Mercury Media, the Santa Monica, California-based direct response media agency, will target the growing market for direct response advertising aimed at Spanish-speaking consumers with a dedicated specialty practice.
The new practice has two dedicated employees and the company expects to add three to five additional people in the next year, said Marcelino Miyares, Jr., director of Mercury En Espanol.
The group will provide account planning and campaign management services for Hispanic clients, while Mercury Media will handle analytics, media management and tracking for the Hispanic campaigns. Mercury En Espanol will introduce campaigns that include online, phone and mobile advertising components as well, Miyares said.
Mercury has seen steady growth in clients running Spanish ad campaigns. Existing Mercury clients started crossing over to the Hispanic market in 2008, when the company first ventured into the arena, Miyares said. The agency’s client roster, which has grown from two to twelve, includes Conair, InStyler, Safeway Insurance, Magic Bullet and Youthology.
At least six more clients, including existing Mercury clients, are expected to test the Spanish-language advertising realm in the second half of this year, Miyares said.
Last year, Hispanics placed almost 12 million orders using the phone, Internet or mail. Miyares sees plenty of room for growth in Spanish language ad campaigns. Hispanics comprise 15 to 16% of the population, but only 4% of media budgets are for ads in Spanish, he said.
“I have an operating mantra,” Miyares said. “You’ve gone to market in English. Now it’s time to go to mercado.”
