By Todd Spangler

Sofia Vergara, media entrepreneur and star of ABC’s “Modern Family,” together with her longtime business partner Luis Balaguer and Emiliano Calemzuk, former president of Fox Television Studios, have formed Raze: a digital media company dedicated to producing “Latin-centered” content spanning scripted and unscripted formats on multiple platforms.

UTA and entertainment law firm Ziffren Brittenham LLP are founding partners and advisers for the Beverly Hills-based startup. Raze has closed a round of Series A funding from UTA, Greycroft Partners and Raine Ventures. With the investments, Brent Weinstein, partner and head of digital media at UTA, and Greycroft partner Mark Terbeek have joined the board of Raze.

Calemzuk, who is Raze’s CEO, declined to provide the funding amount but said it was in the mid seven figures. Raze, whose website is at raze.tv, plans to launch later this year as a mobile- and video-first destination that will be a hub for news, lifestyle and beauty.

“We realized the best thing to do would create a company for both traditional and digital media, and over time give the audience following all this talent one destination,” said Calemzuk. “We want to turn that connection from just being a sporadic, social-media-driven one to a content-driven one.”

Raze will incorporate Vergara and Balaguer’s Latin World Entertainment, the Hispanic talent management and entertainment-marketing firm they started in 1994. The announcement is timed for the NATPE conference in Miami, where Calemzuk and Balaguer are speaking Thursday.

UTA’s Weinstein noted that the U.S. Hispanic audience is one of the fastest-growing and most important demographic segments for programmers and advertisers. “We jumped at the opportunity to work with Sofia, Luis and Emiliano to build a dynamic new media company to create and deliver premium programming to that key demographic,” he said in a prepared statement.

Terbeek added, “The (Raze) team has a proven ability to create valuable content franchises that resonate with audiences worldwide, and they have developed unparalleled talent relationships in their segment over the last few decades which would be practically impossible to replicate.”

Raze was formed in May 2016 and has already produced its first show: “Su Nombre Era Dolores, la Jenn Que Yo Conocí” (“Her Name was Dolores, the Jenn I Knew”), produced in partnership with BTF and Dhana Media. The scripted series about late Mexican-American superstar Jenni Rivera aired on Univision.

The company has additional TV shows in development, including a scripted series in partnership with soccer star Diego Armando Maradona based on his life, in partnership with Dhana Media and BTF; a young adult hour-long soap based on the hit Wattpad novel “Mi Hermanastro” (“My Stepbrother”), which has over 22 million downloads online; and a series on the life of Latino hip-hop star and actor Don Omar.

“The Hispanic experience in the U.S. is so broad — you can’t define it as one narrow genre,” said Calemzuk, adding that Raze’s content strategy will focus on aspirational storytelling themes like creativity and hard work. “As with anything in the digital space, we want to iterate and double down on things where we find our stride.”

Raze will produce and sell shows to third-party distributors, while it will work with talent to produce content for its own properties as well as for YouTube, Facebook and other social platforms. “If you want to launch a media company for the next 10 years, you have to be everywhere,” Calemzuk said.

Most recently, Calemzuk worked with Time Inc. to develop long-form documentary films and docuseries and also was an adviser to Sky Italia. Before that he was CEO of Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Americas, and spent 14 years at News Corp. working in domestic and international TV.

Raze’s owned-and-operated platform will be ad supported, with no plans for a subscription model. According to Balaguer, Raze will be “a great tool for advertisers and products to connect with transforming Latino audiences, and will benefit from the shifting of audiences from traditional platforms to mobile video.”

Your Editor Wonders: Is this another exanple of new Hispanic media in the age of Trump?

By Shuree Jones, Captura Group

Another year is coming to a close, and with it another leap forward in Hispanic digital marketing. As we finalize 2017 plans for our clients, we think the coming year is poised to push the Hispanic digital marketing industry to even greater heights.

Here are the key themes we think will be huge for Hispanic digital in 2017:

Mobile 2.0

By now, you should know that reaching Hispanics via mobile is a must. In 2017 this will be even more true as mobile technology evolves in the areas of messaging and geo-location.

Marketers now have access to messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Messaging apps are extremely popular among Hispanics, in fact a whopping 46.5% of U.S. WhatsApp users are Hispanics. Hispanics love messaging apps because they are young, tech savvy and use them to stay in touch with family and friends often in Latin America. Savvy marketers will find ways to get their messages in front of Hispanics where they communicate most.

Google is also getting more granular with location-based analytics for mobile devices, introducing two new reports to help measure the digital-to-retail path to purchase. These new analytics tools have the potential to be used to measure the impact digital campaigns have on in-store traffic which is critical for U.S. Hispanics who “are significantly more engaged throughout the entire shopper journey, both online and offline” according to a recent IRi study.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

The Pokémon Go phenomenon opened the door for Virtual and Augmented Reality to be ushered into the mainstream, but where does that leave marketers? Questions of measurement and scalability abound, but one thing we do know: Hispanics will be at the forefront. As noted in this recent MediaPost column, 54% of Hispanics are interested in purchasing a VR product compared to just 44% of Caucasians. A 2015 study by Greenlight VR and Touchstone Research substantiates the fact that Hispanics are early adopters of VR, finding that 43% are “aware and excited for VR” compared to just 30% of Caucasians. Marketers can count on cultural relevance to connect with U.S. Hispanics – even in virtual reality.

Video, Video, Video

One big takeaway from 2016 is that if your digital advertising is not moving, it’s probably being ignored. Earlier this year, MediaPost reported that U.S. digital video advertising is on pace to nearly double by 2019, with mobile spearheading the growth. That pace is likely to continue with new real-time video offerings from Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram.

Snapchat has already moved toward better ad targeting including the ability to reach Hispanics, and last month Facebook quietly tested ads for its Facebook Live content. Hispanics not only over index in online video viewing, (especially via their mobile devices), their attention is being diverted from TV. A study by Yahoo and Ipsos found that among U.S. Hispanics, “TV viewership fell by 7% from 2014 to 2015, but time spent on mobile video has increased by 53%.” An August 2016 study by Google found that “more Hispanics watch YouTube than any other cable network in the U.S.” and “53% are more likely to watch ads on their smartphones vs. the general population.”

Brands looking to connect with online Hispanics should see video, in all forms, as a huge opportunity.

AdWords Becomes More Spanish Friendly

We rejoiced when we learned about Google’s plans for expanded text ads in AdWords. Marketers will get two 30-character headlines and one 80-character description. According to Google, “Expanded text ads are optimized for the screen sizes of the most popular smartphones.” We would add that expanded text ads are also optimized for the Spanish language.

Spanish is roughly 30% longer than English, so at times it can be tough to communicate via Spanish language paid search. With the new expanded text ads, Spanish ads will be more impactful which is key as Google reaches 94% of all online Hispanics.

We saw incredible growth across the Hispanic digital marketing industry in 2016, and we’re excited to see where the upcoming year takes us. What are your predictions for Hispanic digital marketing in 2017?

Hispanic Online Marketing is Captura Group’s blog featuring best practices, case studies, and research for Hispanic online marketers.

Your Editor Adds: And we take great pride in sharing these Captured blogs with you

By Roberto Ruiz, Univision

We’ve heard it before… Hispanics over-index on all things digital, mobile and even social. Here at Univision, we’re able to go a layer deeper into Hispanics’ digital habits, using a mixture of proprietary and syndicated insights that only we can offer. In our latest Hispanic 411 webinar, The Digital Boost: Influencing Hispanics’ Path to Purchase, I examined the nuances of consumer digital behaviors and preferences—all through the lens of major consumer categories such as beauty, movie/entertainment, retail and more. Below we share the four key digital insights and action items you should include in your overall marketing plans if you want to connect with U.S. Hispanics (and their remarkable economic clout!):

1. Ensure your digital marketing plans for Hispanics incorporate tactics that enable them to learn more, early in their path to purchase

Digital is definitely empowering Hispanic consumers to research and plan their purchases and visits. Hispanics are 37% more likely than total U.S. to research products before purchasing online. The number only goes up when we look specifically at Hispanic auto intenders; 62% of them gather vehicle information online before purchasing. We also know Hispanics love their smartphones. They actually spend 2+ more hours a week than total market going online with their smartphones and are 74% more likely to use mobile search in-store before purchase than total U.S.

2. Don’t underestimate the power of influencers in reaching Hispanic consumers

Social media enables the connected Hispanic consumer to learn and share about products and services; 80% of them agree that online social networks keep them up to date with their favorite brands. In fact, 54% of Hispanic beauty shoppers watch YouTube videos to learn beauty tips. This insight and the understanding of this trend is one reason why Univision has embraced influencers through our multichannel network, the Univision Creator Network. Together with some of the top grassroots talent covering beauty, fashion and entertainment, we are connecting with millions of young, bilingual consumers each month across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

3. Provide additive content and opportunities for the Hispanic consumer to further engage with your brand

Hispanics are seeking digital experiences as an extension of brand engagement and are usually more receptive of online ads. We just saw that they are highly engaged on social media but their digital engagement goes beyond social. In fact, 25% of Hispanics used mobile coupons (downloaded for use at location), vs. 17% of non-Hispanics. This is even more evident with Hispanic restaurant-goers; they are 2X more likely to say mobile coupons would make them try a new restaurant vs. non-Hispanics.

We also see that Hispanics who share content daily are 2x more likely to find online video advertising useful than those who aren’t sharing daily(8). When we do a deep dive into beauty consumers, we find that a whopping 60% enjoy watching beauty advertising videos online vs. 39% of non-Hispanics. When connecting with Hispanics digitally, think about enticing them with apps, digital coupons, branded content, ads, loyalty programs, newsletters, blogs, etc.

4. Make your Hispanic customer feel welcomed and appreciated, and you’ll reap the benefits of a shopper looking to spend MORE

Hispanics enjoy the shopping experience – both brick-and-mortar AND online. In fact, 88% of Hispanic internet users shop online and they’re also doing it frequently: One in three U.S. Hispanic internet users purchase an item digitally at least 1x week(10). When we look at the retail industry, Hispanics spend an average of $65 per online buying visit with Spanish-dominant Hispanics spending even more, at $70 per buying visit. In 2015, this Hispanic online retail buying power totaled $57 billion. This is definitely a consumer that will drive growth for your brands and products.

I’ve highlighted only a fraction of the category-specific digital insights we have. Want to know which brands are executing these actions successfully? How about more category-specific information by insights? For more insights, as well as some best-in-class examples of brands using this information to connect with U.S. Hispanics, check out our video recording above to watch the webinar in its entirety.

Your Editor Explains: Roberto works for Univision, but he also shares his knowledge and experiences. We, in turn, welcome his disposition.

It’s confirmed: Univision is the winning bidder for Gawker Media. The largest Spanish-language broadcaster is paying $135 million for the 14-year-old blog network, which co-founder Nick Denton was forced to put up for sale after it went bankrupt fighting a lawsuit against Hulk Hogan (legal name: Terry Bollea). Ziff Davis was the only other bidder. Here are five things to know about Univision and what the Gawker acquisition means for it.

Univision is trying to diversify
Univision has been trying to expand its reach beyond its Hispanic audience, and adding Gawker Media fits in with that strategy. Earlier this year, Univision took full control of Fusion, the web and cable network it had co-launched with Disney. After starting with a Hispanic-targeted strategy, Fusion decided to go after millennials writ large. Univision’s portfolio also includes satirical news site The Onion, in which it took a 40 percent stake earlier this year; and black-interest site The Root, which it acquired last year.

New revenue streams are a draw
Publishers have found branded content and e-commerce revenue hard to crack. Gawker has an established native ad and e-commerce business that together add up to about one third of its revenue, which would have made it a draw to Univision. Fusion has only lately built a branded content unit, while the Onion has scaled back its work in this area in part because of competition (also there’s a limit to the number of advertisers that are comfortable being associated with ads in the Onion’s satirical voice).

Univision needs scale
Media outlets that want to reach millennials can’t afford not to distribute their content widely. Bonus: It helps to have a direct audience that they can fully monetize. Univision’s sites are small, though Fusion’s traffic has more than doubled in the past year, to 11.5 million uniques in July. It has gotten some attention for investigative coverage, but it’s still puny by internet standards, which Gawker itself has mocked it for (see article titled: “More People Work at Fusion Than Are Reading Its Most Popular Post.” Awkward!) Gawker Media will contribute just over 50 million monthly uniques across all seven of its verticals. Just over half of its audience (52.4 percent) is 18-34, the age group advertisers obsess over.

It knows from distribution
Univision recognizes if it wants to reach young people, it has to meet them where they are. Last year, it built a multi-channel network for YouTube stars, Vine “influencers” and other video personalities, extending the work of its online video site Flama. It has a partnership with Snapchat that involves creating live stories around Univision events, live sports and the election; and a new Discover channel that the Onion launched earlier this year. As for Fusion, it created a 12-person social news team, and has even experimented with delivering news on messenger bots. Gawker has done little in the way of video production, but Univision could provide the shot in the arm Gawker needs to create more video to live on different social platforms, as it’s done with the Onion and The Root.

Gawker’s spin
“We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism,” Denton wrote in a statement when the deal was announced. Last year, before the Hogan trial, Denton estimated his company to be worth something in the $250 million to $300 million range.

As far as cultural fit, a risk is that Gawker could become neglected as a small fish in a big pond, and Gawker might have had a more spiritual home in another publishing company known for hard-hitting journalism, such as New York Media, which was considered a likely bidder. Univision seems to be a better home for Gawker than other interested parties like LittleThings or Ziff Davis, though, whose interest would have been limited to Gawker’s lifestyle or tech-focused verticals, or would have been expected to shut down the flagship (and least ad-friendly) Gawker.com.

Will Gawker have to find something nice to say about Fusion now?

Your Editor Informs: Univision’s $135 million acquisition of Gawker has provoked very interesting reactions from other media in the business. Here are two takes for your consideration