I was wrong, Multicultural & Cross-Marketing are the way to go.

    I have taken a stand many times when industry professionals continued to position Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Marketing as the only strategy that would finally help elevate the marketing to multi-ethnic consumers to its righteous place among advertisers and prognosticate the demise of Hispanic Agencies and the Spanish-language media that serve the US Hispanic Consumer.

Now that advertisers have the ability to put all multicultural consumers into one category from a total marketing standpoint and also use these models to impact mainstream advertising with cross-cultural strategies that obviously will turn our $6 Billion industry into what it should be.

Industry professionals like Jose Villa from Sensis and Ken Muench from DraftFCB who this week was quoted in a cross-cultural article titled “Is Cross-Cultural an Industry Breakthrough or Threat to Ethnic Shops?” for Ad Age are helping to define our Industry and have been very outspoken.

It ‘s 2011 we need to take a step back, take a deep breath and absorb the NEW for our Industry.

As Pete Lerma from Richards/Lerma stated in the same article, “Those ideas supersede language and culture. The greatest common denominators between these brands and customers are what we are finding. And it seems to me that the traditional multicultural agency should see that as a huge opportunity. We can influence the general-market work in a way that makes it a greater reflection of the more multicultural society we live in.”

The mainstream trade journals are interviewing and quoting these experts about the future of our Industry.  They must see something we cannot.

I must admit I am changing my views not because I believe that their strategy is sound and will be the ‘Ultimate Solution’ to ensuring the future of our Industry.

The reason I am changing my views is that I am about to give up on our current Hispanic Agency and Media professionals that allow the ‘Three Caballeros’ – Villa, Muench and Lerma to almost exclusively spew unchallenged their unproven rhetoric through trade journal platforms without being challenged by experts far more educated than myself in the fine art of marketing and targeting US Hispanic Consumers successfully.

Why fight them?  It must be true!

So with that said, there’s nothing better than a fine scotch, an aromatic cigar and the distant sound of a romantic piano by Bebo Valdes on the radio to enjoy time go by without worrying about a thing.  I am taking a break from the fight.

The best to all of you and I hope you make it through the storm.

Gene Bryan
CEO
HispanicAd.com