Content Farms are all the rage in the media and advertising world.Companies like Demand Media, Answers.com and Yahoo’s Associated Content create thousands of pieces of content per day and are making a big impact on the Web. In fact, these companies are now among the top 30 websites in the U.S. Google and other search engines are important partners of content farms as these companies monetize the traffic that search engines send them through online advertising.
Content Farms, who employ thousands of low cost freelancers, are also vendors to traditional media companies. Gannett’s USA Today recently announced that it hired Demand Media for travel tips content.
Are there content farms catering to the Latin media space? The concept makes a lot of sense, particularly once the skilled and low cost Latin American talent base is taken into account. There clearly is an opportunity here for savvy entrepreneurs to monetize content that can be produced inexpensively by a very talented Latin American workforce and then “exported to the U.S. and Spain.”
In the audiovisual productions world it has already been happening with a sizable quantity of TV and movie production being outsourced to companies often based in Argentina, Mexico and Brazil. The recent announcement of Televisa $1.2 billion investment in Univision which will expand and extend the long-term Program License Agreement (PLA) between the two companies shows what a crucial role Latin American content, off-line and online, has for the U.S. Hispanic market.
What plans do major online content players have for the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets? Regarding pure online players, AOL recently announced that it is hiring more than 500 journalist in a major content push. Miguel Ferrer, Director of AOL Latino, tells Portada that for the Hispanic and Latin American markets AOL will be hiring additional staffers in Mexico and New York.
Armando Rodriguez, Head of Sales & Business Development (GM), Yahoo!Hispanic Americas, recently told Portada that Yahoo! Recently begun to integrate Associated Content on Yahoo! News, Y!Finance, Y! Sports and other “purple” properties.(However, we add, Associated Content does not have Spanish-language content.) Regarding Yahoo’s own editorial team, Rodriguez noted that Yahoo’s main editorial team and offices for Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market are based in Miami, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and of course Sunnyvale California – the company’s headquarters.” (To read the entire interview with Rodriguez, please go to www.portada-online.com).
But why aren’t there Latin (Spanish and Portuguese specific) content farms? Our guess is that the sector is still in an embryonic phase and that in the next twelve months Latin content farms will emerge.Stay tuned as Portada reports about this nascent sector in the next months.
ONLINE VIDEO ADVERTISING: OAN INCORPORATES MAXIMUM TV
Orange Advertising Network Americas (OAN), the advertising sales house, announced that it has incorporated MaximumTV into its network of premium sites targeting the Hispanic Market in the US.
With this exclusive partnership OAN Americas will monetize MaximumTV’s online television programming service, offered at www.maximum.tv In the growing online video market, Orange Advertising Network Americas and MaximumTV aim to take the leadership in the US Hispanic market segment, with an increasing number of brand advertisers shifting marketing dollars to online advertising vehicles.
UNIVISION LAUNCHES 72 ONLINE, MOBILE TV AND RADIO SITES
Univision Interactive Media, Inc. announced the launch of 72 new online and mobile TV and Radio sites in 20 top Hispanic markets nationwide. This is part of Univision’s ongoing effort to drive growth on the local level, as well as enhance user experiences and maximize engagement and traffic across all its digital platforms.The initiative has already begun, and will continue through the end of the year.
“These enhancements will grow our audience and engagement, while allowing us to better serve our advertisers and partners with expanded features and a stronger platform through which to reach our valuable audience.” said Kevin Conroy, president, Univision Interactive Media.In addition to the new online and mobile sites that have already launched in Miami, Los Angeles and New York, new sites in the following markets will roll out through the end of the year: Chicago, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and San Francisco; Austin and Phoenix; Fresno; San Diego and Sacramento; Puerto Rico, Atlanta and Philadelphia; El Paso and McAllen; and Las Vegas and Albuquerque. (For more information on how Media Companies are increasingly focusing on local media to target Hispanic consumers, read “It’s all about Local” Cover Story of the last Portada issue (Nr. 40, Q4 2010 also available at .)
ACCOUNT MOVES
JC Penney
JP Penney reassigned Hispanic marketing and buying responsibilities to Conill and OMD. The Vidal Partnership will no longer handle the creative and account duties, Conill is the new agency in charge.OMD will handle media buying. Earlier this year, New York City based The Vidal Partnership lost another important retail account: Home Depot to Dallas based Richards Lerma group.
Wendy’s
Last Summer The Bravo Group and Bromley Communications were the finalists in the pitch for Wendy’s Hispanic business.The pitch was for all areas but Hispanic media planning and buying, which is handled by MediaVest and MV42.Now Wendy’s International, Inc., part of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. named Miami-based Bravo Group as its U.S. Hispanic agency of record. Bravo Group will be tasked with creative, planning and strategy to engage and attract the more than 45 million Hispanic consumers in theU. S. to the Wendy’s brand. Hispanic media planning and buying will remain with MediaVest and MV42.
Verizon
Lopez Negrete Communications, Inc., announced a new business alliance with Verizon Communications Inc. to market its landline telephone, TV and highspeed Internet services, including the company’s ground-breaking fiber optic service, FiOS.
Lopez Negrete will be the full-service marketing and communications agency of record focused on the Hispanic market.
The agency will provide a full range of support, including Hispanic advertising, strategic planning, media buying and planning, creative, digital, promotions, event marketing, and public relations.
Mazda
Following a comprehensive advertising agency review, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) announced that WPP Group has officially taken over as its fullservice marketing-communications partner.
The $150 million Mazda advertising account is shifting from Southfield, Michigan based independent agencyW. B. Doner & Co. To a consortium of WPP Group agencies in California that will rely heavily on a template created in metro Detroit.
Some of the Mazda work, such as media buying, already was handled by WPP's Dearborn, Michigan based Team Detroit.
Unilever
Zubi Advertising was selected Unilever's Multicultural Agency of Record for all Personal Care brands that have dedica- ted multicultural marketing communications associated with them, Tatiana Hansell Sr. Brand Manager – Multicultural Marketing at Unilever tells Portada.
Mindshare is retaining the planning and buying business. In fact, the agreement warranting Mindshare the buying and planning business was recently renewed.
Unilever's personal care brands include: Axe, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond's, Rexona, Signal-Close Up, Sunsilk, TIGI, Vaseline.
HOY FIN DE SEMANA INCREASES HOUSEHOLD DISTRIBUTION BY 40%
The Los Angeles Times Media Group’s Hoy Fin de Semana increased its distribution from 500,000 to more than 700,000 households in Hispanic-dominant ZIP codes across the Los Angeles DMA starting last October 2nd. The 40% increase in the Spanish-language weekend publication’s footprint targets the nation’s largest Hispanic market.
Editorial coverage will also be expanded to provide additional sports, entertainment and health news and information together with what-to-do / where-to-go guides and calendars. Hoy Fin de Semana publishes every Saturday and can also be found online 24/7 alongside all of Hoy’s multimedia offerings at www.vivelohoy.com.
GRUPO PRISA LOOKS TO GROW IN U.S. HISPANIC AND LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS
Liberty Acquisitions, a New York City special purpose acquisitions firm led by Martin Franklin and Nicolas Berggruen is injecting $900 million into Spain’s media conglomerate Grupo Prisa. With some pressure off Prisa’s balance sheet, Prisa seems likely to spend more time looking at opportunities outside Spain, including the Hispanic market in the US and Latin America. “A diverse US Hispanic population is unified only by the Spanish language”, Juan Luis Cebrian, CEO of Prisa told the Financial Times. “But the problem is the quality of the product [Spanish programming] has been very low”, Cebrian added.. Prisa is a majority investor in U.S. Hispanic broadcaster V-Me as well as in Union Radio, which has extensive radio properties in both the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. America’s growing bilingual population has also prompted text book publisher Santillana, also owned by Prisa, to start work on forming a unit specializing in bilingual education, Mr. Cebrián said, which he intends to deploy in the Americas.
PAL FOCUSES ON MONETIZING US HISPANIC AUDIENCES
“Periódicos Asociados Latinoamericanos” (PAL) celebrated its Fifth Annual Meeting in Lima, Peru. The meeting was hosted by Peruvian newspaper La República.Executives of member newspapers discussed the international advertising situation as well as PAL’s different content offerings.
Vicente Jubes, general manager of PAL, highlighted that PAL markets premium online inventory accessed by U.S. Hispanic audiences to U.S. Advertising Agencies.
PAL is headquartered in Miami, and offers multiplatform solutions for the region. Its members publish 22 newspapers and 100 magazines. It’s online properties have 42 million online users, of which 6.5 million are in the United States. PAL member newspapers are Clarín (Argentina), La Tercera (Chile), La República (Perú), Hoy (Ecuador), El País, El Colombiano, Vanguardia Liberal y El Universal (Colombia); El Informador, La Verdad, El Tiempo y El Universal (Venezuela); La Prensa (Nicaragua), El Diario de Hoy (El Salvador), La Prensa (Honduras) y Diario Libre (República Dominicana).
Increasingly, major Latin American publishers are attempting to monetize their U. S Hispanic traffic. GDA, Grupo Diarios America, recently introduced GDA Digital, a new digital product using open ad-stream technology for which it is partnering with Real Media Latin America.
BRAND EXTENSION: VME LAUNCHES VME KIDS
Hispanic TV broadcast network Vme strengthened its commitment to Latino families with the launch of a new channel for preschoolers – Vme Kids, a 24/7 channel to focus specifically on preschoolers for whom Spanish is the home language.
Vme Kids launched on AT&T U-verse channel 3058 on September 1, 2010 with additional distributors to be announced.Vme will support each of its distribution partners with significant on-the-ground marketing events such as book tours with Vme’s sister company, Santillana USA, owned by Spain’s Grupo Prisa, and a LazyTown Live! School-based tour.
FOX NEWS LAUNCHES MOSTLY ENGLISH SITE FOX NEWS LATINO
Fox News launched a new website targeting English-dominant Hispanics: Fox News Latino. The site covers news with a focus on longer features and analysis of interest to Hispanics. The site went live just as the Chilean miners rescue was about to start.
Customized for the U.S. Latino audience, the new site (www.FoxNewsLatino. com) features culturally relevant content built around the interests of Hispanics online; videos and content will be in both Spanish and English, including reports from the United States in addition to those filed in Latin America.
Fox News Latino is mostly in English with tabs on Home, News, Entertainment, Sports, Health and Lifestyle. In addition, it offers the “The Español vertical,” a Spanishportal for Hispanics that offers comprehensive Spanish language products and services including U.S. and Latin American news, financial tools, the latest in music and entertainment, personal finance, sports, fashion and beauty. Several articles are provided by newswires Efe and Associated Press.
In making the announcement, Michael Clemente, Senior Vice President of News Editorial for the network said, “The launch of FOX News Latino creates an unprecedented opportunity to expand our reach by engaging the fastest growing minority audience and providing a unique platform for compelling and original content focused on the Latino community and the American dream.”
Fox News Latino will be led by Senior Editor Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush (formerly of El Diario/La Prensa of New York) and Manager Francisco Cortes.
LATIN AMERICAN AGENCIES ENTER INTO THE U.S. HISPANIC MARKET AS MEXICAN GRUPO W EXPANDS…
Grupo W begun operations in the U.S. In late October. The Mexican agency decided to open offices in Miami to work with agencies and advertisers in the Hispanic Market and offer the digital services the company offers in México. Grupo W hired Lynn Ponder as new business developer to search new clients in the US.
“We are open to colaborate with agencies with experience in the U.S. Hispanic Market”, said Ulises Valencia, partner and founder of Grupo W. Miguel Calderón, cofounder added “We've worked with agencies like Wieden + Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, 180 Amsterdam and Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Our plan is to take this experience in our new venture.We are looking forward to work with Hispanic agencies.”
AND COSTA IMC ACQUIRES CAM ADVERTISING & MEDIA
Costa Imc announced the acquisition of CAM Advertising & Media. CAM was founded by Carlos Morales and has been operating in Central America and the Andean region for the past 10 years.
Among the agency's current clients are leading brands such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, Del Monte, Sabic, Saudi Aramco and Discovery Networks.
“The competitive advantage that CAM brings to Costa Imc can be summarized in the areas of online media planning, buying, optimization, and measurement. I'm excited about immediately impacting the way Costa Imc serves its clients and looks forward to being part of one of the most prestigious privately held marketing consortiums in the region,” says Mr. Morales.
The team at Costa Imc is bringing Mr. Morales as head of media for the Latin America and U.S. operations. This strategic move builds on the agency's effort of positioning Costa Imc as a leader in the interactive marketing arena.
Since the beginning of 2010, Costa Imc has bolstered a robust portfolio of clients, hired top creative and strategic talent, and expanded its services to become a full service interactive agency focusing on the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American segments.
DISNEY EN FAMILIA CLOSES
Disney en Familia the custom publication published twice a year by Disney is closing. The publication was launched by Disney in the summer of 2008 and has a circulation of 350,000. The winter issue, to be published in a few weeks, will be its last.
Consumer research done by Disney showed that consumers want transactional information (e.g. offers about products they care about like new DVDs, information on authors, parks etc…). Disney concluded that a lifestyle themed custom publication is not an effective vehicle for giving its customers what they want. Instead, Disney will increase its marketing including digital advertising and direct mail efforts. “Despite the closure of Disney en Familia we are more excited than ever about the Hispanic market and are committed to creating great entertainment and experiences for the Hispanic consumer” Jonathan Friedland, Senior Vice President – Communications at the Walt Disney Company, tells Portada.
Disney en Familia readers will be invited to register to receive offers and promotions on Disneyenfamilia.com. In addition, Disney plans to expand content offerings on Disneylatino.com, a site that currently is mostly directed to Latin American consumers.
Other Disney owned media active in the Hispanic market include cable channel ESPN and ESPN la Revista which is published in conjunction with Mexican publisher GW Publishing.
CHANGES AT CAFÉ MEDIA
After Julian Posada the publisher of Café Magazine, was named new president of MLS club Chicago Fire, everyone in the Hispanic media world asked what would happen Café Media. Posada founded Café Media, an English-language publication and website catering to acculturated Latinos, in October 2008. We heard back from Posada. He tells us that Alejandro Riera is the new interim publisher and editor in chief.
More importantly, Café Media has been looking for funding to expand its presence in other major markets. Currently the publication has a circulation of 45,000 in Chicago. However, it did not find investors willing to fund that national expansion. Due to budget constraints Café Media had to reduce expenses substantially including Julian Posada's salary. The number of fulltime employees has been reduced and so has the number of freelancers the publication uses.
