Hispanicize 2018: In Review

By: Sussette Rodriguez

Every year, the nation’s most influential Latino professionals in the digital content, journalism, music, entertainment, marketing and business world enthusiastically await the arrival of April, for the annual Hispanicize conference. This year was no different.

The conference featured many new ideas and initiatives, a launching pad for new creations, innovative technologies, marketing campaigns, films, books and other materials aimed at Hispanic communicators. Looking forward to an even bigger 2019 event, here are the key takeaways and highlights discovered at this year’s conference.

Courtesy of Hispanicize
Courtesy of Hispanicize

The future is bright… and filled with social media influencers

The love between influencers, brands and agencies has unquestionably evolved to “the great social media love affair.” Influencers tackle an audience that many advertisements can’t grasp and that’s part of the magic.

Key takeaway: No matter how popular a brand may be, it won’t matter to the community if it does not have the approval and acceptance of other highly-regarded experts a.k.a. influencers. Allocating some of the marketing budget to these individuals could potentially achieve greater outcomes.

Courtesy of Hispanicize
Courtesy of Hispanicize

Is Public Relations dying? Errr maybe.

In a panel moderated by Univision’s Rosemary Ravinal, the future of public relations was discussed. She brought up a fact that stated that 90 percent of practitioners feel that the term Public Relations will no longer represent the work they do. This brings to question what will?

People are steering away from traditional media and focusing on integrated marketing campaigns to get a brand’s point across.

Key takeaway: Do it all! A worthy campaign is a package deal. You need all media the components to accomplish the desired goal.

Podcasts: Do you listen?

Podcasts are still very new, but also quickly making its way into many organizations communications strategy or at least it should be. Speaking directly to your target audience will expand your leads and position you alongside experts in your industry

Key takeaway: podcasts are growing a lot compared to other platforms. It’s a much more intimate channel and, therefore, is used to express stories of progress and address serious problems, such as climate change, from a much more personal perspective.