A beautiful night in Miami for a conversation.

   I attended a dinner meeting of agency and media executives to ponder the future of our US Hispanic Ad Industry.  The invitation perked my interest.

For the record, these were very important people in our industry from across the US Hispanic Market and Mexico.

After the usual scotches and martinis, great food and presentation of the US Census, after dinner Orujo & cigars the real conversation began.

The rules of engagement were very simple: 1- a half-hour conversation on each question; 2- only non-political arguments, based on facts.

First question asked, is there are real future/business for our industry by expanding the mix of English dominant media companies focused on US Hispanics to the already established Spanish-language campaigns?

Second question asked, can current US Hispanic ad agencies rise to the occasion to produce both Spanish and English messaging not only in traditional media but new media as well?

Third question asked, if we agree that there is an opportunity to expand our strategic offerings to advertisers to reach all US Hispanic regardless of language & cultural models and media preferences, do we have the talent with the skill set to deliver?

Fourth question asked, has the term Multicultural created an opportunity for African-American and Asian ad executives to ride the coattails of the Hispanic Advertising Industry and diluted the importance of our Industry?

The discussion lasted four hours between 16 players into the late-late night.

The answers to the questions raised more questions and secured a second round in the next month with additional people.

Since I felt we should include all of the executives that work daily in targeting US Hispanics, I have brought forth the questions asked for your opinions based on your experiences to share with the group.

They all read HispanicAd.com’s El Blog, so go for it.  The good, bad & ugly.

Gene Bryan
CEO – HispanicAd.com