Jennifer Lopez may be the most powerful Hispanic in the entertainment business. Selling more than 75 million records and appearing in films that have grossed more than $2 billion can do that for a person. Recently, J.Lo has been taking her star power over to the business world. 

Her latest title is as the majority owner of a new chain of 15 cell phone stores aimed directly at Latinos, Variety reports. Viva Movil will sell Verizon phones and services, with the first retail outpost opening in New York on June 15.

Other cities with large Latino populations will follow after that. This isn't just another brand ambassador gig for Lopez; she’s the majority owner and chief creative officer. No stranger to cozying up to brands, Lopez will be even busier than usual as she also signed on as chief creative officer of Nuvo TV, a new English-language TV network targeted at U.S. Latinos in addition to continuing her clothing line for Kohl's.Continue reading...

“The Hispanic community is rapidly becoming the most influential voice in pop culture, business, and politics; their trendsetting impact will make or break the success of those seeking to gain brand popularity, market share and / or win the next election,” Forbes reports. 

And nothing demonstrates the cultural prowess of the demographic like the upcoming TV upfronts, broadcasters' annual dog-and-pony show where networks tout their upcoming lineups to advertisers. Both Univision—the No. 1 Hispanic network—and Telemundo, coming off its highest-rated January in network history, will hold upfronts on May 14. Univision’s newly rebranded UniMas, formerly TeleFutura and Galavision will also hold their upfronts that day, while Hispanic broadcaster Azteca has slated its presentation for May 13.

A step ahead of the game, Univision announced Mary Kay, MetroPCS, State Farm and Western Union as sponsors of the original web series, Arranque de Pasión, La Historia de Ela, which premiered April 1.Continue reading...

In an historic and formidable alliance formed by America's Cable Advertising Bureau, a consortium of TV networks, print, radio, digital and media brands and individuals are joining forces to educate marketers about the buying power and "the new realities" of the Black consumer market.

The CAB has pulled together a who's who of black media for its 23 charter members: BET Networks, HuffPost BlackVoices, Black Enterprise, Burrell Communications, Essence Communications, GlobalHue, Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, KJLH Radio, Johnson Publishing Company, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, Nielsen, North Star Group, National Newspaper Publishers Association, One Solution, Radio One, TV One, Interactive One, Reach Media, Steve Harvey Radio, TheGrio, The Root, The Africa Channel, UniWorld Group, Vibe Media plus Walton Isaacson to create America's first black media and marketing consortium, #INTHEBLACK.

Using a Twitter hashtag as its name is a catchier hook than the group's more SEO-friendly alternative name (Reaching Black Consumers). The initiative launched Monday with a microsite and an ad in the business section of the New York Times and trade magazines such as Adweek and Broadcasting & Cable, as well as ads across of the consortium's media member outlets. The goal, they stated, is "to encourage increased investments in the African American consumer marketplace while helping companies reach the African American audience more effectively."Continue reading...

Big-time press conferences across the globe may need to make room for two more microphones soon. Disney is reportedly in talks to launch a 24-hour Spanish-language all-news channel later this spring with Univision, in a bid to create a cable news channel for English-speaking Latinos.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Spanish TV giant and the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC and a host of other cable networks including ESPN, are developing a 24-hour, all-news, English-language channel. Univision “could use the channel to reach more acculturated viewers that advertisers prefer: Latinos who predominately speak English,” the Times reports.

The move would bolster Disney's ABC News division, which has “struggled to be more competitive and has shed hundreds of staff members from its ABC News division because the network produces only a few newscasts.” It would also give a direct line to America's booming Latino population, with roughly 50 million Americans ticking the Hispanic or Latino census box in 2010, a 43% jump up from the 2000 Census. 

Disney is also looking for multicultural growth outside the U.S. Residents of India, prepare to encounter Aladdin at 3 a.m. on your TV.Continue reading...

What to make of Fidelity International's appropriation of Chinese Cultural Revolution propaganda imagery — replacing Mao's Little Red Book and a gun, there are golf clubs and an iPad, for example — to pitch its China investment fund?

The digital campaign — generated by its Singapore office, where its agency must have made one helluva convincing pitch to equate the Chinese "consumer revolution" with the Cultural Revolution, in which an estimated 30 million people died — can be dismissed as creative expression based in ignorance. Still, it shows a surprising insensitivity to the region where the fund is based.Continue reading...

Heineken tonight launches a three-week pop-up club in New York as part of a local event marketing push to attract Hispanic hipsters (just don't call them Hispsters) and other indie culture vultures.

Featuring music, food, art, film and other events celebrating downtown Latino culture, “The Spot” is curated by Remezcla, a local Latina media guide, and located at the Openhouse Gallery in Nolita. Check out a preview below.Continue reading...

Hilton Hotels & Resorts, vying to be considered the global leader in hospitality, has developed “a tailored experience for Chinese travelers that takes its name from the Chinese word for 'welcome.'”

Beginning in August, Chinese travelers will find the Huanying program in place  at 30 Hilton properties including San Francisco, New York, Hawaii, Vancouver, London, Tokyo and Sydney.  

It’s all part of a global outreach by the world's top hotel brands as increasing numbers of tourists from mainland China join the global travel market as hotels compete for their business.

"Chinese travel is going to provide one of the great opportunities that we'll ever see in the business," said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta.Continue reading...

With Congressman Anthony Weiner's Twitter scandal at the top of the political news cycle, the social messaging service which allows you to tell people you've never met that you just relieved your bladder is more popular than ever. And there's new data to prove it. 

The Pew Research Center's Pew Internet and American Life Project (Pewternet?) just updated its data on Twitter usage. It's worth a read for the casually curious, and an absolute requirement for marketers and brand strategists.

Most of all, the results should most remind everyone that Twitter users are not at all representative of larger population.Continue reading...