MARCA Launches.

MARC USA has entered into a joint venture with senior advertising executives Tony Nieves and Armando Hernandez to launch MARCA Hispanic LLC, a full-service Hispanic marketing communications firm.

Based in Miami, MARCA further broadens MARC USA’s menu of marketing services and enables it to enter the Hispanic market, the fastest growing advertising segment in the U.S. The new company – whose name is Spanish for “brand” – will be led by its majority partners-Nieves as President and Hernandez as EVP, Chief Creative Officer.

Nieves said, “Hispanic advertising is no longer an afterthought to clients. Budgets are growing to levels where they are demanding more creativity and accountability. MARCA will deliver world-class strategic capabilities, provocative creative and disciplined processes that will get results for clients looking to build brands in the Hispanic market.”

MARC USA Chairman Tony Bucci continues, “Adding a Hispanic capability really rounds out MARC USA’s integrated marketing services and bolsters our national expansion strategy. We’re thrilled to partner with top talents like Armando and Tony. Their deep experience in the Hispanic market as well as in Latin America and in the U.S. general market gives them a unique perspective that adds real value for clients.”

Hernandez explains, “MARCA fits in well with MARC USA’s overall vision and visa-versa. The partnership enables us to focus on the work rather than infrastructure and resource issues. Plus, we’ll be able to implement MARC USA’s team concept and strategic processes, such as PowerBranding™, that are some of the most sophisticated in the industry.”

Nieves has held a variety of senior marketing and management positions in the U.S. and Latin America. Most recently he was at Ogilvy & Mather overseeing several multi-national brands including the Hispanic assignment for Terra Networks, a division of Terra-Lycos. During his tenure at O&M, Nieves served as Managing Director for its Latin American regional office in Miami and was General Manager for O&M Venezuela in Caracas. Before that, he served as Director of Client Services for O&M Argentina in Buenos Aires and held senior account management posts in O&M New York. He was also a partner and Chief Marketing Officer of SportsYA! Media and a strategic consultant for the Claxson Interactive Group.

Hernandez was formerly Senior Vice President/Creative Director at Young & Rubicam Miami, the company’s regional headquarters for Latin America. There he directed Latin American and U.S Hispanic creative for brands such as Sony, Dell, AT&T, Texaco, United Airlines KFC, Telefonica, Citibank and AeroMexico. Under his leadership, Y&R Miami was one of the most awarded agencies in the Latin American and Hispanic markets. The agency won the 2002 Best US Hispanic Agency Award from Fiap, one of the most recognized Spanish language award shows in the world.

Prior to Y&R, Hernandez spent 15 years in the Dallas market, working on campaigns for American Airlines, Nations Bank and GTE among others. His award-winning American Airlines campaign ran in the general, U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. As creative director at DDB Dallas, Hernandez collaborated on the Pepsi Hispanic account and led the GTE wireless account in the U.S.

MARCA will work in collaboration with MARC USA clients and offices throughout the country, including Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, Orlando and Pittsburgh.