The new internal Univision Agency, announced by the company on
Monday, will not compete with its ad clients' media and creative agencies, but
will be a resource for the existing Univision client development and agency
development groups as they work in conjunction with those clients and agencies,
says Jessica Rodriguez, executive VP for program scheduling and promotions.
Rodriguez, who spearheaded the formation of the agency, says
while most of its functions will be to create a centralized approach across
Univision Communications' two broadcast networks, 12 cable networks, 62 local
TV stations and 70 radio stations, it will also provide any research, creative
or planning help the developments teams need as they work with clients and
their agencies on creating ad packages across Univision media platforms.
The agency will also work together with the Univision ad sales
teams for all of its properties to help create branded entertainment
opportunities that can be presented to clients.
Traditionally, the Univision broadcast and cable
networks, local TV and radio stations have unilaterally created their own on-
air promotions and marketing events in a siloed manner, but the new agency will
work with all the media platforms to create a unified look and approach. It
will also facilitate cross-platform promotional efforts.
"We want to be more collaborative with our media properties
at the local level to help them reach their goals," Rodriguez says. "And we
want to expand the types of promotion we do on-air, not just promoting
individual shows on each platform."
Rodriguez says the media-planning group that was created to
work as part of the new agency will help create plans for each of the platforms
in a centralized manner. Heading the planning group is Silvia Garcia, who
recently joined Univision after spending the past 17 years with Discovery
Networks International.
Overseeing the overall day-to-day operation of Univision
Agency will be senior VP Joni Fernandez, who will report to Rodriguez.
"We want the agency to be a hub that can be a centralized
place that can offer research and creative assistance throughout the company,"
Rodriguez says.
The official stated responsibilities of the agency include:
- Creating consistent promotional messaging during commercial
breaks across all Univision platforms
- Prioritizing promotional materials and inventory
- Developing research and creative that the sales and development teams can share
with clients
- Initiating cross-platform initiatives
Rodriguez says when fully staffed, the agency will include
65 employees, some of whom are already on board and others to be hired over the
next few months.
"We are going to have separate brand managers for various
programming segments like novelas, news, entertainment and sports, and they
will be responsible for the strategy and executing of creative and promotional
activities for each of those areas," Rodriguez says. "This will enable us to
customize our promotional assets. It will not just include promotion for
national events, but we will tailor these promotions to individual [TV and
radio] markets. The thinking is that more customized and tailored promotion
locally will help draw in more audiences at that level."
Rodriguez says she is in the process of
organizing teams for each segment and hiring brand managers. That process
should be completed by sometime in February and the entire agency should be
fully staffed by March or April.
