Archive → Octubre, 2011
Telemundo Blends English Into a Mostly Spanish Lineup
By Amy Chozik (NY Times). The new approach, reflecting the changing dynamics of Hispanics across the country, can be seen in the network debut of the Cuban-born television personality Cristina Saralegui as the host of a Sunday variety show, and in a crop of new telenovelas intended to reflect the sensibilities of acculturated Hispanics.
In each case, the programs will feature a sprinkling of English and be available with English subtitles — something not as readily found on the competing Univision.
As Telemundo’s president, Emilio Romano, put it after joining the network in October, his goal is to “focus on a more acculturated, more bilingual” audience, without alienating the core Spanish-dominant viewers.
“If you think about Telemundo as a narrower broadcast network, you quickly get to the place where, like all broadcast networks, your mandate must be to go for the widest possible audience,” said Lauren Zalaznick, the chairwoman of entertainment and digital networks and integrated media for Telemundo’s parent company, NBCUniversal.
Bilingual Hispanics, defined as speaking English more than Spanish or Spanish and English equally, are 82 percent of the United States Hispanic population, according to a report released this year by Scarborough Research, a consumer research firm.
This group has more disposable income than the more Spanish-speaking recent immigrants, with 12 percent of acculturated Hispanic families earning $75,000 to $100,000 a year, the study said.
Telemundo’s efforts to capture viewers in that category speaks to a larger goal within NBCUniversal under the new ownership of the nation’s largest cable provider, Comcast Corp.
As a cable and broadband provider, Comcast foresees Hispanics driving growth in new cable subscriptions, an otherwise mostly flat business. The 2010 Census results showed more than half the total population growth in the United States from 2000 to 2010 was because of the increase in the Hispanic population. In 2010, Hispanics accounted for 50.5 million people residing in the United States, up from 35.3 million a decade ago.
The change in demographics has been noted by advertisers, who have flocked to Spanish television in growing numbers. In the 2011-12 season, advanced advertising sales at Telemundo spiked 25 percent from the previous year to more than $400 million, and the price that advertisers pay per 1,000 viewers doubled, according NBCUniversal.
Advertisers also may be attracted by the fact that Hispanics watch more TV as a family, with Spanish-speaking grandparents often gathered around the TV with their predominantly English-speaking grandchildren, according to the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. Shows that incorporate both languages and cultures can hook multiple generations.
“You may have a home full of generations with different perspectives,” said Roberto Orci, chief executive of Acento, a Los Angeles-based advertising agency aimed at Hispanics.
Telemundo hopes to capitalize on that with Ms. Saralegui, who came to the network after more than two decades as Univision’s daytime queen. Known as “Oprah Winfrey with salsa,” her mix of saucy, Spanglish celebrity interviews and girl talk is seen as central to Telemundo’s plans.
The platinum blonde’s “Pa’lante con Cristina” made its debut on Oct. 9, and attracted 1.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Univision’s Sunday-night “¡Mira Quién Baila!” — a Spanish-language take on “Dancing With the Stars” also available with English closed-captions — averages 3.9 million viewers. On an average night, Univision has 3.8 million viewers compared with one million for Telemundo.
Unlike her Univision show, in which Ms. Saralegui gabbed about cheating husbands, eating disorders and plastic surgery and largely featured stars from Mexican telenovelas, her Telemundo show aims to draw both Spanish-speaking stars and mainstream Hollywood celebrities.
“If Tom Cruise wants to sell ‘Mission Impossible 4,’ ” Ms. Saralegui said, “then he has to go to Spanish-speaking viewers, and I hope he jumps on my couch.” Some guests will speak English on the show, with simultaneous translation, she said.
In addition to “Pa’lante con Cristina,” the network’s Miami-based Telemundo Studios is shooting “Una Maid en Manhattan,” a telenovela based on the 2002 Jennifer Lopez movie. The soapy drama will be available with English subtitles.
“Más Sabe el Diablo” (“The Devil Knows Best”), which concluded in early 2010, also took place in New York and was available with English captions.
In next year’s lineup of telenovelas, there will be “Caidas del Cielo” — a “Charlie’s Angels”-inspired drama — and “Físico o Química” — about the complicated relationships at an urban high school. In addition, Telemundo’s bilingual crossover Web site targets English-dominant Hispanics, and its sister network Mun2 (pronounced moon-dose or “worlds” in Spanish) is aimed at young Hispanics who speak English outside the home.
Telemundo is receiving promotional help from sister networks. Ms. Saralegui appeared on NBC’s “Today” show. The women of “The Real Housewives of Miami” went on Telemundo’s morning show “Levántate.” Jencarlos Canela, the lead in “Más Sabe el Diablo,” sang the Spanish-language theme song in Universal Pictures’ hit animated feature “Hop.”
Even with the new corporate mandate, getting Telemundo celebrities on “Today” is not easy. Many household names among Spanish-speaking viewers do not have the crossover clout to carry a segment on the country’s most-watched morning show.
That is why as soon as Joshua Mintz, Telemundo’s head of entertainment, heard that Univision had not renewed Ms. Saralegui’s contract and that she was free to negotiate a new deal, he went to her Miami home and discussed coming to Telemundo. “In our market, there aren’t a lot of icons or long-lasting figures,” Mr. Mintz said.
Ms. Saralegui, 63, was editor in chief at the Spanish-language Cosmopolitan magazine before breaking into TV with her ubiquitous daily “El Show de Cristina.”
In 1992, CBS Television Stations gave Ms. Saralegui an English-language , “Cristina.” It ended after 13 weeks of disappointing ratings. (Jorge Insua, a spokesman for Ms. Saralegui, said the show was always intended as a trial and ended because of disagreements about budget.)
As part of the multiseason Telemundo deal, Ms. Saralegui insisted on creative control, which included having the freedom to speak a mix of Spanish and English and to host Hollywood stars and Top 20 musicians like Michael Bublé and Beyoncé, even if they are not Hispanic.
“In my house, we speak Spanglish to the dogs, to the grandchildren, to the kids. My kids are American,” Ms. Saralegui said. “That’s what’s happening in the U.S. now versus when I started and it was the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans in New York and the Mexicans in Los Angeles. Now, we’re all mixed up from 23 countries.”
http://nglc.biz/2011/10/27/telemundo-blends-english-into-a-mostly-spanish-lineup/
New Hispanic Health Communication Service Launched by the vox collective & Cooney/Waters Group to Help Companies Reach Major Growth Market
- New business service with focus on Hispanic health communications launches website www.culturhealth.com
- Hispanics at greater risk for many treatable diseases; lack of awareness is a major obstacle to prevention and care
- Major business opportunity for clients to reach “untapped” health care market
A new Hispanic health care communications service, Cultúr Health, was launched today by the vox collective and Cooney/Waters Group. Cultúr Health combines the vox’s deep experience in Hispanic and cultural marketing with Cooney/Waters’ more than 19 years of health care communications service for nonprofits, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Cultúr Health offers strategic, culturally resonant communication programs to help health care industry clients reach the more than 50.5 million Hispanics living in the U.S. This unique growth segment is increasing by more than 1 million per year and is now the second largest consumer group after non-Hispanic whites. By the year 2050, 1 out of every 4 Americans will be Latino.
“Hispanics are emerging as the most sought after consumer target and are rapidly replacing baby boomers as the new, profitable growth opportunity for health care companies,” said Roberto Ramos, the vox collective’s president and CEO. “The vox collective and Cooney/Waters have merged our respective specialty areas in Hispanic marketing and health care public relations to help clients reach this critical ‘untapped’ market.”
U.S. Hispanics are at significant risk for many treatable diseases, yet there is a significant lack of educational programming that specifically targets Hispanics. Some of the leading causes of illness and death among Hispanics include heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Other health conditions that significantly affect Hispanics are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), HIV/AIDS, obesity and liver disease.
“Many Hispanics are largely unaware about their increased risk for chronic diseases, and how these diseases can be prevented or treated. Yet, research shows that 80 percent of Latinos are hungry for information about medical innovation and health care,” said Fred Lake, executive vice president of Cooney/Waters. “Cultúr Health designs and executes fully integrated programs that feed this hunger for health care information, and motivate Hispanics to act on health care messages.”
The name, Cultúr Health, helps convey the multicultural focus and its special emphasis on Hispanic communications services exclusively for the health care industry. Cultúr Health builds on the already established partnership between the vox collective and Cooney/Waters, which has produced multiple award-winning national, regional and grassroots programming to reach Hispanics. For more information visit www.culturhealth.com.
Tecate Stays In Ring, Thanks To Great Latino Boxers
Things have gotten to the point with boxing prize fights that a lot of the boxing world is beginning to wonder if the top of the boxing card is as cursed as the blue corner (where they put combatants who are supposed to lose, pretty much guaranteeing that they’ll lose because they know they have been given the blue corner.)
The sport is rife with evidence that there’s a warlock somewhere sticking needles into effigies of boxing’s main events. In the last several “big” fights, the action has all been pre-fight buzz, face-offs, and marketing like HBO’s “24/7,” not in the ring, a condition epitomized by Wladimir Klitschko versus David Haye, which was all sturm und drang…right up until the fight, which was kind of a dancing lesson.
Mayweather versus Moseley? After the second round, Moseley might as well have watched it from another room with the rest of us. Pacquaio/Moseley? Sugar Shane phoned that one in as well. Mayweather versus Victor Ortiz? The most interesting thing there was Mayweather versus Mayweather on “24/7.” The fight itself? There wasn’t one. Mayweather floored Ortiz when Ortiz was confused about what he was supposed to do. The only thing that got knocked out were the people who paid money for that PPV.
There’s more: Amir Khan vs. Zab Judah. Zab took a page from Moseley and was outgunned from the first round. Mismatch. Bernard Hopkins versus Chad Dawson? That turned into a bad UFC bout when Dawson threw Hopkins down and apparently separated BHop’s shoulder. And then there was last week’s big New York debut of Nonito Donaire, who fought Argentine Omar Narvaez. Narvaez looked three feet shorter than Donaire, and won a victory of sorts just by going the distance. The audience was watching the Cardinals on their smartphones. And then we can basically list the last several Pacquaio fights, and put whipped cream on this sundae by noting that the fight that everyone wants to see will probably never happen. Mayweather, as it is generally accepted now, wants no part of Pac Man.
So what marketer would want to stay in boxing? Well, if you’re Tecate, it actually makes sense to be in the sport for at least two reasons: first, boxing is huge among Hispanic sports fans, and second — and this should be first, really because it has a lot to do with the second point — Mexican and Puerto Rican boxers give their all in the ring. They don’t make for good “24/7” histrionics because they save the drama for the ring.
Tecate, as it happens, will be a big sponsor of the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Vegas. It is a fight that will probably end as most of Manny’s fights have recently, but it’s going to be a fight because JMM is one of the greats. As Tecate has for the last several big fights, it will offer a $25 mail-in rebate off of the PPV (with purchase of a 12-pack or larger), cross-merchandise offers at retail, and on-site ticket and product promotions in Vegas during the event. A nationwide campaign includes updates on Tecate’s Boxing Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/TecateBoxing) with news, photos and videos related to the event.
Tecate is also sponsoring another fight that will be guaranteed to be…well, not sure “good” is the right word here, because both Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito should probably both call it quits. But their rematch will be Dec. 3 at the MSG.
When Buying Telecommunication Services, US Hispanic Over-Index, Says Insight Research
MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J., Oct. 13, 2011 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — In 2011, US ethnic communities will spend $77.9 billion on telecommunications services, accounting for nearly one-third of all residential telecom expenditures, according to a new market research study from The Insight Research Corporation. The largest minority group, Hispanics, representing 16.3 percent of the total US population, will spend the most.
Understanding and targeting the increased spending power of the Hispanic American, African American, and Asian American communities will be crucial for telecommunications providers over the next five years.
Insight Research’s market analysis study, “US Hispanic Use of Telecommunication Services, 2011-2016,” takes a close look at the purchasing habits and telecommunications usage patterns of the Hispanic segment of the US population. The study emphasizes that the Hispanic market exhibits above-average consumption of mobile content.
The study further reports that nearly 82 percent of all Hispanic respondents now have cell phones, and that Hispanic households on average spend $103 monthly on cell phone service – twice as much as the average household spends on wireline services.
“Hispanics have surpassed the African American population as the largest minority group in the US, and Hispanic purchasing power is now growing at nearly twice the rate of the general population,” says Fran Caulfield, Research Director at Insight Research. “Fueled by strong population growth and higher technology penetration, Hispanics are heavy social-networking users. There are over 32 million Hispanics online today, their usage grows faster than other groups, they are more connected, and they will demand unique services to match their evolving needs,” Caulfield concluded.
“US Hispanic Use of Telecommunication Services, 2011-2016″ examines spending and usage patterns of Hispanics for wireline, calling cards, cellular, and international services, and compares these spending patterns to those of the general population as well as other minority segments, including Asian Americans and African Americans.
An excerpt of this market research report, table of contents, and ordering information are online at www.insight-corp.com/reports/hisp11.asp.
This 350-page report has everything and is available immediately for $4,695. Electronic (PDF) reports can be ordered online. Visit our website at www.insight-corp.com or call 973-541-9600 for details.
http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2011-10-1013-003.shtml
Domino’s Pizza Partners with RL Public Relations for Hispanic PR Outreach
Ann Arbor, MI based Domino’s Pizza, the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, has selected RL Public Relations (RLPR) as its Hispanic PR Agency of Record. RLPR, an independent bicoastal Hispanic PR agency, will provide both national and local public relations outreach including media and community relations, supporting key marketing efforts and new product launches, as well as, assist with strategic counsel for digital consumer engagement.
Domino’s Pizza has been a leading supporter of the US Hispanic market for years. This partnership marks the first time the brand has engaged an agency specifically for Hispanic public relations services. Domino’s general market PR initiatives are handled by an internal communications team. The account will be managed out of RLPR’s New York offices.
http://www.hispanicprblog.com/hispanic-organization-news/rl-public-relations-dominos.html
Lobbying for Free Trade Pacts with Panama and Colombia, News Corp. Direct Benefit
According to federal records, Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire News Corp. lobbied in favor of the free trade pact with Panama.
The free trade pact with the Latin American country makes it harder to crack down on abuses of tax policies in Panama, where News Corp., which heads Fox News, operates subsidiaries.
It was in the best interest of the conglomerate to push for the now-current Panama pact, and that’s exactly what the already controversial company did.
Within countries considered to be international tax havens, News Corp. operates 136 subsidiaries according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Panama attracts companies worldwide with its zero-percent tax rate, and its banks’ secrecy policies.
Rebecca Wilkins, senior counsel at the nonprofit Citizens for Tax Justice, told the Huffington Post, “A long list of tax haven subsidiaries might indicate a lot of nefarious activity, but you really only need one. News Corp. might use a single Panama subsidiary to avoid taxes on $3 or on $3 billion. We need sales, profits, tax payments and employees reported on a country-by-country basis to get a good picture of what the multinational is really doing.”
But while a number of companies have money stashed in international tax haven countries like Panama, HuffPo owners AOL included, most do not a directly lobby on trade deals as News Corp. did.
The other recent free trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea were also beneficial to the media giant, as News Corp. operates two subsidiaries in Colombia, and three in South Korea.
Congress passed trade deals with all three countries on October 12 of this year.
Check Out Microsoft’s First Global Multi-Product Holiday Campaign
Microsoft this week rolled out its first multi-product global holiday ad campaign. The commercials, running in 35 countries through January, integrate an array of Microsoft branded products — Windows, Windows Phone, Kinect for Xbox and Office — targeted at families.
The 30-second TV spot above (which debuted during Sunday Night Football) is called “Epic Share.” It features a dad playing Dance Central 2 on an Xbox 360 with Kinect as his teasing kids capture his “tech-no” dance moves on a Windows Phone, before using Windows editing software to share the footage.
The second holiday spot — “Dog.PPT,” below — features a boy giving a PowerPoint presentation to his skeptical parents on why the family needs a dog, which inspires his father to try his own presentation.
“We have a wide portfolio of brands. I think bringing them together for this campaign differentiates us,” Paul Davies, Microsoft’s UK director of marketing communications, told Brand Republic (which estimates the campaign’s price tag at £5.5m.
He added that the campaign’s objective (tagline: It’s a great time to be a family”) is to show how the #3 Best Global Brand‘s “family of products are interconnected.”
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/10/18/Microsoft-Holiday-2011-Campaign-101811.aspx
Two Hispanics Nominated for Key Presidential Administration Positions; One from Balsera Communications
The White House has announced that President Barack Obama has nominated Freddy Balsera (of Balsera Communications) to serve on the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
This bi-partisan Commission was created by Congress in 1948 and is charged with appraising U.S. Government activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics. It consists of seven members appointed by the President and it reports to him and the Secretary of State. Its main duties are to formulate and recommend to the President, the Secretary of State, and Members of Congress policies and programs to carry out the public diplomacy functions vested in the State Department, Broadcasting Board of Governors and other government entities; appraise the effectiveness of the public diplomacy policies and programs carried out by government agencies; and to submit reports to the Congress, the President, and the Secretary of State on public diplomacy programs and activities. The term of each member is for three years and Balsera’s nomination is being sent by the President to the Senate for confirmation.
Balsera is the Founder and Managing Partner of Balsera Communications, a public relations firm with a public policy focus that specializes in developing and executing national communications strategies for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, non-profit groups and major public interest organizations. In the last two years, Balsera and his firm handled message development, media relations, public outreach and other communications responsibilities in English and Spanish for the US Department of Interior’s National Museum of the American Latino Commission, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities and the Federal Communications Commission’s Digital Television Transition initiative.
Throughout his career, Balsera has developed a unique proficiency in communicating complex political and public policy messages to the public. In 2008, he helped craft President Barack Obama’s national Hispanic television and radio campaign. In this capacity, he co-wrote and produced all of the Spanish media messages broadcast by the Obama campaign in the entire country. Balsera’s work helped deliver an estimated sixty-six percent of the national Hispanic vote for President Obama. He was also a Latino surrogate spokesperson for the campaign handling over 300 interviews on the campaign’s behalf. Additionally, Balsera served on the campaign’s National Finance Committee and was appointed as a Presidential Elector in Florida
As part of the Obama-Biden Transition process, Balsera served as an advisor to the agency review team for the Federal Communications Commission. Last year, he was profiled by Politics Magazine as one of the ten most influential Democrats in Florida. He was also listed by PODER Magazine as one of the “Top 20 under 40.”
Prior to founding his company in 1999, Balsera worked for the Miami Dade County Mayor’s Office handling intergovernmental relations and media relations duties. He currently serves on the board of the YMCA of Greater Miami and was elected to the Miami Dade College Alumni Hall of Fame in 2010. Balsera was born and raised in Miami and attended Barry University.
http://www.hispanicprblog.com/hispanic-excellence/balsera-communications.html
McDonald’s Introducing In-Restaurant TV Network Eight Minutes of Commercials Per Hour — and Less Than Two for McDonald’s
McDonald’s is introducing a TV network in its restaurants that will include content from Mark Burnett and BBC America, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
The fast-food chain will introduce the channel over the next few months to 800 restaurants in Southern California and Central California, where customers will watch on two 42-inch HDTVs visible from 70% of seats, the Times said. There will also be “quiet zones” available.
Commercials will represent about eight minutes per hour, of which only one-and-a-half minutes will go to McDonald’s commercials.
Programming will include segments such as “The McDonald’s Achievers,” profiling local high school and college athletes.
http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/mcdonald-s-introducing-restaurant-tv-network/230464/
Advertisers Miss Key Targets In Hispanic Market
By Steve McClellan (MediaPost). Carat USA, the Aegis Group media shop, has completed a detailed new study of the Hispanic consumer segment and concluded that marketers are spending dollars against the sector in highly inefficient ways, due to continued reliance on old assumptions and outdated methods of communicating with the Latino population.
The new data has led Carat to conclude that 90% of Hispanic media budgets are targeting only 20% of the Latino population — and are missing the opportunity to “drive significant business value among 80% of the Hispanic market.”
Among the major findings: a significant decrease in traditional word-of-mouth influence from friends and family. Just like the rest of the population, Hispanics have been empowered by the digital revolution and are highly engaged with digital and social content (such as online ratings, reviews, and blogs).
Digital information now influences the majority of Hispanic purchasing decisions, the agency research found. Previously, children had greater influence in purchases made by parents, and marketers have sought to tap into that persuasion factor. Today, however, 50% of U.S. Hispanic consumers say they no longer shop with their children, opening up a significant opportunity to market to individuals directly through social media channels, per the report.
Another key finding per the study: Impulse purchases and self-indulgence are rising as a mindset among U.S. Hispanics. Nearly 60% of the Latinos surveyed indicated they no longer wait for things to go on sale before purchasing them. And more than half of the respondents said they now make purchases to keep up with the latest fashions.
The green movement has not passed over Hispanic households; nearly 40% now make purchasing decisions based on whether they believe a product or service is environmentally friendly.
“Our research shows there is an immediate opportunity for marketers to maximize their media value and use their dollars more efficiently and effectively by embracing this tremendous cultural shift,” among Hispanics, the fastest growing population segment in the U.S., stated Doug Ray, president, Carat USA. “Advertisers can now tap into a more current set of passions and motivations, some of which are entirely different from those typically identified with Hispanic shoppers, even as recently as five years ago.”
The study also found there is less focus on acculturation by Hispanics and a growing shift toward “self-actualization.” Nearly 60% of Latinos prefer to “enjoy life” versus feeling a sense that they must place duty ahead of personal goals and fulfillment. Personal passions tend to be more indulged than in the past, when needs of the family were seen as the foremost driver of behavior, per the report.
The study concluded that marketers must embrace social media activities that are designed to be inclusive of Hispanic audiences via a “total market” approach. Given the burgeoning array of Hispanic video programming content, the study recommends increased investment in Spanish-language cable channels. Genres to consider include travel, adventure, celebrity gossip, sensationalist-type content, and dramatic situations.
The study was based on a survey of more than 2,000 Hispanic adults ages 18 and older. The majority of the surveying was done online, with about one-quarter of the respondents interviewed by phone.
http://nglc.biz/2011/10/18/advertisers-miss-key-targets-in-hispanic-market/