AHAA Delivers Right Spend Message.

Returning to the city where the association was formed, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) met for is 14th semi-annual conference in Dallas. The three-day assembly gathered over 400 attendees for Evolución y Cambio and discussions on the challenges of the market and the need to teach corporations how to set the right budget to optimize their reach in the Hispanic market.

The conference, co-chaired by Alex López-Negrete, López-Negrete Communications and Tony Dieste, Dieste Harmel and Partners, featured the release of AHAAs latest research, The Right Spend II. This study highlights the disconnect between corporate investment in the Hispanic market and Hispanic consumerism and potential.

According to the study, the Hispanic markets current size, formation of larger households, heavy concentration in the top, youngest, trend setting markets in the U.S., accompanied by their speedy wealth creation and high consumerism is at odds with the neglect of marketing investment across most categories.

AHAA also elected new board officers and Aida Levitan was sworn in as the new president. In her remarks to the assembly, Levitan outlined her views on multiculturalism and its impact on corporations ability to reach Hispanics.

The challenge ahead of us is to not to let our voices be overpowered by self-serving political forces. Rather, we must leverage our growing power as a market to get corporate America to market effectively to Hispanics. We must continue to speak with a unified voice and lead companies and organizations to understand that Hispanic marketing deserves a unique, dedicated effort instead of being dumped into the multicultural arena, said Levitan.

Other highlights of the conference included a keynote speech by John Gamble talking about how to keep clients for life, a panel discussion on the corporate approaches toward multiculturalism versus Hispanic and new research on the Hispanic market and the Internet.

The conference ended with the presentation of the HispanicAd.com Media Awards. Award winners included: Monica Gadsby, Tapestry, 2002 Media Planning Executive of the Year and Mac T. Tichenor, Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, 2002 Media Executive of the Year.

About AHAA:
The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies is the national organization of firms that specialize in marketing to the nations 40 million Hispanic consumers, the most rapidly growing segment of the American population. AHAA promotes the strength of the Hispanic marketing and advertising industry to the private and public sectors.

AHAA agencies offer a unique blend of cultural understanding, market intelligence, proven experience and professionalism that deliver Hispanic market success for clients. AHAA helps organizations gain market share, increase revenue and grow profits by building the bridges and delivering the messages to reach Americas Hispanic consumers, who together have an estimated buying power of $630 billion.