Q Communications Group

We were thrilled to be a part of the inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix race that took place in Austin on Nov. 18. We were especially thrilled to enjoy the view from one of the suites! :)

By: Gretel Perera, Q Communications Group

As the Presidential elections come to a close, many of us are giving a sigh of relief. Now we can all move on with our lives without the constant barrage of election news coverage, no more enduring endless negative attack ads during our favorite TV shows and no more unfriending Friends on Facebook or Twitter because of their political rants.

But before we close this political chapter, it is important to take a closer look at the real winner in these elections. The numbers show that it wasn’t Obama or Romney, but instead: social media. There is no doubt the 2012 election was the first “social” presidential election ever, with record-breaking stats throughout the entire process. Every major political event seemed to out beat the other with more social media engagement, especially on Twitter. Millions of Americans became more engaged in the political process than ever before by having conversations with people they have never met before (and probably never will) through the virtual world of Twitter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Creativity was at an all-time high, with the fight for the coolest GIF, meme, image, @Twitter handle or #hashtag that would go viral and get the most retweets.

See the full blog post on the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce blog. 

We recently participated in the Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) annual conference in Houston, Texas, where Latino social media influencers gathered from across the country. Here we are with the fellow social media professionals from Austin, and with the guest speaker Maria Celeste Arraras of Telemundo.  

We were proud to host the Public Relations Roundtable at the Tri-County Summit from the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Here is a picture of Gretel with fellow Social Media Ambassadors. You can read more about this day here: http://bit.ly/RFaWOG

ABC News President Ben Sherwood (from left), Univision Networks President Cesar Conde and Univision News President Isaac Lee announced the joint venture between ABC News and Univision on May 7 in New York. Source: Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC/AP

The battle is on to reach the Hispanic TV viewer. As recently reported in both the New York Times and NPR, the major TV networks are struggling to find the perfect recipe to appeal to more than 50 million Hispanics living in the U.S. From Spanish-language sports stations, to an English-language Hispanic lifestyle TV station, to an online bilingual YouTube channel – networks and production companies are realizing they can no longer ignore this lucrative market and are trying to capture the Latino viewer.

In case you haven’t been able to keep up with all the announcements, here are some of the most recent network movements:

• ABC announced a partnership with Univision to create a new English-language cable news channel targeting Hispanics.
• NBC and Telemundo have had a strong partnership for more than a decade, but during the past year NBC has been trying to determine new ways to forge closer connections with its Spanish-language sister network.
• MundoFox, a Spanish-language network, made its debut on August 13, 2012, as a result of a partnership between News Corp.’s Fox International Channels and RCN Television (Colombia).
• ESPN Deportes is ESPN’s 24-hour Spanish-language sports network.
• Fox Deportes is a Spanish-language sports network that debuted in 2010 as a joint venture between News Corporation and Fox Pan American Sports. NASCAR just announced that the Sprint Cup Series races will be broadcast in Spanish for the first time on Fox Deportes.

Interestingly enough, some production companies are betting on online TV to reach Latino viewers, such as the recent launch of the MiTu Latino lifestyle network on YouTube and the 123 Uno Dos Tres bilingual YouTube channel.

Even Sesame Street is getting in on the action by announcing the search to bring on a new Hispanic character!

While the “right” recipe for reaching Latino viewers is still being sampled, there is a certain mix of ingredients that networks need to consider before going live: language (Spanish, English or bilingual?), making that cultural connection, creating content that is relevant to a diverse population, avoiding stereotypes and – most importantly – getting corporate sponsors and advertisers on board.

It’ll be interesting to see if any of these new networks are able to uncover the perfect recipe to capture the differing tastes of the Latino viewer. Stay tuned!

By: Gretel Perera

@LaChicaQComm

This blog was also posted on the IABC Austin (International Association of Business Communicators) blog. Gretel Perera is an IABC Austin Board Member.

There was a lot of excitement at the 2012 NCLR Conference in Las Vegas this week. Between countless workshops, a bustling Expo, great speakers and entertaining networking events – there was plenty to do and learn.

However for us – two entrepreneur Latinas – there was one session that particularly stood out. One that inspired and empowered us as Latina businesswomen: the launch of The Adelante Movement, a grassroots program to provide economic empowerment to Latinas.

Founded by media mogul Nely Galán and sponsored by Coca-Cola, the movement intends to unite Latinas socially, economically and politically by providing information, support and training. During the launch event for The Adelante Movement, Nely invited three other amazing women to speak: Latina author Sandra Cisneros, businesswoman Nell Merlino and U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios.

Each of these women covered a different topic, each of them inspiring in their own way. Here are the five things that stood out as key elements Latinas should keep in mind in order to become more economically independent:

• Buy buildings, not shoes. This was Nely’s mantra based on her own experience. At one point in her life, she did not have enough money to buy shoes. Then later in her life she was able to buy some real estate that ended up making her rich. So the thought here is to invest your money more wisely on bigger things that will allow you to gain a greater profit from your investment.
• Buy from a Latina. OK, so we may be a little biased to this one…but the concept is a simple one. If we buy from each other, we are helping each other grow economically. So buy from your Latina friend who owns a flower shop, buy from your neighbor who owns a restaurant, buy from your tia who sells insurance - in sum, buy products and services from a Latina business owner.
• Create a business plan.  This advice came from Nell Merlino, a savvy businesswoman who has helped many female entrepreneurs grow their business through her organization Count Me In. Her main message was that in order to be successful, you need a plan - otherwise you will be waiting around for things to happen. You are the controller of your own destiny and by laying out a clear, concise one-pager plan, you can visualize what you want to achieve. She recommends creating a simple plan that outlines your company vision, mission, objectives, strategy and action plan. By having a short plan in place, you can also better articulate it to potential clients or investors. 
• Be the queen of your business and your life. This one also came from Nell Merlino. We all struggle with work-life balance, but we also have the power to be in charge of both. They key here is to have a clear plan in place for your business in order to be able to better manage your personal life at home. 
• You can have it all – as long as you define what “all” means to you. This was a strong message from Rosie Rios. We’ve all heard the saying “you can’t have it all.” Well, she believes that this is all relative. It really depends on what “all” means to you. If having it “all” means having a job you love, being home in time to have dinner with your family and having money to buy everything your family needs - then you can have it “all.” Just define what “all” means to you, then stay focused on making it a reality.  

In sum, it’s all about economic empowerment for Latinas. Let’s start the movement juntas!  Vivan las Latinas! 

By: Gretel Perera, @LaChicaQComm

See more pictures of the event on our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/N9XXF3

With the amazing and inspiring Nely Galan, who just launched The Adelante Movement at NCLR, a grassroots program that aims to unite and empower Latinas economically. Very inspiring and we look forward to being a part of this movement! http://theadelantemovement.com/

Las Chicas Q have arrived in Vegas for the 2012 Annual Conference! Looking forward to a great lineup of meetings, guest speakers and events today.

Welcome to our Tumblr page! Throughout this site, we will be sharing our thoughts and experiences as we embark on a new journey to build our public relations agency: Q Communications Group. Our agency has come to life through the fusion of Leslie Leal-Gauna and Gretel Perera, two seasoned Latina public relations professionals with a passion for results and creativity!

We actually met many years ago as alums of another great Hispanic PR agency and have kept in touch throughout our professional careers. The time was finally right for us to come together and join forces to start something new. And so, Q was born!

As Latinas, we not only have a personal connection with the Latino community, but have spent our entire PR careers working with the U.S. Hispanic and Latin America markets. We have worked with companies such as Dell, Statefarm, Cover Girl, Lowe’s, Visa, Wal-Mart, Lopez Foods, Denny’s, Anheuser Busch and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

We now want to bring that experience to help other companies and organizations grow their Hispanic consumer base through strategic communications and new, creative ideas.

With our specialty on the growing U.S. Hispanic community, we thought it was only appropriate to officially “launch” our agency at the upcoming NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Annual Conference. This event is taking place in Las Vegas July 7-10 and the Q team will be there! This promises to be an exciting event and the place to be for anyone working in this industry.

We will be sharing our experiences, conversations and learnings live from the conference. Be sure to Q us up for the latest - you can follow us here on Tumblr, or on Facebook and Twitter.

Nos vemos!