You started your own business. Welcome to the party. Face the music. And dance. You are on your own now. No more whining. No more excuses. No more finger pointing. You only have yourself to blame. Some assorted pieces of advice …..<!–more–>

-True multiculturalism is all about venturing outside of your comfort zone. Eg. my partner, Lane Atkins, is a baseball-loving Southern gentleman from Greensboro, North Carolina. I am a criollo from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

-There are a lot of agencies out there that seem to be too NYC, too LA, too West Coast, too East Coast, too Mexican, too Cuban, too Argentine. Not a good recipe for diverse, disruptive thinking, if you ask me.

-You want to have a prodigious memory to remember faces, names, facts & numbers.

-You want to be amnesiac enough to forget the myriad times you will be dissed, ignored, overlooked & humiliated.

-Calls will go unreturned, emails unreplied.

-Keep trying.

-Check your ego at the door

-Never take anything personal, which is almost impossible for us thin-skinned creatives. Maybe that’s the reason why creatives rarely start or lead agencies and prefer the warm shelter of multinational corporations.

-Spread the risk: do not get comfortable or complacent with your existing clients.

-Then again, you want to treat every client as if they were the only one. Easier said than done.

-Long term relationships & monthly retainers are becoming a thing of the past.

-RFCs are great (Requests For Credentials).

-RFPs are horrible. A humiliating beauty pageant. A shot in the foot.  A necessary evil. You give away your work for free and devalue the entire industry. Stay away from RFPs as much as you can (easier said than done).

-The medium is the message. Hence, we can’t stop at just creating new messages for the same old media. We need to create new vehicles, new modules, new ad units, new inventories. Example: someone had to come up with the idea of selling ad space on soccer jerseys to sponsors. A new revenue stream. In this particular case, if you ask me, an intrusive eyesore, but hey it’s a free country.

-Eg. we are helping develop new revenue streams for JustPlayTennis.com, a subscriber-based network that connects tennis players.

-Talk the talk, walk the walk, put your money where your mouth is.

-Award shows & industry gatherings are good for professionals looking for visibility that could lead to a raise or a new job. Not sure they are the right place to find clients.

-Be desperate and show it.

-Try too hard.

-Let the world know that you are sexy, horny & hungry.

-”A married man with a family will do anything for money” Charles M. de Talleyrand.

By Gonzalo López Martí /Atkins López Martí, LLC
1537 Saragossa Avenue
Coral Gables, Florida 33134.
T. 305 669 8777
F. 305 669 3977

Another AHAA conference has come and gone and all in all, I feel that Roberto Orci, Horacio Gavilan and the entire team stepped up to the challenge.  There was definitely some headroom made with this year’s conference.  It was great to see some of the familiar faces as well as several new ones.

That being said, we still need to see more clients represented, more diversity and serious consideration when it comes to digital.  Truth is that we are all aware of the realities of the medium and it is still seen as an afterthought, pushed off to the last day of the conference, in a series of concurrent sessions, when many of these topics should be front and center.

It was refreshing to see PR finally vindicated as a “real” discipline and how they now are the “True Champions” of the social and viral identity of many clients, not just the “Press Release People”.

While advancements were made with the sessions, one can’t help but reflect on the accolades awarded as well.  This year Zubi Advertising, one of the last great true Hispanic shops left, once again swept several of the categories.  While there were several remarks in the audience, both in favor of the results or lambasting them, one thing is clear; we need to see greater diversity.  There is still a great deal of talent out there that continues to be left out of the limelight.  Whether this is due to the magnitude of the accounts they work on, lack of submissions or merely an oversight, I do not know.

It was great to see Luis Albertini honored as well, albeit posthumously.  The truth is that without pioneers like him, the Hispanic Market would not be what it is today, heck I venture to say that there wouldn’t even be one.  He is truly the father of the Hispanic Advertising Agency and an inspiration to those that continued to define the segment, greats like Tere Zubizarreta did and Alex Lopez Negrete still does.  It is always a pleasure to see the pioneers of Hispanic Media as well, the greats like Eduardo Caballero and Carlos Barba who today still are visionaries and push boundaries in their respective disciplines.  It is great indeed to be able to know many of these individuals and be able to hear tales of those that helped define this market.  But what about some of the legends, the unsung heroes, those that helped grow the market through a different way, those that helped pave the road for the SBS’s, Univision’s and Entravision’s to grow?  What about the Media Directors, Buyers and Planners?  I call to AHAA to remember them as well.  Many of us know these names, Lula Olmedo, Sira Galan, Migdalia Santana and those that followed; Mary Miqueli, Isabella Sanchez, Silvia Alvarez, the list goes on…

Many of them are still with us, although some not so visible.  Some of them have never been considered, but the truth is that all of them are just as worthy of the accolades bestowed upon the greats in Hispanic Media.

I agree with Gene that “The Book” needs to be written and that it should be made while many of the legends are still around, but the book cannot be complete without the Media folks that helped put Hispanic on the map as well.  AHAA, are you in?

By Jorge Mercado - Associate Vice President, Marketing and Communications - Americas / Prisa Digital

  The AHAA Conference began this week in Miami and I assume you have heard that they have expanded their Board of Directors and added an Advisory Board that include clients, media and research executives, besides just ad agency executives.

They also do not want to call the organization the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, they want to be called AHAA - The Voice of Hispanic Marketing.

A new COMPASS!

I have high HOPES.

This new change will impact the scope and breath of AHAA as we lead into 2013.

I want to float an idea with the Industry at large.

As all of you know very well, you attended one of our Industry conferences and expect ROI.

The worst is when your boss or someone asks you “Did you sell anything and/or was it worth attending or where they preaching to the choir?”  And, you lie through your teeth to ensure that the person does not believe that you wasted your time or you do not tarnish your credibility or you keep the conference in your budget next year.  Travel is good, travel with ROI even better.

No ROI.

NADA!

It happens in our Industry’s B2B Conference circuit all of the time.

To change this, their needs to be a lot of qualified people in attendance that have the ability to purchase/manage or influence the exchange between a client and a vendor.

That simple - - - Sales!

This occurs once you have unique and great content, networking capabilities, and invite the ‘Best of the Best’ to speak or attend with the correct scope.

Great ‘must be there’ content.
Great attendance ‘power brokers’.
Great ROI.

The above characteristics are lacking in some US Hispanic Market conferences.  I have come to the conclusion that the US Hispanic conference circuit is plagued by the same speakers that are over exposed and offer the same pitches, media kits and agendas.

I know that you all agree with me, I just voice the apparent.

It has nothing to do with growing the Industry, the ad pie or our skill-sets.

Our scope, needs and interest should be about growing Sales.

Too many conferences, not enough B2B ROI.

This is not to say that we do not have great conferences, but I might have too many fingers on one hand that fit that bill that demonstrate QUALIFIED TARGETS in attendance, unique content and an environment that delivers ROI.

At the end of the day, the B2B Conference and trade journal business should be about SELLING.  Punto!
We at HispanicAd.com gauge a successful conference by counting the number of top sales & marketing managers flooding a conference.

Great Content = Qualifies Targets = Sales Executives = Sponsorships = Growth.

Simple enough.

I submit to the Industry at large a change in our B2B approach to selling and promoting the US Hispanic Market, the Agencies, the Media and all Other Companies that depend on the growth of our Industry.

US HISPANIC ADVERTISING WEEK in 2013.

I call on Roberto Orci of the AHAA, Delia L. Lopez of the Hispanic Public Relations Association, Leila Cobo of Billboard Latin Conference, Michael Hatherill of Hispanic Retail 360, Eric Rhodes from Radio Ink, David Chitel from NGLC Conference, Louis Hillelson of Broadcasting & Cable and Adriana Waterston of Horowitz Multicultural, along with the management of ad agencies and the sales management of the media companies to accept the CHALLENGE.

Imagine 4 days, all-inclusive content, a multitude of clients that need to attend a ‘Must Attend” conference schedule and your sales /agency/marketing team.

CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT.
TARGETS, TARGETS, TARGETS.
SALES, SALES, SALES.

IMAGINA …… I can!

A US Hispanic Adverting Week, that includes all of the above conferences in a four (4) day package that offers economies-of-scale not only for the conference entities (for profit/non-profit) but for the attendees as well.

Obviously in Miami, the city offers incredible opportunities since it is a catalyst for all of the US Hispanic media companies.

I challenge all of you.

Roberto, Delia, Leila, Michael, Eric, David, Louis and Adriana, call me, HispanicAd.com will host the first meeting to discuss.

Gene Bryan
CEO
HispanicAd.com