Who are the Top Hispanic Owned PR Agencies in the United States?
Hispanic-owned businesses are being started at three times the rate of other businesses according to the Small Business Association. Spending by the Hispanic population in the U.S. is conservatively estimated to be $1.5 trillion annually, yes TRILLION. If you look at that level of spending and new businesses, the Hispanic sector would theoretically become the 11th largest global economy. So it is no wonder companies are looking at how to get a deeper tap into that market.
Hispanic-owned PR firms in America, are at a premium.Such industry leaders are found throughout the U.S., but the ones with most forward momentum are generally found in three areas, New York City, Southern Florida, and Southern California. These areas have large Hispanic populations, especially in relation to the rest of the population in those areas.
So let’s look at some of the firms who’ve earned a place at the head of this large table:
Havas Formulatin, also sometimes called Formulatin, is the Hispanic branch of Formulation PR in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Formulation had a department for the Hispanic sector, but earlier in 2015 made the jump to creating a separate wholly-owned entity. They have racked up more than ten years of experience in the Hispanic market and represented over 1,000 clients – large and small – in this practice area.
HF uses five passion points of Hispanic interest: family, food, sports, music, and beauty to build their campaigns.
In a recent interview about experiential marketing, Michael Olguin, president of HF, said they break event marketing into two categories: low volume, high touch, reaching for experiential and shareable; and high volume, low touch, focusing on product sampling.
They also just added Andy Checko, formerly of MundoFox / MundoMax, as the director of HF. President of HF is Michael Olguin whose broader duties have him in charge of Formulation, and VP, Maria Amor, who spends much of her time in the San Diego office. This change adds Checko to deal with the ongoing day-to-day operations in the New York office allowing for a more fluid approach. Some clients represented by HF include Nestle, Tecate Light, Napa, El Jimador, and Siempre Mujer (music festival).
MGSCOMM has offices in New York City, Washington D.C., Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mexico City, but it is headquartered in Miami. The PR Division of MGSCOMM operates under the name, SWAY, or The Sway Way. They use innovative approaches combined with analytics and research to help clients reach the city-minded millennial demographic in their efforts to “sway” consumers to the brands they represent.
Some of their Hispanic and multicultural campaigns are for clients such as Hyundai, the SunRail Train Station, Absolut Vodka, Outback Steakhouse, and MilkPep.
Courtney Cunningham is the CEO and has 25 years’ experience in public relations, crisis management, and public affairs work. Most of the projects he works on are long-term, large-scale, and often involve interactions with government agencies. President, Yvonne Marie Lorie has managed communication campaigns for a large number of clients for more than 20 years. In 2013, she received the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) PRemio PR Achievement Award.
SWAY has received numerous awards from the Hispanic Public Relations Association, including its top award in 2013. They also received numerous Gold and Silver ADDY awards for work representing national and international companies as well as smaller businesses in their Hispanic PR and marketing efforts.
VSBrooks Advertising
Located in Coral Gables, Florida, VSBrooks Advertising was founded by Vivian Santos and Diana Brooks, who are both Cuban-American and act as co-CEOs. The agency opened in 1996. Most of the work they do currently is in the healthcare industry, but they also have extensive experience in realty, travel, beer, and education markets. During September 2015, they are celebrating Spoontember and encouraging others to do so as well in support of FeedingSouthFlorida. This because 1 in 6 people in the area go hungry right now.
This dynamic pair started their business with just $10,000, two Macs, and Santos’ kitchen table. Their business did more than $15 million in revenue last year. And they’ve done ad campaigns throughout Florida, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, and California. Some of the clients they have represented include Turnberry Towers, CAC-Florida Medical Centers, Turks and Caicos Island Tourism Board, and the Surrogacy Experience.
Working as co-CEOs can have challenges but they deal with them – one thing, they both draw exactly the same salary, down to the penny. And when there is a dispute they can’t resolve between them, they get a third-party mediator, usually a trusted long-time employee to help.
Each of them explains their thoughts and reasoning and the mediator usually points out the holes in each side’s thinking allowing them to have a broader perspective.
Many of the large PR agencies have people specializing in Hispanic and multicultural PR – but these three specialize at a deeper level.