Posted by Elena del Valle on May 31, 2006
By Juan Manuel Colome, founder and president, Infoseek Technologies Inc.
Juan Manuel Colome, founder and president, Infoseek Technologies Inc.
Photo: Infoseek Technologies Inc.
Hispanics are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population and they are open to direct marketing offers. This year, there are 43 million Hispanics in the U.S. and nearly 4 million in Puerto Rico. But you have to talk to them with the right words. The Hispanic market has been riding the headlines for the past couple of years as one of the fastest growing sectors of marketing.
According to the third annual AOL/Roper U.S. Hispanic Cyberstudy, Hispanics are entering cyberspace at rapid pace with over 14 million US Hispanics online. Yet the companies successfully targeting them online in the direct response arena are few and far between.
Why is it that something which seems like such low hanging fruit is so difficult to make successful?
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Posted by Elena del Valle on May 30, 2006
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Rupa Ranganathan, ethnic strategist and senior vice president, Strategic Research Institute
Photo: Rupa Ranganathan
A podcast interview with Rupa Ranganathan, ethnic strategist and senior vice president, Strategic Research Institute, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, Rupa discusses the 2006 7th Hispanic Boom conference in Los Angeles with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Rupa is responsible for a portfolio of 65 conferences in the multicultural marketing, market development in healthcare, branding, e-marketing, relationship marketing, healthcare and disease management areas. Prior to joining the Strategic Research Institute, Rupa was a conference producer for Global Business Research in New York City. Before that she was general manager of marketing and public relations for the Apollo Hospitals Group in Chennai, India.
Rupa received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from Madras University. She has been a multicultural columnist for Retailwire since 2004 and was a judge of the Asian American Advertising Creative Awards for 2005.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Rupa Ranganathan,” hit the play button or download it to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the May 2006 section of the podcast archive.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on May 26, 2006
Lantigua Designs’ Chef Rodriguez cards
Photos: Chef Rodriguez and Lantigua Designs
Lantigua Designs, Inc. and Chef Douglas Rodriguez developed a new line of Spanish language greeting cards which feature caricatures of the chef, some of his most popular recipes, and catchy Spanish dichos, which means sayings in Spanish. Inspired by Chef Rodriguez’s Latin cuisine, Lantigua Designs created two lines of greeting cards: Consejos del Chef (Spanish for chef’s advice) and Sabor Latino, (Spanish for Latin Flavor). A percentage of the proceeds from the Chef Rodriguez line will be donated to the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families of New York City.
“As a long-time fan of Chef Rodriguez’s cooking, I am thrilled to be working with him on this new greeting card line. We are both proud of our Hispanic heritage and it is reflected in our individual work, as well as through this joint effort,” said Liz Lantigua, president, Lantigua Designs.
Chef Douglas Rodriguez
“The flavor of the Latin community is not only found in our food but in our humor, family traditions and music, all of which are conveyed in these distinct cards,” said Chef Rodriguez. “It’s another way of send a greeting with lots of sabor!”
Chef Douglas Rodriguez is the son of Cuban immigrants and was raised in Miami. He grew up with the sights, smells, and tastes of Cuban-American cuisine and developed a passion for food early on in his life. In 1989, he opened his first restaurant named Yuca, a Cuban style restaurant in Coral Gables. He won the “Chef of the Year, Miami” recognition from the Chefs of America just before moving to New York. In 1994, Chef Rodriguez became the executive chef and co-owner of restaurant Patria. After Patria, he opened Chicama, a Peruvian ceviche bar, and Pipa, a Tapas bar. In 1996, he received the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year Award.
Chef Rodriguez, now residing in Miami, oversees four restaurants. The two in South Florida are OLA Miami and OLA Steak & Tapas. In Philadelphia he owns Alma de Cuba and in Scottsdale, Arizona he owns Deseo. He is also the author of Nuevo Latino, Latin Ladles, Latin Flavors on the Grill, and The Great Ceviche Book.
Lantigua Designs specializes in Spanish language, Latin-themed and bilingual greeting cards that appeal to Hispanics living in the United States. It first introduced its line of cards in April 2005 to retailers in the South Florida region. For more information online, visit ChefDouglas.com and LantiguaDesigns.com . — Gabrielle Sarnese.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 25, 2006
Jose Rivera Font, general manager, Yahoo! North Latin America
Photo: Yahoo!
Barely weeks after making news with its World Cup fan sites, Yahoo! has yet another business venture geared towards the Spanish language Hispanic community. This time they united with Telemundo and NBC Universal Television Group to create Yahoo! Telemundo.
Yahoo! en español internet services and Telemundo content will be combined to make one website to take the place of the original Yahoo! en español and Telemundo websites.
“This is a game-changing deal that will reshape the U.S. Hispanic Internet business as we know it, in terms of user engagement, customer value and monetization,” said Jose Rivera Font, general manager, Yahoo! North Latin America. “Yahoo! Telemundo will provide the kind of cross-media interaction that will deliver an integrated and immersive media experience for both users and advertisers.”
Although the staff and advertising profits will be merged there will be no equity investment from one company to the other. Even though the process will take months, the site is already up and running. Visitors to the Yahoo! and Telemundo sites are redirected to the new site.
Yahoo! staples will be available including Mail, Messenger and Search and the new site has the original Yahoo! layout. In addition, Telemundo will furnish content ranging from sports to music.
Randy Falco, chief operating officer, NBC Universal Television Group, stated, “Our partnership with Yahoo! is a win-win deal for both sides that will drive more hits to the site and ultimately expand our capabilities.”
The companies will produce new advertising technologies which they hope will lead to exclusive media campaigns targeting Spanish speaking Hispanics across the country. According to them, this merger marks the first time a national Spanish language television network partners with an established Spanish language online service. For more information online, visit Yahoo!Telemundo.com — Melissa Gonzalez
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 24, 2006
Martha E. Galindo, president and CEO, Galindo Publicidad, Inc.
Photo: Martha E. Galindo
Driving home several weeks ago, I was listening to a Spanish radio station that played one of the funniest and most effective commercials I’ve ever heard. The characters were exchanging comical descriptions of how bad their credit was: “My credit is so bad that my ATM card requires a safety deposit,” “My credit is so bad they won’t even take my cash,” and so on.
Then the very serious voice of a woman broke in saying, “Un momentito, wait a moment, your credit history is not a joke!” It caught my attention, so I didn’t switch the radio station and kept listening. The concept was to teach people that having bad credit is not funny at all — that you can fix it and that it is a serious matter. It was so well done!
Yet many try to appeal to the Hispanic market regarding financial services in a canned lecture-sermon type of mode, and I truly believe that they are missing the boat. This market clearly needs many of these financial services, but we must find ways to make it less threatening, more appealing, and more effective. Clearly, humor is one of the answers.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on May 23, 2006
Marcelo M. Suárez Orozco, Ph.D. professor and co-director, Immigration Studies New York University
Photo: Marcelo M. Suárez Orozco, Ph.D.
Immigration Studies at New York University, the Pew Hispanic Center, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University will hold a one-day conference of international scholars to explore new empirical, conceptual, and theoretical work on global migration to the United States. The conference, “Rethinking Global Migration: New Realities, New Opportunities, New Challenges,” will examine basic research on a timely topic of increasing public interest.
Speakers will specifically highlight new work on Mexican migration to the United States. The conference will be held at Hemmerdinger Hall, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York, New York on May 25, 2006 from 9 am to 3:45 pm.
According to the event organizers, 53 percent of all immigrants to the United States originate in Latin America with Mexico leading the way; in 2000 there were many more legal immigrants from Mexico than from all of Europe combined. The purpose of the conference is to locate the current immigration debate and policy initiatives in a robust scholarly context. The conference was designed as a forum to explore the causes and consequences of international migration as a regional formation involving the flow of people, resources, and symbols across international boundaries.
The Hon. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights will deliver the inaugural address entitled “A Human Rights Approach to Migration,” and the Hon. Luiz Ernesto Derbez Bautista, Mexico’s minister of foreign affairs will deliver the closing address entitled “Towards a New Global Migration Policy: A Mexican Perspective.” For more information online, visit NYU.edu
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 22, 2006
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Heidi Dickert, vice president, New Products and Business Development, MarketTools
Photo: Heidi Dickert
A podcast interview with Heidi Dickert, vice president, New Products and Business Development, MarketTools, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, Heidi discusses Hispanic market research with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Heidi Dickert utilizes her 14 years of international consumer and business-to-business research experience to develop products and consumer panels which are at the foundation of market research projects conducted by MarketTools. Hispanic Reach, MarketTools’ Hispanic research offering, is one of the three products she has nurtured from conception.
Prior to joining MarketTools, Heidi led new and established brand research groups and supported Latin American and U.S. Hispanic product development for flagship laundry brands at Clorox. Her experience in conducting hundreds of concept tests, ad tests, product tests and multivariate analyses creates the foundation of MarketTools new products and communities.
Earlier in her career, Heidi spent five years abroad creating and implementing market research programs in Europe and Africa for companies such as DHL Worldwide Express and SC Johnson. Heidi taps into her knowledge of international markets to assess and strategically develop new products that meet the international needs of clients. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Heidi Dickert,” hit the play button or download it to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the May 2006 section of the podcast archive.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on May 19, 2006
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Los Bunkers “Vida de Perros” album cover
Chilean rockers Los Bunkers recently had their U.S. debut on Nacional Records. After a steady rise to fame in Chile and three albums under their belts, Los Bunkers bring their Brit-pop infused rock to U.S. shores. “Vida de Perros” (“A Dog’s Life”), they feel, is sure to please fans of The Kinks, Franz Ferdinand, and The Strokes.
According to their promoters, the album was received with open arms by Chilean audiences in the tens of thousands during the “Gira de Perros” tour, and the album’s heavy radio play in Mexico of the first single “Llueve Sobre La Ciudad” created a hit single there.
Comprised of two sets of brothers and another friend, Los Bunkers is Gonzalo Lopez (bass), Mauricio Duran (guitar and vocals), Alvaro Lopez (vocals and acoustic guitar), Mauricio Basualto (drums) and Francisco Duran (guitars, keyboards, harmonica and vocals). Los Bunkers, formed in 1999 in Concepcion, Chile, was influenced by The Beatles, Sloan, and Supergrass. They eventually migrated to Santiago, Chile and released three albums, “Los Bunkers” (2001), “Canción de Lejos” (2002) and “La Culpa” (2003) before signing with Nacional Records for their first U.S. release “Vida de Perros.”
To listen to “Llueve Sobre La Ciudad” by Los Bunkers from the “Vida de Perros” soundtrack, scroll down on HispanicMPR.com until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “Llueve Sobre La Ciudad,” hit the play button or download it to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the May 2006 section of the podcast.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on May 18, 2006
Boca Raton, Florida – HispanicMPR.com, a forum for the exchange of information and ideas on Hispanic marketing and public relations, will offer Hispanic Marketing & Communication Association members a 15 percent discount on its newly launched line of Hispanic marketing and public relations audio recordings until July 31, 2006. Information on the product line is available online at HispanicMPR.com
HispanicMPR.com recently launched the first ever series of downloadable audio resources about targeting Latinos with marketing and public relations tools. Initial offerings include presentations by experts and leaders in the field such as Federico Subervi, Ph.D., professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Texas State University-San Marcos and co-author of the chapter titled “Latino Media: A Cultural Connection;” Michele Valdovinos, vice president of research and marketing, Phoenix Cultural Access Group and co-author of the chapter titled “A Snapshot of the U.S. Hispanic Market;” Dora O. Tovar, M.P.A., president, Tovar Public Relations and contributing author of the chapter titled “Hispanic Public Relations and Its Emergence as an Industry;” and Elena del Valle, principal, LNA World Communications and contributing author of the chapter titled “Cultural Understanding Key to Effective Media Training.”
Started as a weblog for the Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations book (Poyeen Publishing, $49.95), the HispanicMPR.com website and companion podcast provide a place for readers and authors of the book, subscribers and visitors to connect, discover the latest Hispanic market news and updates and listen to expert interviews and presentations in an audio format. Visitors may read updates and listen to podcast recordings on podcast announcements and the website audio player which appears under the heading “Podcast” or download them for convenient listening on their MP3 or iPod players.
The Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations book provides 435 pages of information, case studies, graphics, market data and opinions based on the experiences of nineteen U.S. Hispanic market experts. Seventeen practitioners and two university academics, contributed fifteen chapters to the book, which benefits the Hispanic Marketing & Communication Association (HMCA), a volunteer driven nonprofit professional association dedicated to Hispanic marketing excellence.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 18, 2006
Para Distribución Inmediata Informes: HMCA hmca@hmca.org
HispanicMPR.com editor@hispanicmpr.com
Nota al editor: Hay fotos disponibles de los presentadores y del portal
Miami, Florida – Los miembros de la Hispanic Marketing & Communication Association (http://www.hmca.org/ Asociación Hispana de Mercadeo y Comunicación conocida por sus siglas en inglés como HMCA) recibirán un 15 por ciento de descuento sobre los nuevos recursos educacionales de audio de HispanicMPR.com hasta el 31 de julio de 2006. Los nuevo recursos proporcionan información sobre los mercados latinos de los Estados Unidos y explican cómo llevar a cabo campañas de mercadeo y relaciones públicas dirigidas a dichos mercados. HispanicMPR.com (https://www.hispanicmpr.com/ ) proporciona un foro virtual para el intercambio de información e ideas sobre el mercadeo y las relaciones públicas dirigidas a los latinos en los Estados Unidos. Información sobre los productos se encuentra en el https://www.hispanicmpr.com/resources/hmpr-products/
HispanicMPR.com recientemente lanzó la primera línea de recursos educacionales en audio por medio de download a través del Internet sobre el mercadeo y las relaciones públicas dirigidas a los latinos en los Estados Unidos. Las presentaciones, en ingles, disponibles a través del nuevo formato de audio son las siguientes: Federico Subervi, Ph.D., profesor del School of Journalism and Mass Communication de Texas State University-San Marcos y co-autor del capítulo titulado “Latino Media: A Cultural Connection”, Michele Valdovinos, vicepresidente de research and marketing de Phoenix Cultural Access Group y co-autora del capítulo “A Snapshot of the U.S. Hispanic Market”, Dora O. Tovar, M.P.A., presidente de Tovar Public Relations y autora del capítulo “Hispanic Public Relations and Its Emergence as an Industry” y Elena del Valle, socia de LNA World Communications y autora del capítulo “Cultural Understanding Key to Effective Media Training”.
Establecido como una continuación virtual del nuevo libro en inglés titulado Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations: Understanding and Targeting America’s Largest Minority (Poyeen Publishing, $49.95) para profesionales y estudiantes de mercadeo, el portal HispanicMPR.com y su podcast compañero proporcionan un espacio virtual en el cual los autores y lectores del libro, las personas suscritas a recibir mensajes electrónicos del portal y los visitantes puedan comunicarse e intercambiar información y opiniones y escuchar presentaciones y entrevistas en audio podcast sobre el mercado latino y los temas relacionados. Los visitantes pueden escuchar las entrevistas grabadas en el portal a través del artículo sobre la entrevista, en el espacio “Podcast” y por medio de un download para escucharlas en su computadora, iPod o máquina de MP3.
Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations ofrece 435 páginas en 15 capítulos con información, análisis de casos, materiales gráficos, información del mercado y opiniones sobre el mismo basadas en la experiencia de los 19 autores expertos y beneficia a HMCA. La Hispanic Marketing & Communication Association es una asociación profesional de voluntarios y sin fines de lucro dedicada a promover excelencia en el mercadeo dirigido a latinos.
