Direct marketer Rapp Collins
Worldwide and HispanAmerica Response Marketing on Thursday formed a
joint venture to tap the U.S. Hispanic market, using both online and offline
initiatives.
Beatriz Mallory, who was previously president of HispanAmerica Response
Marketing, has been named
CEO of the new entity, to be called simply HispanAmerica. The venture’s
headquarters will be located in New York.
The deal, the financial details of which were not disclosed, is a move to
capitalize on the growing US Hispanic population. According to Rapp
Collins, the Hispanic population is expected to be the second largest in
population (exceeding 41 million) by the end of the decade,
and its buying power will nearly triple to more than $965 billion annually.
“We will be the only single source for managing the convergence and
integration of e-marketing with direct print, broadcast, mail and
telemarketing in the Hispanic market,” says Mallory.
Rapp Collins Worldwide is part of the Omnicom Group, and it recently
formed an interactive unit called RappDigital. HispanAmerica has developed
marketing programs for clients such as Cendant Corp., Montgomery
Ward, Procter & Gamble, Bertlesmann AG, Fingerhut and telecommunications giant
SBC Communications, a client which it
shares with Rapp Collins Worldwide.