Lopez Negrete Communications

Lopez Negrete Communications is a Hispanic marketing and public relations agency that says it's "where Hispanics are made to feel at home with Corporate America." [1] Lopez Negrete was founded in 1985 and, according to a January 2005 press release, has "billings totaling approximately $150 million (projected year-end 2005) and ... over 150 employees." [2] In an October 2006 article, Advertising Age reported that Lopez Negrete is "the seventh-largest Hispanic agency" in the United States. [3]

Practice Areas

The firm offers creative, media (advertising) planning and buying, account management, public relations, and promotions / events services. [4]

In September 2005, Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter reported that Lopez Negrete was adding "a direct marketing practice to handle direct mail, broadcast, telemarketing, digital and alternative media. Alex Lopez Negrete, president/CEO, acknowledged direct marketing to Hispanics is in its infancy, but said the practice is growing steadily. He sees relatively few shops handling the work. The firm points to a recent Direct Marketing Association study that found 66 percent of Hispanics are open to reading their advertising mail." [5]

Wal-Mercado of the 21st Century

"Wal-Mart Stores accounts for 65% of Latino music sold in the U.S. -- more than double the giant retailer's market share in the general market," Advertising Age reported in October 2006. "Now, it wants to get even better at marketing to Hispanics." [6]

The plan involves "revamping hundreds of stores during the next two years," according to Simon El Hage of Lopez Negrete, which has been Wal-Mart's "Hispanic agency of record" for 12 years. Lopez Negrete "is leading the effort to develop Wal-Mart's 21st-century Hispanic store model." A Houston, Texas, prototype store features a larger "Hispanic-oriented dry grocery" and an in-store bakery, run by "an outside Hispanic operator." El Hage said, "Because the general-market population is aging, guess who's going into rural America today? Latinos. So the new rural format for Wal-Mart will also have to accommodate the new Latino." [7]

Clients

From the firm's website and media reports: [8] [9]

• Azteca Milling
• Bank of America

• LNC
• Microsoft
• Reliant Energy
• Shell
• Sonic
• Tyson

• Wal-Mart Stores
• NBC Universal Pictures Group
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group
• MillerCoors (Miller LIte)
• Kraft Foods (Kraft Singles)

Personnel

From the firm's website: [10]

• Alex Lopez Negrete - president, CEO, chief creative officer
• Cathy Lopez Negrete - executive vice-president, CFO
• Howard Brown - vice president, GM

• Luis Gonzalez - creative director

• Jim Irvine - senior director of media strategy
• Javier Gonzalez-Herba - vice-president, creative director

• Adalis Arroyo - group account director
• Marisol Cruz - group account director

Contact Information

Lopez Negrete
3336 Richmond Ave.
Suite 200
Houston, Texas 77098

Website: http://www.lopeznegrete.com/home.htm
Tel: (713) 877-8777
Fax: (713) 877-8796

External links

• Jack Neff, "Wal-Mart Retools Stores With Hispanics in Mind: Using Music as Example, Retailer Looks to Master Latino Merchandising," Advertising Age, October 2, 2006.

• Laurel Wentz, http://adage.com/hispanic/article?article_id=137083, Advertising Age, June 8, 2009.