Brands Compete in Second Billboard Latin Music Marketing Awards

For the second year, the Billboard Latin Music Marketing Awards will recognize the growing importance of consumer brands and marketers in the promotion and marketing of Latin music at the Billboard Latin Music Conference, presented by State Farm. Tomorrow evening, April 24, Billboard will recognize and honor the year’s best advertising, branding and sponsorship campaigns that use Latin artists and their songs.

Here are snapshots of this year’s finalists.

BEST PRINT CAMPAIGN
Brand: Dr Pepper
Agency: Lopez Negrete Communications
Campaign: Vida 23
Artist: Pitbull
Labels: Mr. 305, Polo Grounds, Sony Music
The print component of Dr Pepper’s multimedia Vida 23 campaign was a key part of the overall marketing effort.

Brand: Western Union
Agencies: Moroch Partners, Bromley Communications
Campaign: Love in Any Language
Artist: Daddy Yankee
Label: El Cartel Records
A strong online presence and innovative contests, coupled with traditional media and direct artist contact, made this a winner for Western Union’s Mother’s Day promotion. The brand reported 260,000 visits to the contest platform in four weeks.

Brand: Grito Canalla
Agency: Unusual Communication
Campaign: Acuérdate de Este Canalla
Artist: Grito Canalla
Label: Kronborg Records
Spanish group Grito Canalla launched a clever, innovative campaign in support of its debut album that included eye-catching printed material.

BEST ONLINE/SOCIAL CAMPAIGN
Brand: Coca-Cola
Agency: Laverde Pro
Campaign: Esta Noche Seremos Más
Artist: Chino & Nacho
Label: Universal Music Latin Entertainment
Venezuelan duo Chino & Nacho penned “Seremos Más” specifically for Coca-Cola’s “Esta Noche Seremos Más” campaign. The track topped the charts in Argentina, Chile and Ecuador, and its online promotion was supported by personal appearances from the duo, raising brand awareness in the teen market.

Brand: Heineke
Agency: Nevarez Communications
Campaign: Noches Latin Grammy
Artists: Gocho, Alexis & Fido, Siete, DJ Candy Boy
Labels: various
A series of South Florida concert events leading up to the Latin Grammy Awards featured live performances by rising artists from all genres. As part of the campaign, fans could compete to win a “green carpet” experience for two at the Latin Grammys.

Brand: Time Warner Cable
Agencies: Edelman, Castells & -Asociados, Creative Artists Agency
Campaign: El Reto Fast Five-The Time Warner Cable Hispanic -Heritage Month Campaign
Artist: Don Omar
Label: Universal Music Latin Entertainment
Don Omar was the face of this 360 integrated marketing campaign timed around Hispanic Heritage Month. The program, promoting Time Warner Cable’s Movies on Demand channel, capitalized on Omar’s vast social network appeal and his appearance in the film Fast Five. It included a three-city concert tour sponsored by Time Warner Cable and powered by a Facebook contest.

BEST TOUR SPONSORSHIP
Brand: 5 Gum
Agency: Cardenas Marketing Network
Campaign: 5 Gum/Camila’s Dejarte De Amar Tour
Artist: Camila
Label: Sony Music Latin
Camila’s 10-stop tour included a series of fan-driven actions, beginning with contests at retailers in five cities that allowed fans to compete for concert tickets and exclusive tour merchandise. More than 54,000 consumers were reached through one-on-one interactions and the program yielded more than 55 million impressions.

Brand: MetroPCS
Agency: Richards Group
Campaign: MetroPCS and -Huawei Present The Enrique Iglesias -Euphoria Tour
Artist: Enrique Iglesias
Labels: Universal Music Latin -Entertainment, Republic
In an effort to target young, Hispanic fans, MetroPCS partnered with AEG Live to launch its new Huawei phone. MetroPCS customers were given exclusive online access to Enrique Iglesias and his social media content. Every Facebook and Twitter post from Iglesias featured the tag line “Sent via my MetroPCS Huawei phone.” This was MetroPCS’ first national sponsorship.

Brand: Post Honey Bunches of Oats
Agency: MV42
Campaign: Post Honey Bunches of Oats
Artist: Jencarlos Canela
Label: Bullseye
Jencarlos Canela was the face of Post Honey’s “Let’s Think Positive” campaign oriented to Latinas and wrote an inspirational song that was used in a music video, behind-the-scenes footage and in-show integrations, all made available through a Facebook fan site. In addition, the brand distributed 4 million specially marked bilingual cereal boxes that featured Canela and the chance to win VIP seats at a concert in Miami.

BEST TV CAMPAIGN
Brand: Target
Agency: Grupo Gallegos
Campaign: Target Fall Campaign-Latin Indie Music Breaks Through
Artists: Ximena Sariñana, Koko, the Pinker Tones, the Plastics Revolution
Labels: various
Target turned to Latin indie music for its seven-spot fall campaign. Grupo Gallegos used music-integration platform MuuseMe.com to preselect more than 100 emerging acts, then picked four artists and songs-in English and Spanish-that aligned with Target and its campaign message.

Brand: AT&T
Agency: Bravo
Campaign: Paulina Rubio AT&T BlackBerry 4G Campaign
Artist: Paulina Rubio
Label: Universal Music Latin Entertainment
AT&T launched its new BlackBerry phone using “Me Gustas Tanto,” the first single from Paulina Rubio’s new album, Brava! The spot featured Rubio singing her track, launched in tandem with her album.

Brand: Dr Pepper
Agency: Lopez Negrete Communication
Campaign: Vida 23
Artist: Pitbull
Labels: Mr. 305, Polo Grounds, Sony Music
The Spanish-language TV spot for the Vida 23 campaign and its general-market adaptation were launched with Pitbull’s Spanish-language album, Armando. The spots feature Pitbull singing “Vida 23,” the song he penned for the campaign and which appears on his album. ••••