Leading Hispanic Communications Company, Puerto Rico's GFR Media, To Launch Free Multimedia Platform For Young Urban Latinos

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- GFR Media, the leading communications media company in Puerto Rico and publisher of the highest circulation Hispanic newspaper in the U.S., El Nuevo Dia, today announced the launch of Indice – an innovative, free multimedia platform – to debut in October.

Indice, led by a highly experienced editorial and sales staff, will combine a lively print product, social media connections, a branded website, as well as targeted distribution, marketing and promotion teams across Puerto Rico's high-traffic public spaces.  Indice street teams will also offer branding opportunities for advertising clients to display their consumer messages, establishing a new outdoor advertising model for the Puerto Rican market.

Indice's target user is the young, urban (18–44) Latin consumer seeking concise & hip content. Potential market size in Puerto Rico alone is over 900,000 consumers out of the island's population of 3.9 million.  Joining GFR Media's successful brands El Nuevo Dia & Primera Hora, Indice's social and digital media elements play to the well- documented heavy social and mobile usage among young Latino consumers.  El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora currently rank as the fifth and seventh "most social" daily publications in the United States, based on Facebook fans and Twitter followers who number, respectively, more than 626,000 and 420,000. In the case of El Nuevo Dia, its social fan base is outranked only by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.  Demonstrating the powerful appeal of GFR Media's brand beyond their island home, more than 35 percent of each publication's Facebook fans are located in the mainland U.S.

"Indice is a game changer, offering a new information approach to its readers and innovative and creative ways for advertisers to promote their products," said the Chief Executive Officer of GFR Media, Maria Eugenia Ferre Rangel in making today's announcement.  Ms. Ferre Rangel noted that Indice will launch with a daily, Monday–to–Friday print circulation of up to 130,000 that will cover the Metropolitan Area and main urban centers of Puerto Rico.  It will have a team of more than 100 people, including a dedicated sales and marketing force that will also count on the support of the sales force of GFR Media, comprised of 170 professionals.

"There is an audience that is eager to receive information in an easy and entertaining way.  Our new multimedia platform is an alternative for that modern, urban reader. More than a traditional newspaper, Indice is an innovative and creative contact platform," stated Loren Ferre Rangel, the new Indice's General Manager. "For advertisers, Indice addresses their search for flexibility when considering concepts, sizes and design in their campaigns. Not limited to web and print ads, clients can benefit from our direct distribution strategy, with street teams that can offer product samples directly to consumers," she added.

Veteran El Nuevo Dia journalist David Colon was named Editor of Indice, with Crystal Diaz appointed as Associate Marketing Director, and Lourdes Vidal as Sales Manager. The creation of Indice was led by a team of GFR Media professionals working together with experts specializing in free newspapers and new platforms.

"The continued strength and robust circulations of our core brands – El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora – in addition to our audience embracing complementary social media vehicles – reinforces GFR Media's commitment to the print medium and our determination to invest in Puerto Rico across multiple media platforms," said GFR CEO Maria Eugenia Ferre Rangel.  "We enjoy the luxury of operating in a marketplace where consumers, as in other centers of international media, maintain their affection for print while also enjoying the immediacy of digital."

GFR Media is the leading communications media company and owners of El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora newspapers, as well as the most visited websites in the Island: elnuevodia.com, and primerahora.com, which have combined pages views of 115,570,303 and 22,761,912 visits (reporting period from 8-1-12 to 8-31-12).

SOURCE GFR Media