News

HAVANA: Although the US trade embargo on Cuba still exists, a new report from Kantar Millward Brown advises international brands to take a serious look at the opportunities the country presents.

Círculo Creativo announced that Gustavo Lauría has been elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors. He succeeds Luis Miguel Messianu who, after two successful years as Chairman, announced his decision to step down from the board.

Telemundo to premiere two cutting-edge biopic series based on internationally bigger-than-life Hispanic figures, including Puerto Rican urban music star Nicky Jam and Mexican singer-songwriter José José.

It was March 17, 1997 at 6 o’clock, when CNN en Español began its first broadcast. Since then, the network has uninterruptedly covered important events such as: political elections, wars, entertainment news, movements that have changed the course in history, and much more.  The premiere of this network represented the beginning of a 24-hour Spanish-language news channel in our region, and a revolution for Spanish-language journalism in the Americas.

Casa Modelo announced the launch of its newest ready-to-serve chelada, Modelo Chelada Tamarindo Picante.

The death of retail as we now know it is greatly exaggerated. Retail isn’t dying, it’s evolving and doing so out of necessity. The current retail evolution is being driven by a confluence of change. Changing consumer attitudes, behaviors, and demographics; ongoing channel and digital disruptions; and increasing competition for consumer mindshare and dollars are forcing a shift in long-held paradigms – continuing the status quo is no longer an option.  By Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst – Retail, The NPD Group

Markets are always complex, but there’s a phenomenon that gives them the illusion of predictability. This phenomenon is potential. Potential, in this instance, means the gap between the current market state and a possible future state.  The presence of potential creates market demand. Every time a new product is introduced, a new potential gap is created. Supply and demand are knocked out of balance. Until balance is regained, the market becomes more predictable.

Republica received seven American Advertising Federation Miami ADDY Awards for its creative work for Segura Viudas Cava, Sedano’s Supermarkets and Amigos For Kids.

Walker Advertising announced he addition of Adriana Lynch as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Andy Rogers as Vice President of Sales & Business Development to its senior management team.

To drive revenue growth in the digital age, new data shows that marketing leaders are upgrading data-collection technology, collaborating closely with IT, and focusing on test-and-learn agility.  By Jason Heller and Kelsey Robinson

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (“4A’s), American Advertising Federation (“AAF”), Association of National Advertisers (“ANA”), Data & Marketing Association (“DMA”), Interactive Advertising Bureau (“IAB”), and Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) issued the following statement in support of Senator Jeff Flake and Congressman Marsha Blackburn’s recently introduced Joint Resolutions disapproving of the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) broadband privacy regulations.

Whether it is a car, bank, candy, phone or soft drink I doubt many people love the brands they buy.  by Nigel Hollis

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

• The echo chamber in our industry tricks us into believing that everyone shares common experiences.
• We operate under the assumption that there’s a mutual canon of knowledge binding us together.
• Nevertheless, there’re still lots and lots of folks out there that are happily, productively and utterly uninterested in, say, the latest social media flavor of the month.
• I just found out that a good client of mine, late 40s, highly educated, world traveler, comfortably perched in the upper tax bracket is entirely unaware -and uninterested in- Twitter and twitterspeak.

Telemundo announced Ricardo Coeto has been named Executive Vice President of Production for Telemundo Studios.

Telemundo 52 Los Angeles / KVEA today announced that Alejandra Ortiz has been named News Anchor for the station’s weekend newscasts, Noticiero Telemundo 52 a las 5:30 PM y 11 PM.

Major League Soccer and Univision Deportes announced a collaboration with Facebook to live stream a full slate of regular season matches on the social network.

TeleXitos, the Telemundo Station Group’s Spanish-language multicast network, announced that it will air a box office hit movie every Friday night at 8 PM ET for the next three weeks as part of its new “Blockbuster Fridays” programming (Éxitos del Cine in Spanish.)

For those of you wondering what the first three Rs might be according to Mars’ Allison Miazga-Bedrick, they are reach, relevancy and reaction. But I am going to propose a slightly different list that includes receptivity and risk.  by Nigel Hollis

Spending on marketing analytics—quantitative data about customer behavior and marketplace activities—is expected to leap from 4.6 percent to almost 22 percent of marketing budgets in the next three years, representing a 376 percent increase. At the same time, marketers say barely a third of available data are used to drive decision making in their companies.

My discomfort with programmatic is driven by its similarities with the business model of legacy ad networks.  The former was built on the premise of mistruths and arbitraging.