VisualCV

Leveraged journalism skills, personal care products and online knowledge to create a beauty blog that would be of interest to young women, particularly Latinas.  Maximized social media and created relationships with other bloggers to help blog go from 130 unique visitors per month in July to over 900 in December 2009.

As a consultant, I helped public relations agencies such as Ketchum, Euro RSCG Magnet and Cohn & Wolfe to incorporate Hispanic marketing strategies into existing communications programs.  I also managed budgets and implemented tactics that ranged from writing press materials and reviewing translations, to identifying spokespeople and grassroots events and message training in Spanish.  I also conducted media relations and helped clients like the Paris Convention & Visitors Bureau, Canned Food Alliance and Dr Pepper to be featured in outlets such as Vanidades, Men’s Health en Español, Univision’s “Despierta America,” and leading newspapers such as La Opinion, El Diario La Prensa and El Nuevo Herald.

As Head of Hispanic, I revived the agency’s capabilities in this area and grew the practice to include a total of four clients (one of which expanded to several projects) in a one-year period.  I also traveled frequently to other H&K agencies to educate staff on the Hispanic market and collaborate in new business presentations.  On one occasion, my Hispanic capabilities tipped the scale in our favor to win a one-year mainstream program from Ubisoft, which I eventually led.  In addition to my Hispanic responsibilities, I managed a team of six and was day-to-day counsel for clients like Beiersdorf, Ubisoft and The Warwick New York Hotel on mainstream, integrated programs as well as led travel and tourism and consumer RFPs for the Marcomms Division.  Lastly, I worked with division head and other vice presidents to manage staff productivity levels and yearly reviews. 

As an Axis representative and Weber Shandwick’s strategic counselor on all things Hispanic, I supported various New York teams and their clients—such as Unilever’s Sunsilk and Caress and the LIFE Foundation—on highly creative, integrated campaigns.  This included the launch of the first ever online novela, which required me to work closely with Univision and the Caress brand team to promote a sweepstakes, drive traffic for each episode and conduct a multi-level media relations campaign.  As a result of my media relations program, I helped increase sweepstakes participation by 300 percent, generate fifty million media impressions within two months and obtain additional projects from Unilever.  I also managed a team of four to launch the latest ABSOLUT (an Axis client) flavor within the Hispanic market.  As the PR lead, I selected, secured and managed Colombian artist, Fonseca, and thanks to my national and local media relations campaign, it became one of the most talked about launches of the year by Hispanic media.

As the East Coast Hispanic division specialist, I managed and executed highly successful Hispanic and urban grassroots and media relations programs for IBM, Banco Popular, Heineken and Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Care line that increased the visibility of the Hispanic division internally.  As a one-woman team, I provided clients with strategic counsel and guidance, budget management and tactical execution that surpassed all programs’ expectations.  Program executions included grassroots activities, sponsorships, launch and red carpet events and seminars as well as media relations activities that reached trade, consumer and entertainment influentials.

Was the main PR driver of Procter & Gamble’s Crest Healthy Smiles 2010 campaign--a multi-year, multi-million dollar program that impacted the oral health of underserved children.  Leading a team of four, I managed stakeholder relationships, the promotion of dental health clinics and educational platform at the grassroots and media relations (mainstream, ethnic) levels as well as the content development of a bilingual website and the program’s advisory committee’s quarterly meetings.  As the PR gatekeeper, I also wrote all press materials, speeches, presentations and other documents to promote the program’s success internally at Crest.  Under my PR leadership, the program became highly recognized in underserved communities, which helped to reach millions of children within three years, and helped the program become a case study to follow.

Conducted media relations activities that were instrumental in my team's win of a Silver Anvil and a final PR Week nomination for the Allergies en Español Campaign for Claritin in the spring of 1996 as well as a PR Week Awards nomination for the Secretary of Tourism of Mexico in the spring of 1999.  Responsibilities included the development of bilingual press materials, media tours/fam trips and ongoing pitching to Hispanic and travel reporters that led to placements in leading publications.  I also negotiated sponsorships at key Hispanic events and executed corresponding logistics as well as leveraged my journalism skills to produce quarterly video reports and newsletters.