How Affluents Use Mobile for Shopping and Buying

The best mobile commerce user experience comes from downloading shopping apps on a smartphone. Though growth in smartphone sales is increasing and the devices are spreading through the population, smartphone owners still tend to be more affluent than average.


And affluents may be taking the lead in shopping and buying via mobile. According to a spring 2010 survey by PriceGrabber.com, 13% of all US web-enabled mobile users reported purchasing online. That was up from 10% in 2009. InsightExpress found predictably lower usage among all mobile users, at 5% in Q2 2010.


Based on a report from The Luxury Institute, affluent and ultra-affluent mobile users are more likely to make purchases from their mobile devices. One in five respondents with incomes of at least $150,000 said they did so at least rarely, and among users with net worth of at least $5 million m-commerce was even more popular.


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Farmers Insurance Unveils Latest Spanish-Language Television Campaign Highlighting 'Right Fit' Coverage

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance will launch its latest national Hispanic TV advertising campaign this coming Monday, August 16, produced by its Hispanic Agency of Record, Accentmarketing.


The new ads are the next installment of the insurer's "Right Fit" campaign, launched in 2009. They feature a "force field" which represents the customizable Farmers coverages customers can choose to meet their individual needs,


First to launch is "Neighbors", which uses a dramatization to highlight the difference between having customized coverage that "fits" correctly and inadequate or inappropriate coverage. In the spot, two neighbors boast about their insurance coverage, as represented by their "force fields". While one has the "right fit" coverage secured with the help of a Farmers agent, the other is not so lucky. Both neighbors have to duck for cover as a tree strikes the not-so-fortunate neighbors' home, right where his "inadequate" coverage is.


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Brazil World Cup, Olympics Fueling Digital Agency Investment

Publicis' acquisition of digital agency AG2 is the latest in a string of investments from major ad holding companies seeing promise in the market.


Publicis Groupe has extended its reach into South America with the acquisition of major Brazilian digital agency AG2 for an undisclosed sum. The purchase follows a string of digital investments in the country in the past six months, including those from global ad holding companies WPP and Interpublic Group.


In May WPP Group acquired two Brazilian digital agencies, Midia Digital and I-Cherry, for undisclosed sums. Midia Digital, based in Sao Paolo with 91 employees, offers services including Web development and creative development for clients including HSBC and Johnson & Johnson. I-Cherry, meanwhile, is a 34-person search agency based in the city of Curitiba with Match.com and Hotels.com among its clients.


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PlayStation Picks Saatchi for First Latin American Work

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Sony Computer Entertainment America has picked Saatchi & Saatchi, working with the network's U.S. Hispanic agency Conill, to introduce PlayStation to consumers in Latin America.


PlayStation has been available in the region, but the company's focus until now has been more on Europe and North America.


"We never really had enough product to supply [Latin America]," said Mark Stanley, senior director and general manager, Latin America, for Sony. Mr. Stanley, who grew up in Costa Rica and is fluent in Spanish, joined the company two years ago and has been building up local marketing teams and distribution. "Now every country has a PlayStation team and relationships with top retailers."


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With Virtual Serenades Latin America says 'Adios' to Uribe

NEW YORK, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Was it nostalgia or was it spite? Was it relief? Or was it simple courtesy? Or perhaps the novelty of the service. No one knows for sure what led four Latin American presidents to serenade the outgoing Alvaro Uribe of Colombia.


Four traditional Mexican mariachi were sent from http://www.serenata4u.com/ to the man who led Colombia for eight years with a steady hand and without fear of controversy.


The presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil found in the wide repertoire of www.serenata4u.com the one melody that perfectly defines their feelings for Uribe.


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Mega TV Launches Innovative Edition of One of Its Top Shows

MIAMI, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spanish Broadcasting System Inc., ("SBS") (Nasdaq: SBSA) announces the launch of PAPARAZZI MAGAZINE by its Television Network Mega TV. This new edition of the popular show can be seen Monday through Friday at 7 pm (ET), 8 pm (PT and Puerto Rico), and 6 pm. (CT).


PAPARAZZI MAGAZINE is a dynamic and up-to-date entertainment magazine, celebrating pop culture at all levels. Find out what's happening in the entertainment world including the latest musical releases, Hispanic and Hollywood movies, upcoming concerts, fashion launches; everything our Mega TV Viewers would like to know.


"At Mega TV we are very energized with the new programming initiative taking place. We work in a very competitive, dynamic and ever-changing industry and formats need to constantly adjust to the needs of the Viewer. PAPARAZZI MAGAZINE has been a great Mega TV franchise and being involved in the evolution of the show has been an exciting process," comments Jose R. Perez, VP of Programming.


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Introducing the Sweet Spot: Latinos/Hispanics and Web 2.0

Latinos and Hispanics in Web 2.0 are in the sweet spot. Over the course of the last few days, whether it be at Netroots Nation in Las Vegas, the Bridge Conference in the beltway or within Ogilvy's own LatinRed professional network during an event in New York City, I have found myself in conversations with various folks talking about the opportunity found in engaging this demographic online here in the States.


So what is the opportunity?


At the end of last year and beginning of this year, I was thrilled to see a couple of recent studies that provided a quantitative backing to what I and others in the industry have been saying for years: Latinos are in Social Media.


According to a report released by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project in December of 2009, internet use among Latino adults rose by 10 percentage points from 54% to 64% between 2006- 2008. In comparison, the rates for whites rose four percentage points, and the rates for blacks rose only two percentage points during that time period.


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Young Latinos Lag In Mobile Use, But Boast Big Buying Power

Young Latino adults don't use mobile devices to socialize and communicate with friends quite as much as other groups, indexing somewhat lower than the same age group in the general population for these activities. That's according to the Pew Hispanic Center's latest National Survey of Latinos, a telephone poll of 1,240 16 to-26-year-old Hispanics.


Specifically, Pew found that about 50% of young Latino adults (49% of 16- to-17-year-olds) said they send mobile text messages every day, while 45% talk on a cell phone. The text-message figure compares with 64% for non-Hispanic 16- to-17-year-olds, while 51% of non-Hispanics ages 16-17 said they talk on the cell phone every day.


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Brightstar Appoints Former Motorola Executive Oscar Rojas as President of Latin America Region

MIAMI, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Brightstar Corp., a global leader in services and solutions for the wireless industry announced today the appointment of former Motorola executive Oscar Rojas as president of the companys Latin America region.


Rojas will be responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations for Brightstars 20 countries in Latin America plus the Caribbean, as well as fifteen facilities throughout the region. Latin America is one of four go-to-market regions for Brightstar, which also has operations in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the United States and Canada.


Prior to joining Brightstar, Rojas had been with Motorola for more than 17 years. Most recently, he was the Corporate Vice President of Motorolas Enterprise Mobility Solutions for the Latin American region including Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean countries. In this role, he had general management responsibility for all of Motorolas radio communications, wireless networking solutions, mobile computing, RFID and services solutions for the region. Prior to this, he held various roles at Motorola including Vice President and GM of their Government & Commercial Markets Division for the Latin America and Caribbean region; Director & General Manager of their Mobile Devices business; and Business Director for Motorolas Personal Communications Sector for the Andean, Caribbean and Paraguay/Uruguay regions. Rojas has a bachelors degree in computer science from Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.


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Universal Music Latin Entertainment (UMLE) Continues to Expand Direct-to-Consumer Mobile Offerings With m-Wise

World's Leading Latin Music Labels and Innovative Mobile Content Technology Company to Launch MOVIHITS

New Ringtone Subscription Service Offers Ultimate in Personalization for the Growing Hispanic Market

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Latin Entertainment (UMLE), the world's leading Latin music company, today announced that it has expanded its lineup of mobile offerings for consumers with the launch of MOVIHITS, a new ringtone subscription service that it has created in partnership with m-Wise (OTC Bulletin Board: MWIS), the innovative mobile content technology company. The announcement was made today by Jesus Lopez, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Latin America/Iberian Peninsula and head of UMLE, Skander Goucha, Senior Vice President of Digital for UMLE, and Zach Sivan, Chief Executive Officer of m-Wise.


MOVIHITS (http://www.movihits.com/), which will launch today with a national advertising TV campaign on Univision Networks, will be billed through premium text messaging. For just $9.99 per month, music fans will get 22 credits for the first month (2 credits per ringtone) and then 10 credits every month following. The service will benefit from UMLE's marketing and promotion expertise, and will be featured across all of the company's marketing channels including national Hispanic TV and online properties. And while MOVIHITS will feature a majority of the world's most sought-after Latin music artists, it will also feature a broader array of ringtones from all genres of music, providing music fans with real choice.


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Vonage Launches Spanish-Language Website and Customer Experience

HOLMDEL, N.J., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Vonage today announced a new customer experience designed for the Spanish-speaking consumer. With the launch of Vonages new Spanish-language website and call center, Vonage has made its popular Vonage World(SM) calling plan more accessible to customers who prefer to speak Spanish, providing them a simple and affordable way to call friends and family back home. Vonage World offers unlimited calling to 60 countries, including the majority of Latin America, for just $25.99 for month, and currently includes the first month of service free.


The new Spanish website http://www.vonage.com/hablamas offers a fast and easy way for customers to sign up for service, manage their account, learn about promotions and access online support.


"Vonage has designed an easy to use and affordable plan with international callers in mind," says Marc Lefar, Vonage Chief Executive Offer. "Vonage World provides high-quality local and international calls while eliminating the need to dial access numbers, PIN codes or purchase calling cards. Users simply dial a number and theyre connected. Our new Spanish-language website makes taking advantage of Vonage World even easier for Hispanic callers."


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