got to produce impactful outcomes for clients as well as your own business. And it’s got to be fun.

The study exposes the changes in both marketing and PR professionals’ worlds. In PR, it reveals a move towards digital and social media. In marketing, a struggle to grasp digital media technologies emerging in their space. Along with these notable shifts, it also shines light onto common myths upheld within the industries.

FleishmanHillard unveiled the 2014 results of its global Authenticity Gap study, which explores the gap between what consumers experience when engaging with companies and what they expect of them. The agency developed the insights to help companies understand the behaviors consumers most associate with authentic companies – and where organizations should make changes to improve their reputation.

McDonald’s USA has selected MIami based Boden PR as its national Public Relations Hispanic AOR.  The account was previously handled by VPE PR

The Hispanic Public Relations Association’s New York Chapter has announced the filing period for the 2nd Annual HPRA-NY Scholarship Program. Beginning March 31 through June 6, greater New York area college students of Hispanic descent will have the opportunity to file applications to be recognized for their outstanding undergraduate academic achievement and community service.

Over the years, I’ve been asked by numerous entertainment clients to provide “advertising value equivalencies” (AVEs) for my agency’s PR results. AVEs are what your editorial coverage would have cost if it were advertising space or time—basically, they’re a way to put a rough (very rough) dollar figure on the value of PR, which can sometimes seem intangible to clients used to looking exclusively at the bottom line.

As pharmaceutical and biotech companies compete for the hearts and minds of prospective patients, they are re-discovering public relations as a powerful way of doing so. PR, with its unique ability to educate and inform, is a highly effective tool to communicate complex and often challenging information.

Our Kids of Miami Dade and Monroe has selected Balsera Communications to lead its public relations and digital communications efforts.

This Miami-based PR agency will focus on raising Pulpo Media’s overall corporate brand presence in the United States as well as increase awareness of its leading technology and marketing solutions leveraged by its expansive blue-chip customer base.

Tapping into quality customer data will become the biggest challenge for online marketers in 2014, according to a StrongView study.

The Council of Public Relations Firms (Council announced the election of John Echeveste, partner of VPE Public Relations <http://www.vpepr.com>  in Los Angeles, to the organization’s board of directors.

By Enrique Turegano / Al Punto I saw an ad on Univision for an SUV…nice ad. But the VO caught me off guard. It was the poem by Antonio Machado and famous song by Juan Manuel Serrat, “Caminante No Hay Camino”. Great song, great poem…but I wonder how much it connects with US Hispanics….mostly US Mexicans. Do they even know it? Is it important to them? Does it connect emotionally like it does for Spaniards and some South Americans? Probably NOT. Here’s my guess:

1) The creative in charge is from Spain.
2) The creative in charge is a JM Serrat fan.

Thoughts?

I just attended a panel discussion between Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, SVP of Multicultural Markets at AARP, and Nancy Tellet, SVP at Viacom, Scott Willoth —S VP Methods & Analytics, Scarborough Research and moderated by Leo Olper, who sits on the AHAA board member and is a partner at d exposito & Partners, LLC.  The panel discussed key findings of a study recently conducted by AHAA, which bucks much of the conventional wisdom that is commonplace in Hispanic marketing.  For that reason, I was compelled to cover key highlights in this post.