Scott Pompe, Senior Vice President Advertising & Targeted Media, at The Los Angeles Times Media Group, recently attended Portada´s Fifth Annual Hispanic Digital and Print Media Conference and we interviewed him.
Pompe is responsible for over $110 Million dollars in sales leading the local advertising teams which are integrated into one selling unit for LAT and the Targeted Media portfolio including; Tribune Direct, Times Community News, HOY, LAT Magazine and BrandX. Los Angeles Times Media Group Hispanic targeted media is one of his main responsibilities. Below is the Q&A.
Portada: Can you explain how targeted media (and Hispanic media) is embedded in the Los Angeles Times Media Group?
Scott Pompe : “Hoy is a leading Spanish-language newspaper with a weekly edition in Los Angeles, a daily edition in Chicago and weekend Hoy Fin de Semana editions in both cities. Combined, Hoy has a gross weekly print distribution of more than 1.6 million copies. Hoy’s editorial mission is to provide Latinos with engaging news and information that supports community involvement and connection to Spanish-language cultures. Hoy Los Angeles is published by the Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG), which is part of Tribune Company, one of the country’s leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting. LATMG’s businesses and affiliates also include Los Angeles Times, The Envelope, Times Community News and LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine and reach approximately 5.1 million or 38% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG also owns and operates California Community News as well as Tribune Direct’s west coast division.”
- from an ad sales perspective
“Our sales organization has transformed into a “solutions based” selling unit focused on providing acceptable returns on investment for our advertising partners. HOY/Fin de Semana(FDS)/Vivelohoy are LATMG’s current product solutions providing advertisers with “targetability” of the LA DMA’s Spanish-speaking audience.”
- from a content perspective
“Our editorial team provides local news, entertainment and sports content relevant to Latinos in the Los Angeles area on a daily basis online through Vivelohoy and weekly in print through Hoy Los Angeles. There also is increasing collaboration between the newsrooms of Hoy Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Times to provide more insight (in both Spanish and English) into news and issues of interest to the Latino community.”
- from a distribution perspective
“140,000 copies of Hoy are distributed free via racks in highly concentrated Latino communities on Fridays. FDS is address-specific Saturday home delivered to 740,000 Hispanic households with a high propensity to speak and read Spanish in the home. This distribution is unduplicated with LA Times. “
To reach Hispanics in Los Angeles can you talk about a preferred distribution system (e.g. home delivery vs. rack distribution vs. paid. In what situation is one better than the other?
“We activate all methods of distribution for our Latino products; HOY (rack), FDS (home delivery), Vivelohoy (digital) and have found all options are valid as they serve different consumer needs as well as allow for customizations that meet advertiser goals and strategies.”
What do you say to people who claim that distribution of your Sunday magazine in minority and low-income neighborhoods has been diminished?
“Los Angeles Times Magazine is available as a free opt-in for any of our subscribers who request it. LA is also made available online anytime at www.latimesmagazine.com and as a free iPad app which can be downloaded via iTunes. In addition, we offer a magazine-only subscription for non-subscribers.
How do you work with national advertisers? How do you try to tease them to reach national Los Angeles Hispanics through your digital and print media properties?
“Our FDS product carries a great portion of National and Major Retail pre-print advertisers which has seen tremendous growth and acceptance over the past couple years. HOY primarily caters to more of a display ad local environment and has also enjoyed fantastic growth this past year. In terms of digital/mobile, Vivelohoy is designed to create a national Latino marketplace. Locally we’ve also created very effective texting and mobile platforms for our clients to reach the Hispanic audience.
Local and National advertisers alike are keenly aware of the value of reaching Latinos in the Los Angeles DMA, which was not the case a few years ago. Point being, teasing is not necessary given the attractiveness and buying power of LA’s Latino marketplace.”
Journal Register and Media News Group just created Digital First Media , is Tribune doing anything like that? Or does it have other initiatives to promote/sell interactive advertising?
“ Vivelohoy is a collaborative effort between LA and Chicago, designed to create a national product. We are in the early developments of launching HOY LA which will focus more on local content unique to LA’s Latino consumers.”
