DMA to Honor Chiqui Cartagena and Lexicon at 14th Annual DMA Directo Days Conference, Apr. 10-11

April 3, 2007 — The DMA Directo: Council for Hispanic Marketing will honor Chiqui Cartagena, director for multicultural marketing at Meredith Integrated Marketing, with its Hispanic Direct Marketing Professional of the Year Award, and Lexicon with its Excellence in Hispanic Direct Marketing Corporate Award. Both awards will be presented on Tuesday, April 10, during the 14th Annual DMA Directo Days Conference, taking place April 10-11, at the New York Marriott Marquis.

DMA’s Hispanic Direct Marketing Professional of the Year Award honors an individual who has made significant contributions to direct marketing by targeting the Hispanic segment. DMA’s Excellence in Hispanic Direct Marketing Corporate Award recognizes a company that successfully reaches the US Hispanic market using the direct marketing approach.

Direct Marketing Professional of the Year Award

Chiqui Cartagena is a Hispanic media pioneer with over 20 years’ experience developing, launching, and running some of America’s most successful Spanish-language consumer magazines, including People en Español, and direct marketing programs such as Club Música Latina for Columbia House.

As Director for Multicultural Marketing at Meredith Integrated Marketing, Cartagena is in charge of the development and execution of a wide variety of multi-platform marketing programs for a growing roster of clients interested in reaching multicultural consumers, including PepsiCo, Unilever, and Kellogg’s.

In 1996, Cartagena helped to developed and launch the Spanish version of People magazine. People en Español is still the most successful Spanish-language magazine, and continues to dominate the Hispanic print market today. Cartegena has also worked on the development and launch of TV Guide en Español. Between 2000 and 2002, she served as consultant to several Fortune 500 companies as they sought to enter the US Hispanic market.

Chiqui Cartagena is the author of Latino Boom! Everything You Need to Know to Grow Your Business in the US Hispanic Market, which was published by Random House in 2005, and which has already become required reading for Hispanic marketing classes at colleges around the country including UCLA, Florida State University, and Wharton Business School.

DMA Excellence in Hispanic Direct Marketing Corporate Award

Lexicon Marketing is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and is the leading pure-play direct marketer to the US Hispanic population. Over the past 30 years, the company has emerged as one of the few organizations to overcome the barriers to selling premium products to this demographic on a national scale. Founded in 1974, Lexicon’s core ESL product, Inglés Sin Barreras (ISB), has garnered exceptional customer satisfaction ratings.

In addition, Lexicon has leveraged the considerable brand presence built for ISB into a platform of growth by launching a variety of products and vehicles to build the Sin Barreras (without barriers) brand, which is synonymous with acculturation and advancement in the Spanish-speaking market.

In late 2003 and early 2004, Lexicon began to leverage its core competencies to sell additional products and services through multiple channels, investing over $2.5 million in 2004 alone to successfully launch these new initiatives. The new channels included advertising on the Internet through direct mail, as well as through live, event marketing.

New initiatives included a new multi-product catalog business, Viva sin Barreras, and a proprietary line of housewares under a new brand, Olympia Cookware. In 2005, Lexicon launched a new computer learning product, Computación sin Barreras, which is sold with a computer. Computación sin Barreras is making a serious contribution to the Hispanic community by bridging the gap in Internet access for Hispanics.

Current plans include an expansion into financial services for the Spanish-speaking market, expansion into additional vocational offerings as training in becoming a contractor or medical assistant. Plans also include developing a health and fitness product to overcome the obesity and diabetes issues of the Hispanic market, and much more.

In addition, Lexicon has launched the Sin Barreras Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to enriching the lives of Hispanics in the areas of health and community, with a strong focus on education. Lexicon is committed to helping Hispanics live a better life -- a life without barriers.

For More Information

For more information DMA Directo Days Conference, click here http://www.the-dma.org/conferences/dmadirectodays

The DMA Directo: Council for Hispanic Marketing’s purpose is to educate direct marketers about the Hispanic market and provide support in targeting this segment, as well as to promote career and business opportunities for Hispanic members of the direct marketing professional community. For more information on the Council, its programs, and awards, please visit http://www.the-dma.org/councils/directocouncil.

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