The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) has announced the formation of a new, wide ranging alliance designed to create a powerful, unified voice for the advancement of multicultural marketing.
The initiative is called the Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM). Its goal is to bring together senior thought leaders from the African-American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBT and general market communities to create a united blueprint for the evolution of multicultural and diverse-segment marketing in America.
“As the marketplace becomes increasingly diverse, the ANA recognizes that the strategic evolution of multicultural marketing becomes even more important to brands,” said Bob Liodice, ANA president-CEO. “To facilitate and accelerate that change, ANA invites the marketing community to come together to lead the pursuit of opportunities and to address the challenges before us. Our strategic intent is to reach out to all constituencies in order to collectively make a difference in realizing the potential of multicultural marketing.”
This goal is to position AIMM as the leading voice in multicultural and inclusive marketing, as well as diversity, and engage senior marketing executives throughout the country in the multicultural conversation. Work initiated by AIMM is intended to:
- Share multicultural marketing examples through unique and distinctive forums
- Drive ROI, primarily through marketing effectiveness and segment relevance
- Provide leadership alignment and collaboration
- Develop unique, growth-focused insights through collaborative research and through the creation of the multicultural marketing knowledge center
- Create alternative and distinguished approaches to addressing industry diversity
- Disseminate best practices of multicultural and diverse demographic segments through a robust communications program
- Create unique marketplace experiences that provide compelling insights into the multicultural arena
AIMM will be co-chaired by Liodice, Antonio Lucio, CMO at Hewlett Packard, and Michael Lacorazza, EVP, Brand and Advertising-Integrated Marketing at Wells Fargo. Board members will include Gilbert Dávila and Lisette Arsuaga, co-presidents at Dávila Multicultural Insights (DMI), and Carlos Santiago, president of Santiago Solutions Group (SSG).
“At Wells Fargo, we are about reinventing marketing, keeping our customer at the center of everything we do, and this directly aligns with the goal of AIMM,” said Lacorazza. “We look forward to working together to advance multicultural marketing as a fresh voice in the industry.”
Dávila, who also serves as chairman of the ANA’s Multicultural Committee, added: “ANA will create a think tank that will lead an unprecedented evolution of multicultural marketing and diversity through its vision and leadership of an industry wide coalition that will provide distinctive value added to the entire marketplace.”
AIMM members committed to date include: the AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic marketing, representing over 100 Hispanic-focused companies and marketing agencies, Anheuser-Busch, Burrell Communications, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, IW Group, Kaiser Permanente, Kellogg, López Negrete Communications, NBC Universal, OMD, Procter & Gamble, Target 10, Univision, Video Advertising Bureau, and Wells Fargo.
Membership in AIMM for its first year will be limited and by invitation only.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More