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Hispanic Market News< Back To Hispanic News Homepage An Interview with Lillian Roman from Multicultural Media, Carat USA
Interview: Lillian Roman, Carat USA The Company: Carat, a global independent media firm services a host of fortune 500 clients including Pfizer and Proctor & Gamble. Carat is on the cutting edge of multicultural media inclusion. -------------An interview with Lillian Roman, Carat USA, by Trevor Hansen, Vice President, Ethnic Print Media Group -------------Lillie- what inspired you to work within the Hispanic advertising industry and how much of an impact has working for Carat had on your career? I started my advertising career in general market. My second career move was to Ted Bates & Company. They handled Colgate-Palmolive and the client's Hispanic agency was looking for a media person. I found out about it and knew this was an opportunity to do something in a market with so much growth potential. I headed out to join “the Hispanic market”. Carat helped me grow by allowing me to take years of media experience that were based on a lot of “gut feeling” and qualitative knowledge and blend it with a wealth of quantitative resources. How important or how much of a value is placed on the Hispanic market by a global agency like Carat? A lot! Every new business pitch always has an in-depth multicultural component. Additionally, we work very closely with our International Division to bring LatAm clients to the U.S. In developing print media strategies what factors are regarded as key to insure a print campaign will succeed? Print media now has to be more accountable. Audits and distribution channels are as important as the reader profile. What good is a print vehicle if is doesn't get into the reader's hands. Living in a world full of various media and communication options, what role does a traditional medium such as print and newspapers have in developing a media campaign? Print in all forms adds another dimension to a media communications plan. Whatever the product or service, print allows advertisers the opportunity to provide details that cannot be explained in some vehicles such as TV (traditional :30 or :60), radio and OOH. Local print is an “engaging and active participation” media vehicle. Readers choose the newspaper that they will read and review those sections that are of most interest to them. An advertiser who is selling travel related products and services can select that particular section in which to advertise. In broadcast, the listener chooses the program and the commercials that air may or may not tie into the program. How would you characterize the Hispanic print industry and the existing publications? What needs to be done differently if anything? Countinue increasing magazine genres -“para distintos gustos hicieron los colores”. Some magazines want to be everything to everybody, and you can't. Magazines need to find effective ways of increasing circulation. Some magazines have been around for many years providing good editorial but have low circulation and high CPMs. They get bumped out of the analysis and never make the plan. What clients/categories of business have you noticed targeting more to Hispanic consumers? Health care and financial services have seized the opportunity to target Hispanics aggressively. Where do you see the Hispanic Advertising industry on a national scale within the next 5 to 10 years? I believe that since the release of the Census 2000, advertisers are becoming more aware of the importance of the Hispanic market. They currently represent over 14% of the total U.S. population. It's something that cannot be ignored. Hispanics have money to spend, they just like to be communicated to in a way that's easier for them to understand and relate to. I'm proud to see that advertisers are beginning to invest more time in understanding this segment and are developing culturally relevant advertising. Whether or not Hispanic advertising will continue to grow at the rate the market is going only time will tell, but it is our job to bring forth the potential opportunities this market has to offer for many advertisers, both from a business and an educational stand-point. What do you feel has been the biggest misconception about the Hispanic market in terms of marketing and media development? The biggest misconception is advertisers who think Hispanics are using general market media and therefore don't need to do a separate and culturally relevant effort targeting Hispanics. Some advertisers believe that Hispanics are and will continue to assimilate leaving their culture behind. This is farthest from the truth. Assimilation occurs to embrace the experiences Hispanics are having in the American culture. Their Hispanic roots are imbedded in their blood and so they continue to listen to Latin music, eat traditional foods and speak Spanish to “Abuelita”. Many Hispanics arrive in America, become culturally assimilated, learn to speak English and consume GM media. They start raising a family and then retro-acculturation occurs. They start speaking more Spanish to their children so that they will learn the language and they instill more of their heritage and customs in their family. In terms of research what information do you feel has been missing or needs to be improved in regards to Hispanic print publications? Reader profiles and product usage studies and zip code analyses are few and far between. More should be done in this area to help grow the medium, increase circulation, and improve efficiencies. Open ended. Is there anything you would like to share about yourself or Carat? I feel fortunate to have arrived where I am today. Over the years I have gained diversified experience in targeted GM, Hispanic and AA media planning, as well as in sales. At Carat I have been able to put all these disciplines to work in the multicultural group. - Sign off – I want to personally thank Lilly for sharing her insights and opinions with us all. From a personal to professional perspective the Multicultural media industry is being driven by the energy and efforts of passionate individuals – Lilly Roman brings a world of benefit to the stakeholders in our community – Thank you Lilly. Trevor Hansen Vice President Ethnic Print Media Group |
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