Disney Wants Hispanic Marketer

Walt Disney World has begun contacting agencies about promoting its Florida theme parks to the U.S. Hispanic market, the client confirmed last week.
“Disneyland does some Hispanic advertising, and we’re thinking of doing the same thing,” said Reggie Whitehead, vice president of special markets for Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and Walt Disney World are both subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, Calif.
Whitehead said WDW has held discussions with Leo Burnett in Chicago, which represents WDW, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line and The Disney Institute, and “some agencies we had heard of.” He declined to identify those shops.
Agencies contacted by WDW for credentials only, sources said, include: Bromley, Aguilar & Associates, San Antonio; Accentmarketing, Miami; del Rivero Messianu, Coral Gables, Fla.; and The Bravo Group in Miami, a subsidiary of Young & Rubicam, New York. Agency executives declined comment or could not be reached at press time.
Whitehead said WDW is looking for an agency “with a unique feel for [the Hispanic] market segment.” Although the client does not have a Hispanic agency, the company handles Latino print and radio marketing projects in-house, and works with Univision in Miami to broadcast such WDW events as the Christmas parade.
As of last week, WDW had not reduced the number of contenders. Whitehead expects to have a shortlist within the next few weeks, although a decision date has not been set.