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Many Latino-Oriented Agencies Prospering in Ad Industry Slump

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For months, the president of one of New York’s top ad agencies targeting the Latino market has made trips to Los Angeles trying to establish a beachhead.

Founders of several Latino-owned agencies say they can almost recognize the knock on the door. Many have been approached--more than once--by Siboney Advertising, a Spanish-language division of giant Foote, Cone & Belding Communications.

Siboney has good reason to want to buy into the Los Angeles market. Even as the general ad market has slumped into critical condition, executives say business at many--but not all--agencies that specialize in the Latino market has remained stable or actually grown in the past year.

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“Advertisers are asking themselves, how do I best spend my dollars during a time of economic difficulty?” said Carl Kravetz, who last week co-founded a Los Angeles-based Spanish-language agency, cruz/kravetz: IDEAS. “They are discovering that Hispanics are one of the most cost-effective markets to reach.”

Spanish-language media are considered cost effective ad buys because they have relatively low ad rates and reach the desired audience.

A series of recent events has perked up interest in the Latino market nationally and locally. If a free-trade agreement with Mexico becomes a reality, many companies may want to widen their advertising to reach the estimated 100 million Latinos in North America.

Also, with the Olympics scheduled in Barcelona, Spain, next year, many new advertisers are expected to try to reach Spanish-speaking consumers.

Perhaps the key factor behind an expected spurt in Spanish-language advertising locally is the 1990 census results. The number of Latinos in California jumped more than 69% between 1980 and 1990, to 7.7 million from 4.5 million, according to recently released census data.

“In the early days, we had to make people feel guilty in order to get them to advertise to this market,” said Kravetz. “But the attitude these days is strictly business.”

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So convinced is Kravetz that this attitude will prevail, he quit as president of Ferrer/Ad America, a Latino subsidiary of Davis, Ball & Colombatto, to start his venture. His partner, Tony Cruz, is former vice president of Hispania West, the Latino division of J. Walter Thompson. Kravetz and Cruz envision the kind of growth for their venture that several local Latino ad shops are already enjoying.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles office of New York-based Font & Vaamonde was selected as the Latino agency for Alaska Airlines. The office opened two years ago with three employees. Today, it has 32, and it plans to add five more.

“We didn’t come to L.A. to take business away from other agencies,” said Pedro Font, agency president. “We came for business from those who never spent money in the Hispanic market.”

This is not to say that all Latino agencies in Los Angeles are enjoying good times. One of the oldest, Bermudez Associates, closed last year after losing a lot of business to rivals. And Encino-based Castellanos Latina Advertising has struggled since it broke ground by purchasing a mainstream agency last year.

But many of the independent Latino agencies that have opened here in recent years say they are not feeling the intense financial pressures burdening most mainstream ad shops.

“Our business has never been better,” said Dolores Valdes-Zacky, who founded the Latino agency Valdes-Zacky Associates in 1987. “This will be the best year by far for our company.”

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In fact, almost every one of her clients has increased its Spanish-language ad budget the past year, including the Tianguis division of Vons and the Southern California Gas Co.

Similarly, Anita Santiago said clients of her Santa Monica-based Latino agency, Hispanic Group, have not cut back their ad spending the past year. The agency creates ads for See’s candy. “Nothing is slowing down for us,” Santiago said.

Hill & Knowlton Will Launch Entertainment PR Operation

Ad professionals who have lost their jobs in recent months--but are willing to test their skills in public relations--suddenly have an option in Los Angeles.

Hill & Knowlton’s newly formed entertainment division will soon be hiring 18 to 24 people in all areas of public relations. “We’re looking to be a major, major player” in entertainment public relations, said Richard Taylor, who last week was named president and chief executive of the division, which will specialize in film, television and theme park PR.

Magic Johnson to Give Fiery Performance in Commercial

Lakers fans know that when Magic Johnson is on fire, the Lakers are usually on fire. Well, beginning this week, Johnson literally breathes fire in a TV commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s “Hot ‘N’ Spicy” recipe.

In the spot created by the New York agency Young & Rubicam, Johnson eats some chicken, then blows a plume of fire from his mouth. The fire ignites a basketball, then streaks it toward the hoop for a bucket.

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As players watch in disbelief, Johnson explains, “They don’t call me Magic for nothing.”

Small L.A. Firm Is Behind Those Racy Kookai Billboards

What the heck is Kookai?

That’s what a big billboard on Sunset Boulevard has many commuters wondering. The billboard shows six sexy women next to this headline: “Hide your boyfriends, here we come. Kookai.”

Kookai USA is a contemporary women’s clothing firm whose West Los Angeles parent company, MGV International, is a large electronics firm. While Kookai is a familiar brand in Europe, it hasn’t been sold in the United States for long. It handed its ad business, estimated at less than $1 million annually, to the tiny Los Angeles ad firm Andrew Janson & Associates.

What’s the point of the racy ads? “We’re trying to portray the girls as spoiled and naughty,” said Andrew Janson, agency president. “Better to do something that gets noticed.”

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