While the economic slump is not yet over in Texas, some Texan Media executives tell Portada that both local and national advertising are recovering.
Business Activitity has been recovering after last Septembers’ huge impact of hurricane Ike, Monica Medrano, Advertising Sales Director at Houston based shopper Buena Suerte (Spanish, weekly, circ. 113,000) tells Portada. Medrano notes that since last fall, local classified advertising for lawyers and education has been increasing as well as regional and national retail advertising.
Buena Suerte expanded distribution to San Antonio and Austin in 2008 and also operates a classified advertising website Superpulga.com and dating site corazonacorazon.com.
Bill Vincent, general manager of Rumbo in Houston, tells Portada that he “has seen strength in department store and financial advertising, along with some grocery.There is some challenge with bank advertising currently, as well as electronics, although we see good signs with telecom in the near future.”
Loida Ruiz, Sales Manager at La Voz de Houston, notes that Houstons’ economy has not been hit as badly as the economy of other large U.S. cities as the large Texan city still is enjoying the benefits of the hike in oil prices over the last few years. Ruiz notes that she sees a relatively strong activity in national advertising. “Financial sector advertisers are sending the message that they are safe. This message is particularly important in the Hispanic community as many Hispanics have roots in countries with unstable financial systems”.
Among strong financial advertisers, Ruiz cites Mass Mutual. In addition, Barri, a money transfer agency, is advertising on LaVoz de Houston’s website; a meaningful step as many companies, such as Barri, that are targeting First Immigration (Spanish-dominant Hispanics) have not yet embraced online advertising.
San Antonio
“Year over year the strongest categories are Telecom, Retail, and Home Improvement. The weakest, automotive and recruitment”, Rebecca Chavez Becker, Sales Director, Hispanic Publications of Hispanic publications at San Antonio Express News tells Portada. Becker sells advertising into Conexion (weekly, bilingual, circ. 50,000, published by San Antonio Express-News Hearst) as well as into website sacultura.com. In addition, the San Antonio Express News recently launched Nuestras Empresas, a bilingual quarterly business section published as an insert into Conexion which, according to Becker, is a powerful resource for local Hispanic business owners. According to Scarborough Research, among the 60,000 small business owners in San Antonio, 52% are Hispanic.
On April 9, 2009, Nuestras Empresas will be distributed in Conexión to 47,125 Hispanics in San Antonio through home delivery and single copy sales. This section will also be available online at SAcultura.com and through a link with a keyword on mySA.com”.
Wal-Mart will open two pilot stores, one in Houston, TX, and one in Phoenix, AZ Q3 2009 and feature approximately 39,000 square feet of space.
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