David Taggart worked for many years as Televisa Publishing’s General Manager and Group Publisher out of Miami. He left Televisa in 2008 to become Managing Partner at CC Studios. Portada caught up with him to ask him about his current professional activities and his views on the media and advertising market.
Portada: Can you explain on what projects you are working now?
David Taggart: “Talent management and production for TV and movies."
You have a long experience in the Hispanic and Latin American magazine markets . What is your view of the opportunities and challenges in magazine market right now?
D.T.: “I have been out of the market for a while. I know that there has been an important restructuring of the newsstand business for Hispanic magazines. So this, no doubt, is a new challenge. I don’t know how much Hispanic ad spend has risen or declined. However, if the general market is any indication, there has most likely been a significant drop in spending. Overall, it seems that Hispanic magazines publishers are streamlining in terms of closing titles or reducing frequency.”
What type of magazine would you launch now, if there is one?
D.T.: “It seems that one of the fastest growing segments is young, english-dominant Hispanics. This seems to be a very sought after segement. Having said this, finding the right formula is tough. I don’t know if this segment reads print media, digital media or are PDA content consumers… The numbers seem to point to PDA. So I would tailor the product to that platform.”
There is the saying that a dollar less of off-line advertising does not translate into an additional dollar of online advertising. What is your advice to media companies who are facing this challenge?
D.T.: “It seems that advertisers are still investing in branded events. Grassroots ways of interacting with the market. Although events and promotions are expensive, its one way way to possibly maintain revenue share while online catches up.”
