January 29, 2010
NFL Latino QBs Latino Marketing Hispanics
By Jessica Bader: When I saw this piece last weekend about the meaning of Mark Sanchez, I was more than a little bit puzzled by the fixation on Sanchez as the key to the NFL attracting more Hispanic fans. Then again, I’m not sure how many football fans realize that Sanchez wasn’t even the only Mexican-American quarterback to win a playoff game this month.
In some ways, Tony Romo might even be better suited to marketing the NFL to the Hispanic community. Romo, a three-time Pro Bowler, is more of an established star player than the rookie Sanchez, and while Sanchez plays for a New York team, Romo’s Dallas Cowboys are one of the premier franchises in all of professional sports. (It’s also worth noting that Dallas’s Hispanic population is primarily of Mexican descent, whereas Hispanics living in the New York city metro area are more likely to trace their roots back to Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.)
But will a star quarterback (or two) of Mexican descent be enough to significantly increase Hispanic interest in the NFL? I would tend not to think so, especially among recent immigrants. Most Central American countries already have a beloved sport that they call futbol – the United States calls it soccer. As recent immigrants and their children become more assimilated, it’s possible that Hispanics could become bigger fans of the NFL. In the meantime, the presence of a talented and exciting player at football’s glamor position who happens to be part of the US’s fastest-growing ethnic group can’t hurt – but he might not be the first one who comes to mind.
Jason Clinkscales: When Mark Sanchez got drafted by the New York Jets last April, advertising and publicity analysts immediate salivated over his prospects. They were less interested in his prospects on the field, rather than endorsement and sponsorship opportunities if he essentially becomes the Mexican-American version of Joe Willie Namath.
Yet, despite admirable performances in three postseason games, the suggestion that he will be the one that takes the NFL into apparent unchartered territory with the Latino populous has a bit of problem; Sanchez has to win and win beautifully.
It is not that he is incapable. His rollercoaster rookie season showed that while there is plenty to learn, the Jets have someone who is the unquestioned leader of the offense for the next decade, barring they are patient (a foreign concept for the franchise) with his development for the next few years. He has a very good defense that has the chance to become great along with one of the better running games in the league and three big play receiving options in Dustin Keller, Braylon Edwards and Jericho Cotchery.
While having covered the other NFL team in the New York area for the last four+ years, I witnessed the Giants’ Eli Manning grow from the unfortunate moniker of ‘game manager’ that caught lightning in the bottle during the run to Super Bowl XLII to one of the top ten signal-callers in the game while the rest of the team fell apart this past season. The Super Bowl win opened up a few local and national endorsement deals while allowing him the chance to work with brother (and best-marketed athlete today) Peyton for Oreo. Yet, while he’ll never be his brother, he can at least stand on his own because his play has improved year after year.
We don’t know this about Sanchez yet. He’s a good-looking guy with the Southern California mystique and runs the offense of a team located just miles away from Madison Avenue. We’ve come to accept that he has to win games; you don’t stick long enough in the league if you don’t win. However, Jim McMahon, Phil Simms, Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson were quarterbacks that won championships because they were told to hand off the ball, don’t throw too much and let the defense do the rest.
None of those guys became infinitely better after those wins and none became superstars in the so-called mainstream (read: white & somewhat affluent) market in the way that some expect Sanchez to become for Latino fans across the country.
Beyond Sanchez or any individual Latino player in the league, what the NFL could use is a broadcasting contract with any of the Spanish-language networks. There is no more dominant content provider in television today than the NFL, to the point that any news that breaks is Election Night-like in its coverage (this writer is admittedly a microscopic part of that). Yes, there’s the SAP option from the networks and Spanish-language radio. Yet, they’re not going to reach the desired market without a unique, stand-alone contract with any of the Spanish-language networks here in the States, notably Univision and NBC Universal-owned Telemundo.
It will be interesting what kind of player Mark Sanchez becomes in the next few years. Since he has much to learn about just playing the game at this elite level, we should be fair enough to hold off on making him the NFL’s biggest Latino star.
Tags: Mark Sanchez, New York Jets, NFL marketing to Latino community, Tony Romo
Posted by Ahorre at 07:32 AM
November 24, 2009
Julio Cesar Chavez Campeones Boxing Restaurant
Deportes - Nov 2009 - After months of anticipation, boxing champion and Mexican icon Julio César Chávez will open Julio César Chávez Campeones, a one-of-a-kind boxing-themed restaurant and entertainment venue.
Located in Mesa, Ariz., Campeones is a 30,000-square-foot venue featuring authentic Mexican food, a full sports bar, arcade games and a World Boxing Council (WBC) Legends of Boxing Museum. In addition, the venue features the Bud Light Doce (12) Events Center for concerts, boxing matches, quinceañeras and community events. The center will be able to accommodate 1,700 people with capacity for another 850 visitors in the restaurant, sports bar and arcade.
"The grand opening of Julio César Chávez Campeones is a special moment for me," said Julio César Chávez. "It's very gratifying to have the opportunity to open a place that the Hispanic community can be proud of. I hope that all my fellow countrymen and everyone will join me at this event."
Campeones will provide a shot in the arm to the local Phoenix economy. Brian Weymouth, Chávez's agent and business partner in Julio César Chávez Campeones, and team have hired 80 people for the opening, and the venue is projecting revenues of $7-$10 million for the first year of business, which will be a boost for Mesa, the state's third largest metropolitan city. Campeones will be a major attraction for the statewide Hispanic community as well as for tourists from across the U.S. and Mexico. A recent study centered on visitor characteristics and economic impact found that 24 million Mexican visitors visit Arizona annually.
"We've received enormous support from everyone in the community for this type of entertainment venue. Julio, one of the world's greatest boxing champions, believes that the incredible number of dedicated fans in the Valley makes Mesa a perfect market for launching Campeones," said Weymouth.
In total, $4.5 million has been invested in creating Julio César Chávez Campeones. Key investors include Weymouth, Chávez, Dan Wergin and Brian Day O'Connor. Weymouth is best known for opening Alice Cooper'stown in downtown Phoenix with rock star, Alice Cooper, in the late-90s. He has also worked with sports stars Randy Johnson, Mark Grace and Dan Majerle. Wergin has a background in the wind energy industry and real estate development and Day O'Connor is a veteran in the commercial real estate industry.
Weymouth says Campeones will rival and best the impact Hard Rock or the ESPNZone created with the Anglo-American community.
Chávez's boxing career spanned 25 years. He is ranked as one of ESPN's 50 greatest boxers of all time and went 90 straight fights without a loss. Chávez retired from professional boxing in 2005. His two sons, Julio César Chávez Jr. and Omar Chávez, now carry on their father's legacy in the ring.
For more information about Julio Cesar Chavez Campeones in Mesa, Arizona visit www.juliocesarchavez.net
Posted by Ahorre at 06:36 AM
VW Sports Marketing Hispanic Market Soccer
Deportes - Jim Motavali Nov 2009 - “If I get it in, do I win the car?” We were outside Qwest Stadium in Seattle, just before the Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City (the latter won). In a huge Volkswagen “activation” area, people were lining up to try and land a basket inside the sunroof of a VW Tiguan SUV. But no, the promotion designed to showcase the size of the car’s sunroof did not result in their winning the car. Instead, they walked away with VW-branded merchandise, like t-shirts and rain ponchos (it was Seattle). Many of the sports fans had even more reason to love VW: If they were driving one, they got free parking at the stadium.
Tim Ellis is director of marketing at VW, and he favors an aggressive approach that will help the brand achieve its extremely ambitious expansion plans. VW is the official automobile supplier of MLS, but that means a whole lot more than signage and a few commercials played during games. VW tries to plant its brand and image directly into the frontal lobes of sports fans through a truly hands-on approach that involves teams of subcontracted activation specialists not only following the MLS trail, but going to youth soccer events all over the country.
“A lot of brands just flash their logo up there,” Ellis said in an interview before the playoff game. “But we wanted deeper involvement and engagement with broader segments. And that meant engaging on a grassroots level and meeting the passion points.” VW’s American arm is based near Washington, DC and the team both sponsors the DC United soccer team and has a partnership with the Verizon Center, which hosts 250 events a year. “We use sports marketing to educate people about our products [which range from the compact Golf to the Touareg SUV] and build off positive awareness of the company,” Ellis said.
VW doesn’t have an image problem, exactly: People use associative words like “fun,” “cool,” “trendy,” “affordable” and “quality,” but they also, says Ellis, “think they know everything there is to know about the brand.” There is a low level of awareness of newer models such as the Tiguan, Routan and CC. “We suffer from our success,” Ellis said. “People know the New Beetle, the Golf and the Jetta, but they don’t know we have new vehicles reaching out to broader segments. Engagement with families is key.”
The Tiguan and Routan are perfect vehicles for, dare we say it, “soccer moms.” The negative association with that phrase may keep them out of the Routan minivan, but “activation” events and association with professional soccer (the hip David Beckham was on the field that day, and the stadium was packed) may help them get over the negative connotations.
The activation corral (near similar installations for the Xbox and other brands) was a stopover on the way to the big game. Kids could get their faces painted, adults could get custom-made t-shirts—and VW used handheld devices to capture marketing data, including email addresses. In the hour or two leading up to the game, 3,500 to 5,000 people might come through.
One of VW’s challenge is to get customers to tune in to diesels, such as the new Golf TDI, and consider them an environmentally friendly choice alongside hybrids like the Prius. “It really is an education issue,” Ellis said. “People associate diesels with the cars of the past, which were loud, smelly and offered poor performance.” Does VW use diesel pace cars during events like the Chicago Marathon? You bet!
Ben Friedson is director of sports marketing at VW, and he says, “We are constantly measuring our effectiveness in the sports space. We go on site and ask survey questions starting with people’s satisfaction with the food service and the venue, and moving on to asking about their retention of the fact that VW is a sponsor.”
Another marketing opportunity is with the Hispanic consumers, who are passionate soccer fans. Only 11 percent of VW’s U.S. customers today are Hispanic, so there’s a growth opportunity there—especially since VW is a familiar brand in Latin America.
Ellis and Friedson said that the world of sports marketing is full of temptations: teams court sponsors with offers of exclusive dinners with stars and other glamorous perks. Auto brands might sponsor the U.S. Open just because the CEO is into golf. “I demand that it works from the top,” and I want numbers, such as cost per impression,” Ellis said. Once it’s approved, I want steady checks to see how it is working in terms of meeting our objectives.”
Salt Lake City won the championship. Was Friedson happy? He paused. “LA might have been good for us, but Salt Lake is good, too,” he said. If he had a personal opinion, he didn’t share it.
Posted by Ahorre at 06:23 AM
November 06, 2009
Things to Know About Visited by US Hispanics
June 2008 - Ten Things You Need to Know About the 200 Websites most visited by Hispanics
1. The U.S. Hispanic Internet Audience grew by 20% between April 2007 and April 2008 to 19.807 million unique visitors.
2. The Web properties that got the largest increase in unique visitors were the following:
Glam Media a network of websites targeting women and gadget website Myhotcomments are next to the usual suspects Fox Interactive Media, Google sites and Yahoo! sites among the websites whose traffic has increased the most in terms of Hispanic unique users.
Interestingly, two of the top sites that have grown the most during the last year are gaming websites (Gamevance and Gameforge) and a third one (Giant Realm) has an important gaming component.
4. Google tops Yahoo as the website most visited by Hispanics with 14.534 unique visitors. Yahoo was the number one website among Hispanics in April 2007.
5. Top 5 web properties (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Aol and Fox Interactive Media) had a share of % 20.56% in total visitors of the top 200 websites visited by Hispanics during April 2008.
6. There are Four Purely Hispanic oriented websites among the top 200 Websites. They are Univision.com, Batanga, Terra and Televisa Digital.
7. Transactional Websites (Comparison Shopping Websites and Websites of large retailers, banks, Travel sites etc..) had a share of 26.02% of total visitors of the top 200 websites visited by Hispanics during April 2008.
8. Websites of traditional media companies (TV, Radio, Newspaper and Entertainment Companies) had a share of 17.1% of Hispanic visitors among top 200 websies.
9. Online Yellow Pages and other Online Classifieds websites were visited by 4.65% of Hispanic visitors of the top 200 Hispanic websites during April of 2008.
10. The website that lost the most unique users between April of 2007 and the same month of 2008 were the following:
Posted by Ahorre at 01:49 PM
October 19, 2009
NBA Launches Hispanic Marketing ene be a Campaigns
The éne-bé-a campaign - The National Basketball Association today launches a season-long, $7 million to $10 million ad campaign aimed at the growing Hispanic market, which the league said accounts for 15% of its total U.S. fan base of 120 million fans.
The NBA has reached out to the Hispanic community before through a number of initiatives, but this is the league's first multiplatform Hispanic marketing campaign, putting it years behind its counterparts at the National Football League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer in terms of a dedicated effort toward Hispanics.
That's somewhat ironic, given that the NBA was the first major U.S. professional sports league to embrace the possibilities of new fanbases and to market the game overseas, particularly to fans in Europe and Asia. Players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley were treated like rock stars at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, the first year NBA players were allowed to participate in the Olympics.
'Rebranding the NBA'
"I wouldn't say this is a new effort. We've been conducting events in the Hispanic market since 2000, and we've done it in the past through our internal assets like Spanish-language websites and radio broadcasts," said NBA Senior Director of U.S. Hispanic Marketing Saskia Sorrosa. "What's new is we want to make sure we keep those existing fans engaged. We're rebranding the NBA to this audience."
The league partnered with Hispanic agency Bromley Communications, San Antonio, to create the campaign. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, is the NBA's main ad agency.
In addition to the 18 million Hispanic fans, the NBA has six U.S.-born Latino players and 19 players from Spain and Latin America currently on 2009-10 preseason rosters. The NBA has played 25 preseason games and one regular-season game in Latin America.
"Initially, the NBA did an RFP [request for proposals] a couple of years ago, so this is a few years in the works," Bromley's chief operating officer, Jessica Pantanini, said. "They came to us and said, 'We're not sure what to do.' Being based here in San Antonio with the [NBA's] Spurs and with a large Hispanic population, we have some unbelievably avid NBA fans. We had a few ideas."
How to say NBA
What they came up with was éne-bé-a, which is how Hispanic fans already refer to the NBA. The elements of the campaign include:
# TV spots featuring the Suns' Leandro Barbosa, among other players, on Hispanic networks such as Telemundo, Univision, Telefutura, Discovery en Espanol, CNN en Espanol, MTV3 and other channels.
# A new Spanish-language site, which will include exclusive webisodes featuring NBA Latino players, news breaks and features, photo galleries, etc.
# Content on Spanish-language social-networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and MiPagina.
# Grassroots events such as Es Tu Cancha, Spanish for "It's Your Court", which is an initiative to improve and renovate basketball courts in Hispanic neighborhoods throughout the country.
The éne-bé-a TV creative debuts today on both English- and Spanish-language outlets across the country. The league already has a deal in place with ESPN Deportes to telecast weekly NBA games in Spanish, which will include the Eastern Conference finals this season, and 11 NBA teams already feature live Spanish-language radio broadcasts of games.
"Originally, we used to talk about the U.S. Hispanic market as just the top 10 markets, like New York, Los Angeles, Miami," said Ms. Sorrosa, who said she watched Mr. Jordan play when she was a child in her native Ecuador. "Now, migration patterns are such that there are places that have a significant Hispanic population that you normally wouldn't think, like Portland and Denver."
Both Portland and Denver have NBA franchises.
The éne-bé-a campaign will run through the entire season. There are four TV spots, which will change in December, again in February or March, and again for the playoffs in April.
Ms. Pantanini said it was important to create a campaign that addressed the Hispanic market but didn't pander to it.
"Latinos don't want to be called out for being Latino," she said. "We want to be respected for who we are. We felt like the idea of éne-bé-a speaks to them, but doesn't call them out."
Posted by Ahorre at 08:02 AM
April 09, 2007
Mexican Soccer Sports Marketing Advertising
Mexico Deportes - You live along the westcoast of the United States? Walk along any high school, park down to the pizza shop.... you 'll sense the "Equipo Tricolor" o "El Tri"
Today, Mexican Soccer has a fever spread across all Mexican-Americans. Yes "Mexican Soccer". Today, the "Mexican National Soccer Team" play against Ecuador National Soccer Team at 8 p.m. as an exhibition match. Released figures by media outlets, confirm that the game sold all 47,416 tickets by March 14.
Bay Area Earthquakes Soccer - 2007, the league has begun a huge push into the Hispanic market. "We did almost 100 percent Hispanic marketing," Owner Alioto says, Earthquakes Soccer made its first public announcement of tonight's game Jan. 18. Tickets, priced from $25 to $200, went on sale at various Bay Area locations Feb. 6. Earthquakes Soccer concentrated most of its ads on Spanish-language television and radio stations, especially during the numerous call-in sports shows that often touched on the same topic during their broadcasts. "Mexico Travel and Vacation Web Site"
Interest in "El Tri" has a long run in California and areas with large Mexican-American populations. The recent appointment of Mexico's all-time national soccer hero Hugo Sanchez as coach has sparked even greater interest.
The first stop on Mexico's U.S. tour, was a 3-1 victory over Venezuela in San Diego on Feb. 28, it drew a sellout crowd of 63,000. An exhibition pitting Mexico against the United States sold out at more than 60,000 Feb. 7 in Glendale, Arizona. That match, a 2-0 U.S. victory, was organized by the U.S. Soccer Federation and not considered part of this tour.
The Mexico's U.S. tour will continue with games Aug. 22, Sept. 12 and Oct. 17. Locations, times and opponents are still to be determined. Deportes de Mexico
Posted by Ahorre at 06:14 AM
December 21, 2006
Rafael Lebrija, presidente del Toluca, habla temerariamente contra Boca Junior
Deportes .- Lebrija está feliz de encarar a los ‘xeneizes’, lamenta que ya no esté La Volpe, pero desea saludar a Marioni.
Lamenta que ya no esté en el Boca Juniors Ricardo La Volpe, ex técnico del Toluca, "porque hubiera sido más sabroso este agarrón, ja, ja, ja", pero espera saludar a su ex goleador Bruno Marioni, a "quien ya transferimos y no lo dejaremos que nos haga gol".
Rafael Lebrija, presidente del Toluca, habla temerariamente donde otros hablarían temerosamente.
Boca Juniors no lo asusta, pero tampoco le falta al respeto.
"Estoy muy contento de que enfrentemos a Boca en el arranque, de una vez, de inmediato, es bueno comenzar así, contra un rival de esa categoría y ganarle", explica Lebrija vía telefónica.
Posted by Ahorre.com at 02:46 PM
November 01, 2006
Chase Visa Soccer Credit Cards
Soccer fans who live and breathe for the game will want one of three Chase Ultimate Fan Rewards Visa credit cards, first-of-its-kind rewards credit cards created specifically for soccer fans and available now through a partnership between Chase and Soccer United Marketing (SUM)
Soccer fans can choose between Major League Soccer (MLS), the U.S. National Team and the Mexican National Team Chase Ultimate Fan Rewards Visa credit cards featured in 12 different card designs. Cardholders - who can use the credit cards for all purchases, including everyday spending categories such as gas, groceries and dining out – receive one point for every dollar spent and can obtain soccer rewards for as few as 1,000 points. There is no annual fee and a 0% APR introductory rate.
Posted by Ahorre at 11:50 AM
October 06, 2006
Mivida Wireless NASCAR Sponsoship
Cisneros Group's U.S.-Hispanic Phone Service Movida Sponsors NASCAR's Only Minority-Owned Team
HISPANIC PR - The Cisneros Group of Companies today announced that Movida, the nation's first pay-as-you-go wireless communications service specifically targeting the more than 40 million Hispanics living in the United States, is now a proud sponsor of the FitzBradshaw NASCAR team. Racing NASCAR Busch Series team, Fitz Contreras Racing NASCAR Busch East Series team, and FitzContreras Racing NASCAR Mexico Team.
Along with Family Dollar, one of Movida's distribution partners, Movida is sponsoring the only nationally certified, minority-owned team/company in NASCAR's top three elite series. The team includes drivers Carlos Contreras and Ruben Pardo. Pardo currently leads the Sunoco "Rookie of the Year" contest in the NASCAR Busch East Series, co-owned by Armando Fitz and Carlos Contreras.
Analysts now estimate that NASCAR is rapidly growing in popularity with U.S.-Hispanic sports fans and already reaches 12% of the U.S. Hispanic population. With a Movida presence in at least six races in the U.S. and Mexico, from late September to early November, the Movida brand will reach nearly 10 million Hispanics. NASCAR is the No. 2 regular season sport on TV, trailing only the National Football League (NFL).
Movida Chairman and Chief Executive Enrique Garcia said: "We are proud to be able to join with Family Dollar and other sponsors of the Movida FitzBradshaw NASCAR team. Like NASCAR, Movida is popular and fast-growing among U.S.-Hispanics, the fastest-growing consumer sector in the U.S. We look forward to a long and successful relationship with our new teammates," Mr. Garcia said.
Movida is the leader in providing wireless phone service designed for the communications needs, budgets and cultural heritage of the U.S.-Hispanic market. Movida now expects that by year end 2007 it will have close to 500,000 subscribers.
Originally launched at Wal-Mart stores across the nation, Movida is now available at thousands of additional retail sales outlets including Family Dollar Stores, Blockbuster Puerto Rico, Circle K, ConocoPhillips, Duane Reade (starting October 1st), Kmart, Pueblo Supermarkets, Radio Shack (Franchises), and Valero among others.
Movida Communications, Inc. -- majority-owned by Cisneros -- is a wireless service provider offering pay-as-you-go wireless voice and data communications services exclusively to the U.S. Hispanic population, using Sprint's all-digital, all-PCS nationwide wireless network.
As the nation's first MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) targeted at Hispanics, Movida offers all standard custom calling features plus a suite of international voice and data services featuring culturally and geographically-focused content in Spanish.
Posted by Ahorre at 09:05 AM
June 15, 2006
2006 World Cup Soccer Internet Visitors
comScore Networks reports that the official FIFA World Cup soccer tournament website at Fifaworldcup.yahoo.com had 5+ million unique visitors to on Friday, June 9, the first day of the tournament. As the opening weekend progressed, the website saw the average daily visitors (Sat & Sun) at 4.4+ million.
Additionally, comScore reported that the site supported some 400,000 video streams on Friday and averaged approximately 375,000 streams per day throughout the weekend. As for who was stopping by the site, which offers content in nine languages, the firm found that 57% of the page views over the weekend were in English, 14% were in Spanish, 6% of the pages viewed were in Japanese, 3% in Chinese, and 1% in Korean. On the opening day, the BBC World Cup website received 1+ million worldwide visitors, including some 450,000 from those in the U.K.
Posted by Ahorre at 11:18 AM
August 27, 2005
Fox Sports en Espanol 2006
Fox Sports en Español, the Spanish-language sports network in the U.S., unveiled its 2005-2006 programming line-up to hundreds of advertisers at New York's Rainbow Room. Offering more than 1,500 hours of live sports programming a year, the leading all-sports network now reaches 3.2 million Hispanic cable and satellite households and is the second most widely distributed Spanish-language cable network in the country.
Posted by Ahorre at 10:23 AM
August 08, 2005
1-800-BEISBOL LATINO
If you want to learn a little about "Beisbol Latino", visit our 1-800-BEISBOL web site. We focus our content on Latino baseball players and the history of baseball as a whole. Articles are primarily written by Edwin "Kako" Vasquez from Puerto Rico.
Due to the recent news on Rafael Palmeiro, Edwin featured an article on Rafael's trajectory to major league baseball. Rafael Palmeiro Salon de Fama
Posted by Ahorre at 06:33 AM
April 25, 2005
Milwaukee Brewers "Beisbol" Hispanic Marketing
Brewers hire firm for Hispanic marketing effort. The Milwaukee Brewers have hired Abrazo Multicultural Marketing & Communications, Milwaukee, to coordinate Hispanic marketing efforts for the team
Brewers executive vice president-business operations Rick Schlesinger said the contract with the multicultural marketing firm is critical to its Hispanic marketing efforts.
"The Hispanic community is the fastest growing community in southeastern Wisconsin," he said in a statement.
The Milwaukee Brewers' marketing efforts for Hispanic fans include enhancing access to ticket purchases through the development of Spanish-language, community-based ticketing outlets, the team said. The Brewers also plan on increasing the levels of Spanish-language advertising, marketing and promotional efforts.
Posted by Ahorre at 10:28 PM