Smartphones, social networks to boost mobile advertising

PARIS (Reuters) - Advertising on mobile phones should really take off within two to three years, driven by new applications on smartphones and the growing popularity of social networks such as Facebook.

Executives, who attended last week's Cannes Lions 2009 ad festival, told Reuters that emerging economies were also promising though the lack of a global mobile phone standard could be a brake to speedy development.

As more consumers embrace new technologies and devices such as smartphones, personified by Apple's iPhone, mobile advertising is seen growing at an annual average of 45 percent to reach $28.8 billion within 5 years from a current $3.1 billion, according to Ineum Consulting.

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Mexican Business Executive and Entrepreneur Jack Kahan to Spearhead Development

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29 -- Getfugu, Inc., the next generation mobile search tool, is making its first step towards global expansion with a distribution licensing agreement with successful Mexican business executive and entrepreneur Jack Kahan. Kahan has a long and distinguished set of accomplishments. Former President of the US Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Kahan spearheaded the Latin American expansion of Dominos Pizza, and is a member of Mexico's well established Kahan family, one of the first families to distribute Chrysler cars in the region, a legacy that has lasted over 80 years. The Kahan family was also the first to bring the McDonald's brand to Mexico, opening its first restaurant in the territory. With the agreement, Kahan will introduce Getfugu to the Latin American territories.

"There are more mobile phones in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina than domestic phone lines. The 13 countries where we will distribute Getfugu have a combined market potential of 500 million people, making us one of the global leaders in the distribution of this revolutionary application," said Jack Kahan. "The 13 new countries include Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. We will introduce Getfugu's mobile search technology to the leading mobile phone companies including Telcel, Movistar, Nextel and Iusacel," added Kahan.

Getfugu will continue its launch in the United States during the Fall of 2009. Europe and Asia will come next. By the end of 2011, Getfugu aims to make its application available to 90% of the world's 4 Billion mobile phone users.

"This licensing agreement with Latin America is a critical part of our global launch plan, it's a large and important territory. We couldn't be more excited to have this deal and the fabulous Jack Kahan aboard to lead us," said Getfugu Co-Founder Richard Jenkins.

Getfugu's new mobile search tool enables consumers to experience the Internet and make purchases on cellular phones in an entirely new way by offering four unique services including:
See It, vision recognition (ARL)
Say It, voice recognition (VRL)
Find It, location recognition (GRL)
Get It, Hot-Spotting

In recent months, Getfugu, under the leadership and vision of CEO Bernard Stolar, has been assembling a roster of esteemed talent for its executive management and its board. Since joining Getfugu, Stolar, who is former Game Evangelist at Google, has appointed Internet search pioneer and Ask Jeeves (Ask.com) founder David Warthen as the company's CTO. Additionally, Beth Doherty joined as Vice President of Network Sales, bringing in more than 20 years of experience in the high tech and entertainment software industries with senior positions at companies including THQ Wireless, Acclaim Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA).

Recently, Getfugu added entertainment industry veteran and Telepictures Corporation founder Michael Jay Solomon to its Board of Directors. Michael Jay Solomon is an entertainment industry veteran and past President of Lorimar Telepictures and Warner Bros. International Television. Solomon was credited as being the creator of television syndication and brings years of international experience at marketing and content distribution to the company. Mr. Solomon is currently a principal of Shanghai Media Group Broadband (SMGBB) which streams Chinese language broadcast networks from China onto the Internet; Solomon has an exclusive contract with Shanghai Media Group for the next ten years. Thus far, twenty channels have been launched in China and nine outside of China.

Getfugu anticipates a nationwide / worldwide launch in Fall 2009; for further information please visit www.getfugu.com.

About Getfugu:
Getfugu, Inc. is the first technology architect to provide a carrier agnostic, platform agnostic mobile search platform. GetFugu will change the way people access the web with their mobile phones. It is designed to encourage use of its applications by simply integrating the mobile phones' core strengths (image recognition, voice recognition, location recognition) into a single customizable application. Additionally, GetFugu offers the only mobile hot-spotting ecommerce platform available worldwide today. The GetFugu platform will be available for 97% of the mobile phones available (over 3.3 billion handsets) worldwide.

Hispanic Retail Summit Sets Store Visits to Latino-focused Supermarkets and Specialty Stores

LAS VEGAS – Visits to two authentic Latino supermarkets and two national retailers with Hispanic-focused stores will kick off this year’s Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, being held Aug. 9 to 11 in Las Vegas.

This year’s store tour, which will leave the Venetian Hotel at 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 9, will take pre-registered attendees to Supermercado La Bonita, Marianna’s, Best Buy and Family Dollar Stores in the Vegas market. The guided tours will be led by Hispanic market experts from XL Edge and api+.

Supermercado La Bonita, with four stores in the market, has been serving Hispanic shoppers in Las Vegas since 1988. Its stores feature a dedicated bakery, taqueria, dairy-deli and carniceria.

Founded by the Anaya family in 1989 as a simple tortilla establishment, the first Mariana’s supermarket opened in 1999, bringing a new Hispanic concept to the Las Vegas market. Now with three stores, Mariana's was recognized in 2004 as the best ethnic market in Las Vegas by the Review-Journal Best of Las Vegas readers poll.

Best Buy, the giant electronics superstore chain, has one of its top Latino-focused stores in this market. Last year, the specialty chain won a Hispanic Retail Excellence Award for its Latino market efforts.

Representing one of retailing’s fastest growing channels, Family Dollar serves a heavily Hispanic clientele and presents audience members with an opportunity to see how a dollar store serves the Latino market.
The Hispanic Retail 360 Summit’s conference program will start on the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 9, with a keynote by Teresa Iglesias-Solomon, vice president of Hispanic initiatives for Best Buy, followed by a presentation from Cindy Nuñez-Hasman, multicultural marketing manager for Ace Hardware Corp., and José Gonzalez, partner, Revolucion. They will present a case study on Ace’s first foray into Hispanic marketing and provide five “surefire tips” every retailer can use to increase Hispanic footsteps in their stores. Nuñez-Hasman is a skilled, bilingual senior manager with a strong record of success with advertising agencies, such as WPP’s Bravo Group, and retailers, including Sears Roebuck & Co.

In addition, retail and multicultural experts from Nielsen, the world’s largest marketing and media information company, will debut research from the firm’s new national Hispanic household panel about how Latino households are faring in these difficult economic times. They will also provide insights on key areas of focus for retailers and suppliers in order to be successful with Hispanic consumers in a recessionary economy.

Also on the agenda is an impressive lineup of speakers from retailers, consumer product goods manufacturers and leading multicultural marketing authors, consultants and agencies, including a special retailer panel, moderated by strategic analyst Art Turock. The panel will explore innovation in addressing Hispanic shoppers through “how-to” stories and advance insights from prominent retailers who are leaders in serving Latino shoppers. Panelists include Tracy Krogstie, marketing and promotions manager for Jewel-Osco, Jose Amaya, director of diversity for HY-VEE Inc., Marco Orozco, territory Hispanic market manager, Southwest USA and Hawaii, Best Buy, and Juvenal Chavez, president of Mi Pueblo Foods in northern California.

Last year’s summit, held in Miami, attracted approximately 400 attendees composed of retailers from across all channels of retailing, major consumer products goods (CPG) manufacturers, advertising agencies and consultants. Last year, the Summit’s store tour included Publix Sabor and Winn-Dixie’s new Latino format in the Miami area.

Attendees included representatives from such major retailers as Walmart, Best Buy, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Family Dollar, SuperValu, Navarro Discount Pharmacies, CVS, Advance Auto Parts, Hy-Vee Supermarkets and Kroger.Hispanic Retail 360 is the retail industry’s only conference designed to give retailers the tools and insights they need to grow their business with the Latino consumer market in the U.S. The Summit is produced by Progressive Grocer and Convenience Store News, two leading media brands owned by Nielsen Business Media. Brandweek, another Nielsen Business Media brand, is a one of several media sponsors.For the fifth consecutive year, Coca-Cola is the presenting sponsor for Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. Other sponsors include Geoscape and Café Bustelo.
For more information, or to register go to www.hispanicretail360.com.

No Global Ad Recovery Until 2010

Many economists and business leaders consider ad spending a leading economic indicator. If that is true, the needle is pointing down.

In March, GroupM, the parent of WPP agencies, estimated that global advertising would decline 4.4% this year.

But they changed their minds, and quickly.

GroupM now expects global advertising spending to drop 5.5% in 2009.

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To Reach Multicultural Youth, Go Mobile

It's no secret; multicultural consumers have always been trendsetters. The music, fashion, and lifestyle categories have always been synonymous with--and adopted--what emanates from “the streets." Yet, when it comes to influence in the technology category, or how brands use technology to market to this segment, the conversations have been almost nonexistent.

Multicultural online and mobile consumption and spending habits are outdistancing the general market 1.5, almost 2-to-1. Per capita, they’re texting more, have more unlimited data plans, download and purchase more content, view more online and mobile ads, and buy more high-end mobile devices than the general market. Consumers are turning to new media as their primary source for consumption, and the multicultural segment is driving the bus. This means that in order for brands to reach them, they must restructure their media plans and budgets to meet them where we are.

Yesterday, while speaking at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Steve Ballmer (right), a senior Microsoft executive, stated: “…traditional broadcast and print media would have to plan business models around a smaller share of the advertising market, as revenues continue to move to digital outlets." We’ve all seen this happen firsthand over the last 18-to-24 months and we've been adjusting accordingly. It’s important to build out highly engaging online and mobile experiences for brands and clients. Taking traditional offline strategies and media, “digitizing” it, and making it interactive in a way that gives the consumer an experience, and affords them special access to exclusive lifestyle benefits is a necessary approach to stay current and relevant with this audience.

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Qwest Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Qwest communications international, a global provider for fiber-optic network and customer service, recently announced that the company was celebrating its 25th anniversary of operations. To mark this milestone, the company is offering 25 minutes of free international calling for Plan Latino customers.

El Centro de Qwest (News - Alert) was founded in 1984 to provide customer service to Hispanic Qwest customers. Today company has achieved this major milestone with two locations in Phoenix and Salt Lake City and more than 350 bilingual employees.

The company serves 14-state residential and small-business region and meets the needs of Qwest’s bilingual customers through marketing, sales, customer service, credit, repair and technical support via phone and online.

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The Controversy over Personalized Ads

Marketers tread carefully when it comes to personalized advertising—and for good reason.

Over one-half of adults in a 2008 TNS Global and TRUSTe poll were concerned about advertisers using their browsing history to serve relevant ads.

Forty-five percent of Internet users in a 2008 Harris Interactive study were uncomfortable with Websites that allow behavioral targeting.

Despite that, Q Interactive found that 53% of Web users would view an advertiser favorably if ads were tailored to their interests.

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2009 'Varela' National Journalism Awards to Include Bloggers and Mainstream Media

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Felix VarelaAwards" for excellence in journalism on Latino issues have gone mainstream.In addition to the prestigious national prize for Spanish-language printjournalism, this year's competition includes a new category for Spanish andEnglish-language digital journalists writing news stories or blogs aboutLatino issues for any news website.
The award program offers two $10,000 prizes and is hosted by the AL DIAFoundation at Temple University's Department of Journalism in Philadelphia.

The announcement was made this week at the annual Convention of theNational Association of Hispanic Journalists, (NAHJ), meeting this week inSan Juan, Puerto Rico, by Zita Arocha, former Executive Director of theorganization and a juror for the " Felix Varela Awards."

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Sprint Lets Soccer Fans Enjoy the Game Now

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sprint (NYSE: S)-- As an official sponsor of the popular 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup(TM)tournament, Sprint brings soccer fans closer to their favorite sport thanever before with exclusive mobile content, available only on the Sprint NowNetwork(TM). For the first time, fans can be a part of the action byexperiencing full-length live streaming of the games directly on theirSprint TV-capable phones. Through their phones, subscribers will also havefront row seats to follow CONCACAF Gold Cup(TM) from the opening gamekickoff in Los Angeles to the finals in New York with real-time gameupdates about their teams playing in the tournament, related news andtournament statistics, among other fun features.

Additionally, Sprint has teamed up with one of the most popular Mexicansoccer legends, Luis Roberto Alves "Zague", to provide a one-of-a-kindpre-game experience at select matches in some U.S. cities.

"Soccer is a way of life, not only for me but for all fans. It's soexciting to see how Sprint has created the perfect synergy between sportsand technology," Zague said. "As a former soccer player, I am thankful tojoin a partnership where soccer fans are able to stay connected to the gameby receiving up-to-the-minute information."

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Digi-Channels Enjoy Brave New Post-DTV World

For stations, getting calls from hundreds of viewers on and around June 12 spelled a nightmare. For digital channels such as Retro Television and This TV, hearing from the masses in the dawn of fully digital television hinted at how big the multicast business might get.

Retro Television (now RTV instead of the former RTN) got more than 1,000 calls and 11,000 e-mails in the days following the switch, says RTV executive Neal Ardman (RTV employees do not have formal job titles). On June 12, RTV drew more than double the Web traffic of any previous one-day total—not to mention record numbers of ShamWows sold through direct response. “It's been absolutely insane—people are rescanning and they're finding us,” Ardman says. “Thousands of viewers are saying, 'We found you, what's your schedule?'”

While digital-network executives expected the June 12 date to be good for buzz—and for business—many say that what transpired in the week and a half since then far surpassed their expectations. Between viewer rescanning and the ubiquitous media accounts regarding digital television, so much light has been shed on multicast channels that many are confident they can finally ring up substantial revenue for partner stations.

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Fundraiser for LatinoJustice PRLDEF > Special Invitation

Dear Readers,

On Wednesday, June 24th 300+ friends of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, together with the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) and LatinVision Media, Inc., will gather to celebrate the work of LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the momentous nomination of former LatinoJustice PRLDEF board member Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.

Join us from 5:30 to 7:00 pm for complimentary cocktails sponsored by Mount Gay® Rum The Rum That Invented Rum. Hors d'oeuvres sponsored by Pranna Restaurant will be offered throughout the evening. The evening will also feature a free salsa class and raffle.

We look forward to having you join us at this event. If you cannot attend, we invite you to support LatinoJustice PRLDEF by making a donation either on an individual or corporate level. To purchase tickets or make a donation, please click on the invitation below or go to http://latinojusticeprldef.eventbrite.com.

We also ask that you circulate out this invitation among your networks of colleagues, friends and family to generate even more support for LatinoJustice PRLDEF.

Hope to see you there.

Kindest regards
Carlos Vassallo
CEO LatinVision Media Inc.
Tel: 646-519-2452
Fax: 469-533-4874
Skype: carlosvassallo
Twitter: latinvision
Facebook: latinvision
Linkedin: latinvision

Our Network:
See all our sites here: http://tinyurl.com/LatinVision

Event:
Business Networking Event in New York City, Thu, Aug 13, 2009 > Register now! www.latinvision.com/events

Conference
Media, Entertainment, Technology & Adv Conference, Wed, Oct 14, 2009 www.latinvision.com/conference

Vote for our friends at the Giddy Gander Company

The BUZZ AWARDS celebrate the best in brand/media integration campaigns that catch fire, brilliant product placements, innovative use of a medium for a promotion, branding efforts that invade the pop-culture consciousness.

Our friends at the Giddy Gander Company are participating !

Let's help them out and vote for them
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Thank you very much

The LatinVision Team

Social Network Pulling an 'American Idol': Quepasa.com is Voting Hub for International Singing Contest

Quepasa.com's user base continues to grow at an impressive clip, but that's no reason for the Web site to sit on its laurels. The Hispanic-focused social networking site recently signed an agreement with World Vibe Entertainment Group to act as the exclusive voting hub for WVEG's hit show Batalla de las Americas (Battle of the Americas). Quepasa has developed EsMiPlaneta.com, a new social networking site run by Quepasa that was built to connect and provide a networking spot specifically for fans of Batalla and, in the future, for fans of other voter-based reality shows.

According to Quepasa.com representative Dennis O'Neill, "[Quepasa.com] was actually looking for strategic partners to leverage our brand, our positioning in the market, and our technology. We came across Battle of the Americas and realized there was a really good partnership to work with. Through many months of discussion we were able to lock down a relationship."

Batalla de las Americas is a singing competition that takes 20 male finalists from countries across the Americas, including the USA and Canada, to compete to become the fourth member of the boy band XM2. Originally named Menudo, the Puerto Rican band hit it big in the 80s and saw success throughout the 1990s. Members have come and gone quite frequently; the most famous and successful was Ricky Martin, who left after five years with the group in 1989 to start a solo career. Batalla began on June 7 and will continue throughout the summer. As many as 50 million-100 million viewers are expected to watch the contest on television, and Quepasa will be the voting point for all those who choose to cast a ballot.

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There are still 2.5 million homes that haven't made the DTV switch

Nielsen Co. is reporting that as of Sunday, two days after the DTV switchover, there are still 2.2 percent of households, or 2.5 million households, that have not made the switch to DTV.

This will certainly go down in the coming weeks as some stragglers finally make the move to buy DTV converter boxes or move to cable or newer televisions. But it suggests that in the last week for the transition, despite all the announcements, DTV evangelists only got 300,000 households to transition from analog. I had talked to some advocates who were hoping to get under 2 percent of households ready by DTV day Friday.

Overall, the country has come a long way in its move to digital TV. Back in late December, there were 6.8 percent of homes that were not ready. And in mid February, when the original DTV transition was supposed to occur, 4.4 percent of homes still had not made the switch.

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Mercury Media Announces MERCURY EN ESPAÑOL

(Santa Monica, CA) June 17, 2009—Mercury Media, the largest privately owned direct response media agency in the U.S., today announced the creation of its first full service specialty practice, MERCURY EN ESPAÑOL. The practice will be the first in the direct response advertising industry to offer Hispanic, in-language advertisers a full suite of general market, integrated direct response services.

In the midst of Nielson’s recent report of landslide losses in U.S. advertising spend—3.8 billion between Q1 2008 and Q1 2009—Hispanic television has emerged as a hotbed of opportunity for the direct response advertising industry. Last year, Hispanics placed almost 12 million orders via phone, internet or mail. In response, Mercury Media has become a leader in Hispanic in-language measured media. Since entering the space in early 2008, the agency’s client roster has grown from two to twelve in as many product and service categories of expertise. Mercury Media already represents an impressive roster of in-language advertisers, including ConAir, InStyler, Safeway Insurance, Magic Bullet and Youthology, among others.

“We are launching MERCURY EN ESPAÑOL in response to industry demand for a full-service, measured media practice specializing in Hispanic, in-language direct response advertising,” said Ronald C. Pruett, Jr., CEO of Mercury Media. “Our ability to integrate Hispanic campaigns within the greater whole of any given advertiser’s marketing plan makes us a perfect candidate to lead this movement.”

Led by industry veteran Marcelino Miyares, Jr., MERCURY EN ESPAÑOL will expand upon the agency’s current in-language direct response television offerings to include offerings across the burgeoning in-language internet, digital television and mobile marketing platforms. The full-suite of services will include account planning, creative management, production supervision, call center set-up and scripting, media planning, real-time campaign management and marketing analytics, among others.

“Our Hispanic DRTV business contributes to the overall growth of Mercury Media despite industry-wide losses because, year over year, this segment has proven itself a highly lucrative investment for our clients,” said Marcelino Miyares, Jr., Director of MERCURY EN ESPAÑOL. “Our goal is in launching MERCURY EN ESPAÑOL is to cement our position as a leader in the Hispanic DRTV space and demonstrate to new clients the difference between media performance and business performance. Smart marketers look to reach new audiences and ‘make the sale’ during a time when the bottom line matters most.”

About Mercury Media

Mercury Media is the largest privately-owned, full service direct response media agency in the country, with offices in Marlborough, Massachusetts and Santa Monica, California. Established in 1989, Mercury Media specializes in long form, short form and digital direct response advertising and is committed to providing its clients with best-in-class measured media solutions across multiple platforms to achieve their strategic objectives and maximize their return on investment. By leveraging its unparalleled experience in direct response media and cutting edge analytics, Mercury Media develops and executes innovative media campaigns that deliver superior results. For additional information regarding Mercury Media’s clients, services and expertise please visit: www.mercurymedia.com

Web firm embraces Hispanics

Vancouver-based Domain.com is expanding its market share by reaching out to the Spanish-speaking world.

"It defines the company as a global player," said Aurelio Rodriguez, who handles international business development for Domain.com, a subsidiary of Vancouver's Dotster. "You have a lot of U.S.-based companies that are big, but they're not serving this market sector. They've totally ignored it.

"While the English-language Domain.com is geared toward individuals building Web sites, the Spanish-language version caters to small businesses. It provides domain registration, Web-site hosting and design, virtual private servers, e-mail and marketing.

Domain.com offers tech support in Spanish 21 hours a day. The company employs 20 in its Vancouver-based support center, with another 12 workers in Miami, where Rodriguez also is based.

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Shoppin’ Where the Trees Ain’t Droppin’

Consumers primarily shop online for convenience, product selection and price. But now another reason can be added to the list: environmental responsibility.

Fully 35% of respondents to a Shop.org survey believed that online shopping is better for the environment than store shopping.

Even better for online retailers, 60% of those who believed in the environmental merits of online shopping said they would shop online more as part of a greener lifestyle.

“A crop of green shopping sites has emerged to help consumers find eco-friendly products and get tips on how to incorporate green practices into their lives,” says Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Green E-Commerce: Gaining Momentum. “In addition, savvy consumers use the Internet to evaluate the legitimacy of brands’ eco-friendly product claims, and social network sites are becoming hubs for a wide range of environmental causes.”

Surprisingly, the recession has not stymied consumers’ plans to buy green products.

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800,000 callers phone digital TV hot line

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 800,000 calls were received by a federal hot line this week from people confused about the nationwide move on Friday to drop analog TV signals and broadcast only in digital.

The Federal Communications Commission said that about 317,450 calls went into the help line, 1-888-CALL-FCC, on Friday alone, the day analog signals were cut off. Another 102,000 came in Saturday by 6 p.m. Eastern time.

The total is still below the 600,000 to 3 million callers that the FCC expected in early March would call on transition day.

The move to all-digital was delayed from Feb. 17, and ramped up efforts at spreading the word is credited with roughly halving the number of unprepared households since then. Nielsen Co. put the number of unready homes at 2.8 million, or 2.5 percent of the total television market, as of last Sunday.

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Online Marketing Effectiveness

What is the best way to generate sales online?

While the answer may vary slightly depending on the size of the ad budget, a Forbes study says marketers of all sizes should start with search.

Forty-eight percent of marketers said that search engine optimization (SEO) was the best method for generating conversions online. More than one-half of marketers with budgets over $1 million agreed.

The next-most-effective conversion tactic for smaller marketers was e-mail and e-newsletters, followed by pay-per-click and search ads, behavioral targeting and page sponsorships.

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DIRECTV Más Officially Launches ‘Somos’ Campaign

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DIRECTV Más™, DIRECTV’s Spanish- and English-language programming service, and Maridalia have turned their popular jingle, “Somos,” into a song of inspiration. The new campaign, already taking Miami by storm, seeks to inspire and unite the Hispanic community across the United States.

Since its inception, DIRECTV Más has set a goal of being a part of the fabric of all U.S. Hispanic households by transporting its viewers to their homelands through the most extensive programming lineup from Latin America.

“We are looking forward to tonight and Maridalia’s live debut of ‘Somos.’ It is such a meaningful and inspirational song; one that touches at the very heart of all who arrive and live here, searching for their piece of the American dream,” said John de Armas, vice president for WorldDirect. “Judging by the reaction from our media partners and dealers all across the country, the campaign has truly touched a chord with Hispanics everywhere.”

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Minority Groups Make Broadband Points With FCC

The NAACP, Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, the Urban League, the Hispanic Institute and 27 other groups representing a rainbow of minority interests, has told the Federal Communications Commission that the government's primary focus of a broadband rollout should first be to help minority and low-income populations get and adopt the technology.

That means a subsidized "lifeline" broadband connection for low-income households.

And the groups argue that "access" to broadband should not be defined as a wire (or a wireless) in the vicinity. Instead, they aver it should be defined as a function of both "deployment and affordability."

"Low-income populations may have physical proximity to two, three, or more forms of broadband service (e.g., cable modem, DSL, wireless), but they likely will yet have no practical access to these services given their low income and the lack of tailored service offerings," they told the FCC Monday, the deadline for comments on the commission's national broadband rollout plan.

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34 Million Moms Online

Keeping up with their children keeps moms on the leading edge of new technologies and online activities. In fact, they are among the most savvy of all online users.

They are also one of the larger user groups online.

eMarketer estimates 34 million mothers in the US go online at least once a month.

Moms are the key decision-makers for many family purchases, and increasingly the information they obtain and activities they engage in online affect those decisions.

“Moms visit parenting and family Websites, but they also regularly view news, weather and political content online,” says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Moms Online: More Influential Than Ever. “They shop for their kids—and themselves, and when they find something great for their family, they talk about it, not only with their family and friends, but often with a much broader online audience.”

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National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Names Marketwire Official Wire Service

TORONTO--(eMediaWorld - June 5, 2009) - The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the largest professional organization for Latino journalists in the United States, recently announced its selection of eMediaWorld as exclusive newswire partner. This gives the NAHJ and its members the ability to promote news, events and professional development on behalf of the association and its chapters via comprehensive news distribution to key Hispanic media outlets and Spanish-language websites in the US, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

"NAHJ is very excited about this partnership and eMediaWorld's recognition of our efforts to increase the influence and presence of Latinos in US newsrooms," said Iván Román, NAHJ Executive Director. "This relationship will enable us to get more individuals and companies involved in our special events and programs."

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Broadcasters Assure FCC on Digital D-Day

A week from Friday, 3.1 million households -- 2.7 percent of the households in the nation’s biggest markets -- will suddenly disappear from the TV audience.

They’ll take with them nearly 5.4 percent of the African-American and 4.7 percent of Hispanic homes nationally -- and 5.4 percent of the market in Los Angeles.

Or maybe the households won’t go anywhere. Maybe the nation’s digital TV transition June 12 will turn into a non-event.

Whatever actually will happen, the looming arrival of the transition date from analog to digital and its potential for sewing confusion and chaos is continuing to fuel worries at the Federal Communications Commission.

Industry representatives told the FCC on Thursday that any problems will be far less than they would have been four months ago, when the transition was originally to take place. Issues getting discount coupons for the converter boxes out to the viewers that need them have been resolved. In addition, call centers are now ready to handle any questions are problems.

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The Untapped Side Of Hispanic Mobile Marketing

There has been quite a bit of chatter during the last year or so about mobile marketing to Hispanics. Most of this talk has revolved around the use of SMS-based campaigns targeting Hispanics. As the most popular mobile advertising vehicle in the general market, it has been the "bread and butter" of advertising forays into reaching Hispanics using mobile.

Generally absent in the discussion about mobile and Hispanics have been the other two platforms that make up the mobile marketing triumvirate - the mobile Web and mobile applications. I can't just blame others for this trend - as all of my recent presentations, blog posts and articles related to Hispanic mobile marketing have failed to delve into Hispanic opportunities within the mobile Web and mobile applications.

So what's the big deal? Well, it turns out that during that same time, our agency has launched a couple of pilot Hispanic mobile Web campaigns for a few of our clients (sorry, can't share names and data), and we have seen, on average, 500 times the response rates of Web banner and search campaigns targeting Hispanics. That's right -- 500 times response rates.

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"LIKE A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN"

Thirty months ago the National Association of Broadcasters faced this challenge: The switchover to digital television, first scheduled for Feb 17 then postponed to next Friday, June 12, was suddenly mandated by Congress. Yet America still had 69 million analog TVs and 20 million analog households. And the Feds were providing only $5 million in public education funds, figuring the private sector would take care of the messaging out of self-interest.

NAB president David Rehr in his office this morning. He tells us he quickly gathered his staff and told them, "There's only one way to do this: like a Presidential campaign. Except we have to get 100% of the vote!" Over the next 18 months they raised and spent $1.2 billion on earned media, reaching out to 13,000 reporters, sending trucks around to 600 county fairs, and using the Crosby & Volmer PR firm to coordinate 8000 speeches. "We couldn't afford even one station not having a smooth transition because it would disproportionately affect the image of the whole effort."

David is used to fighting for victory, thus this gift given to him when he left the National Association of Beer Wholesalers after 14 years, six as CEO. He tells us a key to successful execution was hiring seven "exceptional staff people," led by a gentleman (Jonathan Collegio) who had actually worked on many political campaigns. Another key: using professional marketing talent to figure out both the content and delivery vehicles. "It was a complicated message," he says, "not just plug and unplug." They hired Seth Geiger, a pollster, for TV business, and brought in two Hollywood production companies to help with ads and providing 2400 TV stations and their 1768 members with "all the tools they needed" for the publicity campaign.

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The Tech Industry’s Diversity Problem

The high-tech industry has a diversity problem, according to a new study.

Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans only make up 6.8% of engineering and other technical staffers in the tech industry, the Anita Borg Institute, a group that promotes the hiring of women in high-tech, said on Monday. These groups make up an even smaller percentage of workers at higher levels within tech companies.

So-called under-represented minorities make up 27% of the population as a whole and receive 18% of undergraduate computer-science degrees. They earn 8% of masters and doctoral degrees in computer science. But they were barely present at the seven large Silicon Valley companies the Anita Borg Institute studied. (The companies weren’t identified.)

“You need diversity to have innovation,” says Caroline Simard, the study’s author. But the high-tech industry has become inhospitable to these workers, who instead choose to work in technical jobs in other industries or pursue careers in marketing or sales. One problem is the lack of senior leadership that under-represented minorities can look up to: Black men only make up 1.8% of high-level technical employees in high-tech, and black women 1.6%; Hispanic men make up 2.5% of high-level workers; the study didn’t find any Hispanic women.

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Band of Hermanos

Amid the general downturn of everything, here's some good news: Hispanics rocketed ticket sales of Fast and Furious so high on its opening weekend that Variety took note. Hispanics were 46 percent of the audience, Variety reported, for a domestic opening of $72.5 million, second only to The Dark Knight. The editor of the Spanish-language daily El Diario La Prensa was swept up in incredulous media interviews because the paper's circulation actually grew during two of the past three years. And Univision says it's seeing double-digit sales growth for marketers who advertise to Hispanics.

It's tempting to wonder: Can these consumers save the world? Or at least the u.s. economy?

"That's a stretch," says Graciela Eleta, senior vice president for brand consulting at Univision, and formerly with Procter & Gamble. However, she adds: "Even in the recession, advertisers who started or have been supporting Hispanic marketing through the recession have experienced some very dramatic results. And the reason they continue to come in is because they're seeing returns."

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comScore Announces Media Metrix 360: The Next Generation of Global Digital Audience Measurement

RESTON, Va., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the introduction of Media Metrix 360, a 'panel-centric hybrid' solution to digital audience measurement. The new approach combines person-level measurement from comScore's proprietary 2 million person global panel with Web site server metrics in order to account for 100 percent of a Web site's audience. The new service will reconcile traffic metrics reported from client server-side and ad server data, with fully consistent, hybrid audience measures that can be used for improved planning of online media campaigns, and for evaluating the delivery of those campaigns at an unprecedented level of audience completeness and granularity.

"comScore Media Metrix 360 represents an innovative and elegant measurement solution to the increasingly complex digital media landscape," said Dr. Magid Abraham, comScore President and CEO. "The past few years have seen the rise of global Internet markets, the emergence of new distribution platforms, and a substantial increase in media fragmentation and niche audiences. Through comScore's 'panel-centric hybrid' approach to audience measurement, we are able to combine the best of both worlds of panel and server-side measurement to bring the industry a comprehensive accounting of the complete digital media universe. Furthermore, this new approach will effectively reconcile panel and server-based measurement and provide unified numbers that are fully consistent with the ad server counts used for advertising payments. In this sense, Media Metrix 360 represents the Web's first true measurement 'currency.' The Internet industry can depend on comScore to consistently innovate and improve its services to meet the industry's needs, and we will continue to work cooperatively and transparently with various industry organizations to enable our clients to maximize the bottom-line benefit of our innovations."

Media Metrix 360 will initially be implemented with July 2009 data for Canada and the U.S. that will be published in August 2009. These countries will be followed by the U.K., where August 2009 data will be published in September 2009. The new service will be introduced into other countries beginning in Q4 2009.

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Adstream Enables Latin America

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adstream, the global leader in digital asset management and distribution solutions for the advertising industry, today announced expansion in Latin America; allowing digital distribution for broadcasters and cable channel providers in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Adstream, the world’s leading provider of creation, management and delivery solutions for the broadcast and print industries, streamlines workflows and improves efficiencies by sending on-air ready assets via the web, directly to Latin American broadcasters. Using the Adstream global digital delivery platform, broadcast delivery orders are placed online, and receive status updates through email or SMS notifications allowing tighter campaign distribution control and on-demand management tools.

Emmelie Forsyth, Director of Broadcast of Adstream America said, "The new Adstream application provides US clients the ability to deliver broadcast assets to Latin American broadcasters and to the Pan Regional Cable Channels. We are thrilled to finally facilitate this area with much sought after digital delivery solutions, and we are excited to connect Latin America to U.S. brands and agencies"

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