AHAA Honors Ford with the 2017 Marketer of the Year Award

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FAIRFAX, Va., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing announced today that Ford Motor Company is the winner of the 2017 AHAA Marketer of the Year Award. Ford joins a prestigious short list of elite brands that have received the award, including McDonald's, State Farm, Toyota, and Walmart. David Rodriguez, multicultural marketing director for Ford, will accept the award and discuss the automaker's commitment to the Hispanic and multicultural market at AHAA's 2017 Annual Conference. The session will take place on Wednesday, June 14 at 9:15 a.m. at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.

"We are honored to accept the 2017 AHAA Marketer of the Year award," said Rodriguez. "With so many vehicle options, we are proud to have earned the trust of so many Hispanic families that choose our trucks, SUV's and cars every year – it means that what we are doing is resonating and that means a lot."

To be considered for this prestigious award, companies had to demonstrate a top-down commitment to multicultural marketing and significant spending commensurate with the opportunity in marketing efforts targeting Hispanics. Ford has invested in and been committed to the Hispanic market for more than 20 years, consistently leading the category in Hispanic investment. In fact, over the last three years, Ford has topped the automotive category in Hispanic market spend with 17 percent in 2016 alone, according to Ad Insights. This has earned the company numerous accolades for their multicultural work from the U.S.H. Idea Awards, Cannes, Clio, Wave, Addy's and El Sol. In fact, Ford took home a combined 47 awards between 2015 and 2016.

"Over the last few years, Hispanics have made headlines as being top new car buyers, but for more than two decades, Ford has valued the Hispanic consumer with dedicated segment campaigns, multi-figure sponsorships and branded creative steeped in Hispanic insights – long before the hype. This is what makes Ford a leader in the automotive category and a best-in-class Hispanic partner," said AHAA Chair Linda Lane Gonzalez.

As automakers intensify their pursuit of Hispanic car buyers, the Hispanic market has long been central to Ford's marketing efforts, which also includes pivotal Latino-overlapping markets like Millennials and women. According to Viant's 2016 Hispanic American Auto Buyers report, Hispanic consumers accounted for $27.9 billion in registered new vehicle transactions in 2016, representing 11 percent of the total market – a figure that grows year to year. In 2014, Hispanic buyers delivered 96 percent of Ford's year-over-year retail sales growth, according to IHS Automotive's Polk market data unit. The success was significant enough for Ford to direct part of its launch funds in 2016 for the redesigned F-150 pickup into Hispanic media, including Fox's MundoFox channel. As part of its 360-campaign spearheaded by the recently WPP-acquired Hispanic firm Zubi Advertising, Ford was also an official partner for The Copa America Centenario soccer tournament which took place in 10 markets across the United States.

When it comes to Ford, there is more than just Hispanic marketing. Not only do they have a Ford Hispanic Network internal resource group for their corporate executives but diversity hiring practices are in place across all departments to ensure there are no gaps in customer service and there is an organic knowledge base to help make decisions about multicultural initiatives.

The AHAA Annual Conference, with a theme of Next Generation Marketing, will tackle the hottest topics in marketing today: technology, disruption, culture, creativity and content. From June 12-14 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, AHAA will bring together experts and trendsetters to discuss how powerful U.S. Hispanics are to brands, how disruption and innovation is changing the way we consume content, and how marketers must adapt, ensuring efforts are free of stereotypes and inclusive of the multicultural community. 

Speakers include Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide; Laura Desmond, former CEO of Starcom Mediavest; Alvaro Luque, president of Avocados from Mexico; Javier Delgado-Granados, group director, multicultural marketing from The Coca-Cola Company; Beatriz Rojas, senior director, multicultural marketing at Kaiser Permanente;  José Romero, general manager at Sling TV, DishLatino; Luís Martinez, director of digital marketing, Denny's; Kevin McLaughlin, the SVP of marketing for T-Mobile & MetroPCS; Ana Navarro, conservative strategist and political commentator; CNN en Español anchor Juan Carlos Lopez; Katie Manderfield, head of content, T-Brand Studio, New York Times; Adrian Williams, director of diversity and inclusion, marketing, Atlanta Braves; Sheena Quinn, director of public relations, Chicago White Sox; Kathy Schwab, senior director of marketing, Milwaukee Brewers; Lance Rios, president & founder, Being Latino, Inc.; Rene Sánchez, vice president, client strategy & insights, Culturati; John Santiago, founder and CEO of digital advertising agency M8; Juan Ruiz, director of Hispanic insights, Mintel; Matt Krepsik, global head of MROI products, Vanessa Strain, vice president, multicultural growth & strategy, and Michelle Zweig, senior vice president for media analytics, Nielsen; Vine comedian Oscar Miranda; Kay-Lani Martinez, top beauty influencer on Instagram and YouTube; and YouTube sensation Jorge Narvaez.

For more information, please visit http://ahaa.org and follow all conference chatter on Twitter using the @ahaa handle and hashtag #ahaanextgen.

About AHAA
Founded in 1996, AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing is the national trade organization of all marketing, communications and media firms with trusted Hispanic expertise.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 202,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide, the company's core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks and SUVs, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. To expand its business model, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities with investments in electrification, autonomy and mobility. Ford provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products and services, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

SOURCE AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing

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