Univision's New Execs Urge Marketers Not to Ignore Hispanic Consumers

Univision's annual upfront presentation isn't until May 18, but it got an early jump on upfront season Wednesday afternoon. Led by CEO Wade Davis and ad sales and marketing president Donna Speciale, the company's new executive team shared their "new vision for Univision." Speciale, the former WarnerMedia ad sales chief who joined Univision in January, hosted the presentation. She's part of a new team brought in by Davis, the former Viacom CFO whose investor group acquired a 64% stake in the company at the end of 2020. (She replaced former Univision ad sales chief Steve Mandala, who left as part of Davis’ executive team overhaul.). "This is my first virtual event," Speciale said. "I’m thrilled to be part of the team. The energy and moment are unlike anything I've ever seen, and I'm just 10 weeks in." Brands can't ignore Hispanic audiences As one might expect, Speciale hammered home the importance of the Hispanic audience during her remarks. "Politicians can't win without the Hispanic audience, and brands can't either," she said. While she made a point of thanking Univision's brand partners, Speciale expressed some surprise that more advertisers aren't engaging with the Hispanic audience. "There are approximately 1,900 advertisers on English language network TV, and only 400 of them advertise to the Hispanic audience in their language," said Speciale. "We're talking about 60 million people—one-fifth of the U.S. population. A GDP bigger than some of the U.S.' biggest trading partners." Speciale singled out pharma as a category that has failed to adequately invest in Hispanic marketing. "This is a consumer base that needs access to those communications," she said, referencing the pandemic. Meanwhile, Davis spoke about the reinvention of Univision, with a plan to "modernize" and "supercharge" the company. "For us, our new mission is the power of that Univision reach, but amplified and modernized with more powerful content, new platforms and new solutions," Davis continued. Two of Speciale's former WarnerMedia ad sales lieutenants—Dan Riess, who will be evp and chief growth officer, and Dan Aversano, who will be svp of data, analytics and advanced advertising—will beef up the company's advanced advertising offerings and provide "state of the art solutions" for marketers that didn't previously exist on Univision, Davis said. Big streaming plans On the new platform front, there's PrendeTV, Univision's ad-supported streaming service and the first ad-supported streamer created exclusively for the U.S. Hispanic audience featuring Spanish-language programming. The AVOD service, currently in soft launch, features shows, movies, channels and stars that are familiar to Univision audiences. Davis brought Pierluigi Gazzolo on as president of Univision Inc., and to oversee the launch of PrendeTV. Gazzolo was most recently global streaming chief at ViacomCBS, where he was instrumental in the launch of Pluto TV internationally and in Latin America and the launch of Paramount+ International. Univision also recently acquired Vix, the largest AVOD platform for Spanish language audiences. "We are the only destination for Spanish language streaming in America," Speciale said. The second and third quarters are significant for Univision and present big opportunities for advertisers. The network's Latin Grammys airs on Mother's Day, and the annual youth-targeted awards show Premios Juventud will take place this summer. It's also going to be a busy time on the sports calendar as well. The Copa América soccer championship is returning to Univision in June, and the Concacaf Gold Cup soccer competition is also back this summer as part of the network's Summer of Champions. On the TV news front, Speciale touted the network's powerhouse morning show ¡Despierta América!, which attracts more Hispanics "than GMA and Today show combined." She added that ¡Despierta América! will be expanding to Sundays in the near future. "As a brand, do you want to be a part of this cultural moment, or let it pass by?" Speciale asked. "This is the new Univision. Our goal is to grow as one with our audience and help you grow with us, too." Donna Speciale on How She’ll Shake Up Univision Ad Sales