At Portada, we are keeping our finger on the pulse of all things marketing and media. “Insider” is our digest of news and occurrences that have gotten under the radar lately and deserve attention and analysis. Today, we look at the latest on media agencies’ commitment to media buys targeting diverse audiences, Fox Deportes’ ‘strange’ buy of English-language Mexican National Team soccer rights, and more…
Targeting Diverse Audiences: Gonzalo del Fa’s Opt-Out Rule
Amidst signs that DE&I commitment may be waning at corporations and advertising agencies, a session on diverse audience-targeted media during the recent Advertising Week New York event was particularly interesting. Gonzalo del Fa, president at GroupM Multicultural, noted that advertising to diverse audiences should be an opt-out for Corporate America: “You are in unless you openly say I do not want to invest in advertising engaging diverse audiences.” What exactly does that mean? Del Fa favors using a figure or ratio for clients to comply with. At GroupM, that ratio lies at a minimum commitment in minority-owned media of 5% of the overall annual advertising budget. During the same panel, Mark Prince, SVP, Head of Economic Empowerment – Dentsu media – Americas, asked other media agencies to adopt 30-day payment terms for diverse targeted media buys. He also noted that media buyers should not “really compare Hispanic or black-owned media properties with the major tech platforms, as they have very different features.” Michael Roca, Executive Director Elevate at Omnicom Media Group and Lisa Torres, President of Publicis Media’s Multicultural Practice, also participated in the panel session.
You are in, unless you openly say I do not want to invest in advertising engaging diverse audiences.
On the same topic, Horizon Media’s Karina Dobarro says in an interview we are publishing today, that she is “starting to experience a loss of momentum and growth slowdown with diverse media, partially driven by the continued economic and political uncertainty. This will unlikely change in 2024 as we move into a presidential election year, bringing new challenges like limited media inventory and premium pricing.” To level up efforts in driving consideration and investment with diverse-owned and -targeted media, Horizon Media is creating a new role at the agency: the Diverse Omni-Channel Investment Lead.
…AND BTW:
Should it matter whether a company is minority-owned? Regardless of ownership, what is critical is that it engages diverse audiences and reinvests profits in that community. Non-minority-owned businesses e.g. Televisa Univision and others can circumvent the issue anyway by buying 49% of a minority-owned company and getting minority-certified status that way (E.g. check the acquisition of a 49% in Remezcla by MyCode.)
Does it Make Sense for Fox Deportes to Get the English Rights for MNT friendlies in the U.S.?
Earlier this month, U.S. sports and soccer marketing observers were surprised at the news of Fox Deportes scoring English-language rights to the Mexican National Team (MNT) complete schedule of friendly matches through the FIFA World Cup 26™. “The Mexico National Team inspires true passion and excitement across our audience,” said Carlos Sanchez, Executive Vice President and General Manager, FOX Deportes. “Presenting these highly anticipated matches in English offers an exciting alternative for “El Tri’s” largely bilingual fanbase here in the United States.”
It seems counterintuitive for Fox Deportes (a Spanish-language channel) to air the Mexican National Team in English. (Univision holds the Spanish-language rights.). However, Fox Deportes may be on to something. As sports fan website Awfulannouncing.com states, Streaming of Latin American national team matches at last year’s World Cup was a great success regardless of the language the typical platform users speak. A dizzying 2.08 million viewers watched the Spanish-language broadcast of the Mexico-Argentina match on Telemundo’s and Peacock, NBCU’s mostly English-language streaming platforms.
…AND BTW:
Soccer matches are extremely hot, especially when you own rights to LigaMX in Spanish; TelevisaUnivision leverages the value of its multiple soccer rights by taking some of the matches off its linear sports channel TUDN and adding it to the programming roster of its paid AVOD channel Vix+.
No ‘Fox News for Spanish-speaking America’, at Least for Now
In March 2022, we reported about the launch of conservative Hispanic platform Americano Media. “We are the first-ever conservative radio and TV platform in Spanish. It has not happened in the world before,” Jorge L. Arrizurieta, President of Americano Media told Portada at the time. The self-styled Fox News for Spanish-speaking America —“run out of money” in August 2023 and asked 100-plus staffers to work without pay until the company finds a lifeline, according to The Miami Herald. Americano Media launched in March 2022 with a nearly US $20 million initial investment for a Spanish-language conservative channel on SiriusXM satellite radio, but it shifted in September to broadcasting on Florida AM radio, claiming to seek a more “permanent basis in the community.” Americano Media’s website continues to be updated by newswire content.
