talk

Today February 1^st, Comedy Central is set to release a Latin American channel for all to enjoy. Viacom International Media Network announced the broadcast launch of Comedy Central Latin America to be across the region. With the key markets being in Latin America, coverage of the new channel will be in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Venezuela. This channel will feature the renowned shows of their original productions and even be available in Portuguese, as well as Spanish. There are also new original shows set to air; La Familia del Barrio, being one of them.

Laughter is contagious, and the expansion of it is indefinite. But the new smiles worldwide will be the ongoing trend that Comedy Central has been working on for years.

written by Ashley Estrella

An enormous opportunity currently exists for brand across the platform in social media… but this rings especially true in marketing to Hispanics in the U.S.! We know Hispanics to be keen users of social media so why are so many brands missing the mark?

Recently, the multicultural- research firm, Latinum, took a look at 184 different brands and found only 34 of them had any sort of presence in Spanish on Facebook. So it would seem to be very beneficial for the first brands willing to do so.

When doing so there should be a few basic principles that marketers should be wary of in their approach:

1.) Use professional translators to develop the copy. Machine translations are often full of errors and miss the cultural nuances that are apparent to someone who’s been immersed in the language and the culture.

2.) Update content frequently. Don’t let your site go stale, keep the audience engaged and the communication flowing by updating often.

3.) Monitor and respond to users asap. Customers expect answers from brands almost immediately; they are looking for that instant gratification. In fact, in a study by The CMO Council only 12% were willing to wait days for a resolution.

The National Transportation Safety Board has suggested today that there be a ban placed on any type of cell phone usage in vehicles nationwide. So, what does that mean for people and automotive companies?

For people, it would definitely mean that we would be more vulnerable to traffic laws. Perhaps this is what we need to make us pay attention while driving. The NTSB has also suggested the ban of Bluetooth and hands-free devices. The comfort of using these devices is now being threatened with being stripped from our driving experience. This technology that has literally been integrated into our daily lives, now might be in jeopardy. Are we supposed to drop everything? Will we have to pull over and get out of the car just to make a call?

For companies, this would be a catastrophic blow to the technological comforts we have all gotten used to when we purchased the premium packages for automobiles. What would this mean for GPS apps? Will we be perpetually lost with out the devices that ensure our uninterrupted connectivity to the outside world?

Emergency! Can I press my OnStar button? I might have to talk.

by Kurt Griese

Sportswear hipster fitness icon, Puma, is getting engaged… to you. And you. And you too. Puma Social is engaging with all after-hours athletes to test their skills in all dingy semi-sporting events. Events such as foosball, pool, boozing, and ping-pong.

PUMA Social has partnered up with Foursquare to bring these events to the next level. Check-in, check-out, become the mayor, then scoring leader. Check please! The social effort is being staged on a global scale with events in New York, Beijing, Melbourne, and Paris just to name a few. Encouraging event-goers to show up in PUMA gear and ready to compete. All the events are at happening spots ready to accommodate with in some cases, free live music, and guest appearances from pros in various sports. PUMA Social has also dropped by SXSW Festival to compliment the music and film.

Mexico is one of the first Hispanic countries that has joined the social after-hour with the launched of “Club Social Rodhesia”. So start sharing. PUMA loves you.

United Colors of Benetton’s UNHATE campaign has gotten a lot of tongues wagging—mostly because of the tongue action depicted in its shooting controversial fish in a barrel campaign showing varied global political and religious figures digitally altered into liplocks. Formally the campaign was “created to oppose and undermine hate culture” through the UNHATE Foundation which sets out to “engage in the development of campaigns aimed at exorcising the ‘fear of the other’. The campaign would be controversial and sensational if it weren’t for the work of Dmitry Vrubel, a Russian painter whose depiction of an actual photograph of two world leaders kissing. In 1979, Leonid Brezhnev, then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, kissed Erick Honecker, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The photograph was widespread and gained further notice when Vrubel painted a depiction of the photograph onto the Berlin Wall. At the time, Vrubel committed a brave and daring act that was trying to cross the literal and figurative boundaries of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. The Soviet and East German leaders were suspected of human rights abuses of untold magnitude. The power of Vrubel’s depiction of the photograph is drawn by the time and political climate during the painting’s unveiling. The UNHATE campaign uses photograph manipulation technology that has been around for 20 years and uses the juxtaposition of global leaders to shock and awe an audience. The UNHATE campaign is at best derivative and original but at worst, ineffective at driving attention toward the Foundation. While its message is worthwhile, picking the low-hanging fruit of shock loses its power when it has been done before, better, and without technological manipulation at a previous, troubling time in history.

This year, several American brands have sought out Sofia Vergara’s cache to give their brands a boost : as the face of Diet Pepsi, the designer of a clothing line for Kmart, and now as a CoverGirl model. It is obvious to state that choosing Sofia as a brand ambassador helps companies tap into the Latino market. Sofia is more than just a pretty face, after all, and is an embodiment of American ideals. The American Dream is to achieving dreams, to be exceptional, and finding oneself with a great opportunity to spin into fame and fortune. Vergara’s life and career trajectory mirror this ideal. From dental student at university to being discovered as a model, she catapulted to fame when she career started out as a television hostess and model in Latin America. Her current Emmy®-nominated role on ABC has made her a household name. Sofia fulfills more than a plucky immigrant trope, more than a marketing angle. She could be the new way to be Latina in America: contributing to the mainstream by embracing cultural differences and starting trends by staying true to her roots. Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, her character on Modern Family, is a proud Latina whose culture is an indelible part of who she is. To the extent that Sofia is not actually Gloria, it will be telling to see where Sofia’s role and endorsement choices continue to take her.

by Patricia L. Taylor

On Saturday, March 26, more than 48,000 spectators descended upon la casa de los Raiders in Oakland, California. They were there to watch Mexico face Paraguay, filling the Coliseum with green jerseys of passionate soccer fans that couldn’t wait to see Mexico’s hero, and Manchester United’s rising star, Javier “El Chicharito” Hernandez. Hot from a streak of goals for Man U, the 22-year old “Little Pea”, had traveled from England to play for his beloved national team. And he wouldn’t disappoint.

Meanwhile, Argentina began trending on Twitter around noon that day. Everyone was getting ready to watch “The Best Soccer Player in the World”, Lionel Messi, play for Argentina as the Albicelestes were set to collide against the USA at Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. More than 79,000 spectators broke attendance records there. Not only did they get a chance to root for the boys and cheer for Donovan; this was an opportunity to watch the FC Barcelona master known as “La Pulga” display his craft before USA fans. It just doesn’t get better than that.

For those of us who couldn’t be there to experience the joy of the game in person, Univision carried both matches live, back-to-back. This was primetime Saturday programming where pre-game and half time ads reminded us of the brands that believe in the sport and make Spanish-speaking viewers believe in them. From beer to phones, they marketed their wares to an audience with a soft spot for a wink, a captive minority ready for acknowledgement, a young and energetic target waiting for a pitch. Talk to me, they say.

World Cup year or not, soccer dollars are attractive, soccer passion is alive, and Hispanic soccer fans are an appetizing prey. Univision, Telemundo, Fox Deportes, and ESPN Deportes are driving content with international friendlies, and ongoing coverage of MLS, Mexican League, UEFA, Barclays League, and all the European and Latin American soccer they can find.

With the Gold Cup touring US stadiums in June, and Copa America coming to US television from host country Argentina in July, this is gearing up to be a great year for the sport.

It’s called futbol and the fever is on again from coast-to-coast.

It seems that world travelers are bored of what used to be considered a normal get away and now opt for more adventurous, risky travels. Europeans and many Americans have replaced traditional beachside tourism with adventurous trips that offer them adrenaline and suspense. The so called “turismo negro”— “dark tourism”— refers to the trend of tourists visiting remote indigenous communities, or Mexican towns populated with exiled immigrants and ruled by drug cartels. According to the newswire EFE, the term narcoculture is now in vogue among Hollywood and Western journalism circles to characterize drug lords as an invincible folk heroes who take care of their own and annually feed more than 25 million Latin Americans.
Although more than 34,000 people died in Mexico in 2010 due to organized crime, the country remains popular with North American and European tourists.  More than 22 million last year visited the Yucatan beaches or the Aztecan ruins, yet an estimated10% of those chose a ‘reality’ experience like being smuggled across the border, thrown in jail or working the factory floor in a maquiladora—all for the very low price of US$750, including a return ticket and all-inclusive hotel.
These packages are, of course, ‘go on your own risk,’ as many of the stops on the itinerary have not been approved by the Mexican Ministry of Culture. Yet, is this just another type of exploitation? I couldn’t help but ask myself whether Westerners chose these experiences to better understand social inequality or rather feel better about their own society?
By: Catherine Cuello

Before a Latino White House, Comes a Latino Leader

The upcoming U.S. census will show that the American Latino population is now greater than fifty million, which surpasses the population of California, our largest state, as well as any other Spanish-speaking country in the world except Mexico. With this heft comes greater influence as corporations and politicians alike see Latinos as critical to their success, and so scramble to secure their support.

Latinos — entrepreneurial and social by nature — have embraced this newfound clout by flexing their $1 trillion purchasing muscle and invigorating the political dialogue by sending a growing number of their own to national office. Despite this influence, still, a recent report by the Pew Hispanic Institute shows that Latino potential in the U.S. is stymied by a lack of unified national leadership — especially around key issues like education, public health and immigration reform — that affect Latinos disproportionately and remain stumbling blocks to full equality.

According to the Pew report, more than three quarters of Latinos surveyed drew a blank when asked to identify the most important Latino leader in the country today. The top candidate, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, was named by only 7% of the respondents, with the other top candidates — U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) of Chicago, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Univision news anchorman Jorge Ramos — coming in each at less than 5%. This discrepancy, the report concludes, is the biggest challenge Latinos in the U.S. today face to forming a cohesive national identity.

These findings are somewhat troubling, but not surprising given that the Latino experience in this country is still relatively young, at least as a sizable group given that Latino presence predates the creation of the Union. Those who comprised the bigger waves of Hispanic immigration a couple of generations ago were mostly characterized by silent, diligent toil to build their own version of the American dream. Heroes abounded, but many of them were locally-grown leaders focused on issues specific to a particular region or national group, with little spillover into the mainstream. A few — like Cesar Chavez — are exceptions, but overall American Latinos have not, to date, experienced the same type of transformative struggle that can unite a group, inspire identity, and give birth to leaders like Martin Luther King.

continue reading “Roberto Ramos on the Huffington Post.”