Perhaps the awards should be renamed….

by Isabella Sanchez

Last week we were honored with seven out of ten possible “Hispanic Media Planning Excelencia Awards”.   This competition was created by Hispanicad.com over a decade ago, and is presented at the annual AHAA conference.  This is the only competition fully dedicated to recognizing media planning excellence in the Hispanic market.

We competed among some of the best in the industry; over 50 entries were submitted by 9 different agencies.

I truly wish that our clients, Michelle, Joe, and everyone at the agency could have been there to celebrate the moment with us.  While they are entitled “media awards”, they truly are so much more.  Everyone who touches these accounts, internally and externally, contributed to their success.

Although each of the winning campaigns was very different, they all share three key commonalities and are reflective of: 1) the depth of our clients’ commitment to the Hispanic market, 2) Zubi’s Hispanic expertise, 3) Zubi’s full-service collaboration and integration.

Each plan began with clients who are willing to innovate and establish leadership positions for their respective brands.  We truly are privileged to work with clients who align with us as we push boundaries and elevate media planning across all platforms.  Our work is clearly a reflection of our clients’ commitment to succeeding in the Hispanic market.

Internally, each plan began with research and strategic planning which led to in-depth target insights and the development of a core idea.  The ideas were then developed in conjunction with the account service and creative teams.  They were then fine-tuned with our media partners, enhanced by our integrated marketing team, extended by our social media team, negotiated and implemented by the buying team, and then stewarded, measured, and optimized by our analytics teams.  Notice the consistent use of “team” here…true team work, at its best.  Everyone at the agency contributed to their success in some way, and the results could not have been possible without our clear collaboration, integration and expertise.

While these awards are entitled “Media Planning” awards, perhaps they should be renamed “The Best of Hispanic Expertise, Insights and Agency Integration”?  Unfortunately, that’s probably too long of a name for an award competition.

Five weeks ago, Tere was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, and while she is no doubt still smiling about that honor, we hope this contributes to continuing to make her proud.