NEW YORK, April 14 /PRNewswire/ — Fueled by a healthy outlook for continued sales growth in the U.S. Hispanic market, Adrenalina, a leading advertising agency that is part of the MDC Partners network, is infusing its client offerings to include retail and shopper insight marketing.

Touting the retail store as a good way to effectively connect a brand and its message with Hispanic shoppers, the ad agency said today it will venture into the retail promotions arena with its eyes on targeting and winning Latino consumers via store shelves — not just with ads.

“Instead of focusing solely on pre-purchase awareness, we want to create interactions at the purchase and post-purchase stages when experiences are made between brands and consumers,” said Manuel Wernicky, president, chief ideas officer and managing partner, Adrenalina. “With today’s economic crisis, more marketers are looking to reach consumers with in-store brand messages that are two feet away not two miles away, where they’ll passively watch ads on TV.”

The nation’s 45 million Hispanics outspend non-Hispanics on consumer-packaged goods (CPGs) by 13 percent, spending $34 billion annually, per Information Resources Inc. (IRI), Chicago, with Hispanic spending on CPGs projected to jump 53 percent to $52 billion by 2015.

“The power and influence of Hispanic consumers isn’t waning, it’s ever-increasing and set on an unstoppable growth trajectory,” said Wernicky. “Marketers who want their brands to successfully connect with this consumer-confident, diverse buying group $1 trillion strong, will seek and embrace strategies that shape shopper experiences not just offer catchy taglines.”

Joining Adrenalina to build and raise the profile of the agency’s retail marketing business are seasoned pros Jules Aspesi, who assumes the role of new business director, and Michelle Maldonado, who has been named vice president of operations and public relations.

Both executive posts will report to Wernicky and are the latest in a string of new hires at the agency, which announced plans in April to create as many as 12 new jobs in key creative and branding positions throughout 2009.

Aspesi will be responsible for developing and executing the agency’s consumer promotional programs and strategies aimed at driving brand retail sales in the store, at the aisle and at the shelf and for supporting the marketing plans and targeted initiatives of existing and prospective clients. Her appointment is effective June 1.

Aspesi comes to Adrenalina from Hasbro, Pawtucket, R.I., where she most recently served as a consulting senior marketing manager for the toymaker’s global consumer promotions team. Prior to that, she worked as account director at the Omnicom Group’s Alcone Marketing Group, Darien Conn., overseeing all promotional aspects of Heineken USA’s Hispanic brands via Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma (CCM). In this role, she is credited for the seamless management and mounting of key Hispanic sponsorships for the Tecate brand, including the multi-city soccer series “Futbol Tecate 2008″ and the TV awards show “Tecate Premios Deportes 2008″ via Univision.

Aspesi brings 15 years of industry experience to Adrenalina with a career that spans both agency and brand management stints at leading ad and promotional shops including The Vidal Partnership, New York, and the Omnicom Group’s Tracy Locke Partnership, Wilton, Conn., among others. She also has worked with blue-chip, multicultural and global brands and clients such as: Diageo (Ballantine’s, Johnny Walker), Domecq Importers (Beefeater Gin, Courvoisier Cognac, Tequila Sauza and others), Sara Lee (coffee brands), Snapple, Pepsi, Unilever, Kraft and Home Depot (Bostitch).

In her new role as VP of operations and public relations, Maldonado will oversee the agency’s media relations team to create strategic, intimate emotions about a brand that are designed to make lasting impressions with shoppers in the store. “The brand-consumer approach at the retail level is more personal and provides an effective alternative to the traditional TV or radio spot when you only have 30 seconds to communicate a message,” said Wernicky.

Maldonado is a former VP and Hispanic marketing director of Emanate, New York, where she led public relations and marketing efforts for Bank of America. Prior to this, she directed the public relations division of WingLatino/Grey Global Group, managing Hispanic efforts for clients and brands including Intel, IBM, Allianz Life Insurance, Dulcolax (Boehringer-Ingelheim), Slim-Fast Foods Inc. and McNeil Pharmaceuticals.

She also has held public relations posts at Edelman, serving clients including Kraft, Schering-Plough, Ortho-McNeil, Georgia-Pacific and Johnson & Johnson; and at The Bravo Group, working with brands and clients such as Post Cereals, Oscar Mayer, Pfizer, U.S. Army, U.S. Postal Service and Whitehall-Robins.

Adrenalina is boosting the retail promotional marketing and public relations side of its operations to provide clients with through-the-line brand experiences and emotions. The move is part of an ambitious push to enhance the shop’s client-centric strategy one year ahead of the 2010 U.S. Census when one in six Americans will be Hispanic.

Moreover, Hispanics’ CPG spending and behavioral shopping habits are key reasons why Latinos remain a lucrative consumer target even in a tightening economy. According to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the shopping habits of Hispanic consumers differ from general market shoppers in a number of ways, including:

• Hispanics shop on average 26 times a month for groceries, or just over three times the 8.8 trips to the store made by general market consumers;
• Latino households spend an average of $133 per week on grocery items, or one-third (32 percent) more than the $91 spent by non-Hispanic families;
• Large Hispanic families tend to eat out less and instead spend their time and money preparing traditional ethnic meals at home using fresh produce, meats and bakery items, compared to non-Hispanic households who typically prefer ready-made or frozen foods that are quick and easy to prepare;
• Hispanic shoppers value stores that cater to them culturally and offer authentic Latino foods and brands, bilingual packaging and store signage as well as employees who speak Spanish;
• More than 60 percent of Hispanic shoppers rely on direct mail grocery fliers to plan their shopping trips, compared to 38 percent of general market consumers; Yet, coupon use among Latinos is significantly lower than among mainstream shoppers;
• Hispanics are much more likely to shop multiple retail channels for foods and consumer goods than non-Latinos, with the supermarket serving as the primary store for an overwhelming (94 percent) of Hispanics. Still, most also frequently visit warehouse stores, discount superstores, drug stores and neighborhood ethnic food stores, butcher shops, bakeries and mom-and-pop shops likely to stock shelves with foods and staples from their homelands;

Additionally, brand/product purchase decisions among Hispanics are more likely to be influenced by in-store promotions and advertising with 34 percent likely to be influenced by in-store ads and coupons compared to 14 percent of all shoppers, according to a TNS Hispanic Shopper 360 study of 1,500 Latino consumers. Thirty-four percent of Hispanic shoppers also said they are influenced by in-store price reductions compared to 22 percent of non-Hispanics.

For more information about Adrenalina, send an email to: news@getadrenalina.com.

About Adrenalina

Like the Spanish word for adrenaline, which is a hormone generated in the human body when we experience emotions, the New York-based Adrenalina creates ideas that provoke engagement, experience and emotion between brands and consumers. The agency specializes in media agnostic ideas, breakthrough advertising, grassroots and retail promotional marketing, and digital innovation. Adrenalina is a minority-owned and managed business.

About MDC Partners

MDC Partners is a leading provider of marketing communications services to clients in North America, Europe and Latin America. Through its partnership of entrepreneurial firms it provides advertising, specialized communications and consulting services to leading brands. MDC Partners’ philosophy emphasizes the utilization of strategy and creativity to drive growth for its clients. “MDC Partners is the Place Where Great Talent Lives.” MDC Partners Class A shares are publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “MDCA” and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “MDZA.”

Monster Energy Drink enters into a three year sponsorship of Fiesta Atlanta through 2011

ATLANTA, March 13 /PRNewswire/ — Lanza Group, LLC, Atlanta’s leading Hispanic marketing, PR & events firm, today proudly announced that Monster Energy Drink(R) will be the official energy drink sponsor for Fiesta Atlanta from 2009 through 2011. Fiesta Atlanta is an outdoor Cinco de Mayo festival celebrating Latino culture, music and food. The 3rd annual Fiesta Atlanta event will take place on Sunday, May 3, 2009 from 10 AM to 7 PM at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.

Monster has been a founding sponsor of Fiesta Atlanta since its inception in 2007. “Fiesta Atlanta is one of our favorite stops on our festival/event circuit and has quickly grown to be one of the premier Latin events in the country,” said Paul Mendoza, representative for Monster Energy Drink. Last year’s event brought more than 40,000 attendees of all ages.

“We’re really excited that Monster Energy Drink(R) will be joining us for the next three years as our official energy drink sponsor,” said Ralph E. Herrera, President of Lanza Group, LLC. “Their presence the last couple of years has helped us to educate and inform our attendees and we look forward to the same commitment in the years to come.”

Fiesta Atlanta ‘09 events include continuous live performances by national and local artists, a children’s stage, an artist’s market, vendor booths offering free product samples, and authentic Latino foods. For more information about Fiesta Atlanta ‘09, contact Cynthia Vergara at (404) 350-0200 or cvergara@lanzagroup.com or visit www.fiestaatlanta.com.

ABOUT LANZA GROUP

Lanza Group, LLC is Atlanta’s leading Hispanic marketing, PR and Events firm. Lanza Group provides a full-line of bilingual & bicultural services including Atlanta’s top Hispanic events: Fiesta Atlanta, Fiesta Georgia and HABLA – Hispanic Achievement & Business Leadership Awards. Lanza Group’s President, Ralph E. Herrera was named “Businessman of the Year” by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2008. For more information about Lanza Group visit http://www.LanzaGroup.com

ABOUT MONSTER ENERGY(R)

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it Supermoto, MotoGP, MX, Road Racing, Off -road, FMX, Skate, MTB, Off -road, Surf, Snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo -Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, the new Monster/fruit juice hybrid called M -80 and the ground -breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream supercharged with our Monster Energy blend. On the Net at www.monsterenergy.com

The following is a beautiful story of a community coming together to help the Latino community which is a big part of the wine making industry of Napa, CA.

Dear St. Nick: Thank you for taking this last-minute request. Since this newspaper is being distributed on Christmas Eve, it might not be too late to ask for a few gifts for St. Helena.

You’ve been good to St. Helena in the past, and you really shouldn’t feel obligated to give even more, but it would be great of you to pull a few more gifts out of that bag of yours to help St. Helena through 2009.

For example:

1. Shop owners, managers and customers working together with the Chamber of Commerce to help boost local businesses, regardless of whether they are local-serving or tourist-serving.

2. Residents, politicians, police, volunteer firefighters and nonprofit agencies working together to ensure the health and safety of all St. Helenans, young and old, Anglo and Latino, native and newcomer.

3. City, county, state and federal agencies working together with the general public to make sure shrinking public resources are collected fairly and used wisely, on community projects, big and small.

4. School officials from St. Helena, Pope Valley, Howell Mountain and Napa working together to make sure all schools are properly and fairly funded.

5. City councilmembers, planning commissioners, general plan committee members and city staff working together to chart the best possible future for St. Helena residents.

6. City and county public works and transportation officials working together to find solutions to local traffic, commuter and tourist-travel problems.

7. Wine, tourism and business interests working together to retain and perhaps grow Napa Valley’s share of visitor-related income.

8. Service clubs, nonprofit agencies and individual donors working together with agencies like the Community Foundation of Napa Valley to connect givers with those whose need is the greatest.

9. Vintners, growers, farmers and environmentalists working together to ensure that the Napa Valley retains is agricultural integrity and its environmental beauty.

10.     The people of this great area working together to discuss and debate ways to make a more perfect union among workers, employers, government and nonprofits.

One more thing, St. Nick. Please remember the hundreds of amazing community volunteers who always find a way to work together in a spirit of mutual cooperation. It would be great if each volunteer could be recognized with a little stocking stuffer this year.