I think it is very important that AHAA is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Somehow I feel I’ve seen it grow. In 2004, only 3 years ago, Naida Saavedra and I conducted our first project in Hispanic marketing interviewing people in the agencies to understand how they saw the market was evolving and how they adapt to that change. At that time there were less than 60 agencies members of AHAA. Today there are 100.
I think the report Holly and I wrote in collaboration with Dr. Korzenny analyzing the content of TV spots was released in a good time. In that study we discussed that TV spots targeting to Hispanics are doing a good job in many senses, particularly in that they have moved away from using stereotypical representations of Hispanics, such as the typical mariachi or the salsa dancers. There is something that grabbed my attention, though. Look at the messages used by 2 of the agencies to congratulate AHAA. ¿Será posible que evitar estereotipos se pueda convertir en un estereotipo? Let’s keep our eyes open.