Corporations Now Party to Fiesta Broadway

L.A. Fiesta Broadway has worn many sombreros over the years: cultural event, free concert, street party, family fun day, and in one unfortunate year, violent melee.

But the nation’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration has bounced back from that low of two years ago.

In fact, as the seventh Fiesta Broadway gets ready to roll on Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in downtown Los Angeles, it’s taken on a new identity as a hot corporate marketing vehicle. The number of corporate sponsors this year has doubled and the festival sports a new name, AT&T; Fiesta Broadway.

“Corporations are trying to find creative ways to get their products in front to consumers, and that’s what this is about,” said Larry Gonzalez, president of All Access Entertainment, which produces the event. “If these companies want to increase their share of business, they really have got to cater, they’ve got to go after the Hispanic audience.”

AT&T; is constantly involved in community events, said Chris Santana, AT&T; Hispanic marketing manager, but Fiesta Broadway became even more notable this year because of the cancellation in February of Miami’s Calle Ocho festival after four Cuban exiles in small planes were shot down by Cuban air force jets.

“Because of these events, we are able to subscribe some people to AT&T; who weren’t with AT&T;, but that’s not our corporate purpose,” Santana said. “It stems from our corporate philosophy, and it’s something that we consider very important.”

Corporations pay anywhere from $10,000 for a booth to $200,000 for a stage; packages include advertising in Spanish-language media in the month before the event, which is expected to attract 1 million visitors. A total of 105 companies signed up this year, compared to about 50 last year.

The growing size and buying power of the Latino market is apparent to most corporations, but reaching that elusive consumer can be more difficult, marketing experts say.

“If a corporation is really looking for a well-rounded image with the community, it can no longer be done with TV, radio and print advertising, which is the traditional way,” said Berni Neal, director of client services for Muse Cordero Chen, a Los Angeles company that specializes in marketing to ethnic communities. Community events provide “the opportunity to be more direct and personal with the consumer.”

Much of what goes on at the festival might fall under the category of corporate image enhancement rather than hard sell.

Target is sponsoring a stage, but a prominent logo will be the retailer’s only pitch.

“No one will be on stage saying, ‘Shop at Target,’ and there will be no Target T-shirts,” said Ernesto Cervera, president of Cervera International, a Studio City advertising firm that handles some of Target’s Spanish-language advertising. “They’re saying, ‘This is the biggest happening in your culture, and we want to be part of it in a very quiet way.’ ”

Sears, another major sponsor of the $1.2-million event, handed out more than 30,000 credit applications at last year’s festival.

“We have about 30 stores in the Los Angeles district, and each one of those stores has a substantial Hispanic customer base,” said Gilbert Davila, Sears director of ethnic marketing. “This it part of our strategy to communicate in a grass-roots way with the, of course, ever-growing Hispanic market.”