Hispanics may be the fastest-growing demo in the U.S. but the 50 million or so people who consider themselves Hispanic represent an array of cultures that can't be pitched all at once with one message in Spanish. That was the theme of an American Marketing Association chapter meeting in Tampa, Fla. "It's not about advertising in Spanish anymore, but knowing each Hispanic community's lifestyle and being relevant to it," said Tony Suarez, a former Coca-Cola and McDonald's executive. U.S.-born offspring of immigrants who are driving the growth of the U.S. Hispanic market are also developing their own bicultural …

Victoria and Vancouver are testing branding on parking meters. Victoria's parking pay stations will be billboards touting "Tectoria" as the new name for the area, and those who work in its growing high-tech industry Tectorians. "What we do is we tie our tech sector with things that people already know about Victoria," said Dan Gunn, executive director of the Victoria Advanced Technology Council (VIATec.) "We're not about to change what people know about our city but by doing things like saying: 'Welcome to Victoria home of 100 killer whales and 1,500 killer apps,' we're kind of letting them …

Ad spending for cars and credit cards is behind the 8.8% growth in 2010 U.S. ad spending, the highest growth rate in seven years. Financial advertising was up 29% last year, and automotive spending was up 28%, per Ad Age DataCenter's estimates of U.S. spending for the 12 financial firms and 10 automakers that made the 100 Leading National Advertisers. Spending the year before had dropped 10.2%, which Ad Age said was the largest drop since it started the ranking in 1956. And AdAge's ranking says first-quarter 2011 U.S. measured-media spending rose 4.4%, the slowest growth since the ad …

Intel Asia Pacific has a YouTube video experience called "The Escape." The espionage storyline involves viewers and connects with Facebook, allowing people to employ their friends to help save a woman on the lam. User interaction lets players make choices and do various things like shoot at assailants and unlock doors. Said Stephanie Gan from advertising and digital at Intel Asia Pacific, "We wanted to connect with consumers in a personal, engaging and interactive way while demonstrating the visual capabilities of the second-generation Intel Core processor family. While YouTube offered the perfect stage for creating this experience, it …

Walmart Express stores are 15,000 square feet, much larger than the small-format convenience-store-style stores that many supermarkets have been experimenting with, and bigger than limited-assortment stores like dollar stores. It's also larger than Tesco's Fresh & Easy in the West. "Comparing it to Fresh & Easy, it's much more like a traditional U.S. supermarket," said Natalie Berg, global research director at London-based Planet Retail, and one of the first outside of Walmart to tour the store before it opened. "It's much more brand-led, and much more package-led, with a limited offering of perishables." Walmart says the …

J.C. Penney Co. said the current CEO and chairman Myron "Mike" Ullman will leave the company and the board next February after a three-month transition period during which he will hand over the reins in full to his successor, Ron Johnson, who heads Apple retail operations. Johnson will join J.C. Penney's board Aug. 1. He will start as chief executive on Nov. 1, when he assumes responsibility for marketing and merchandising functions. Johnson, a first-time CEO, will take over the remaining responsibilities after a three-month transition ending on Feb. 1.

Lincoln dealers said Ford will invest $1 billion in new vehicles by 2014 to try to inject life into lagging Lincoln. The company's leadership, including CEO Alan Mulally, met dealers at its Dearborn headquarters recently to assure then they haven't been forgotten. Lincoln sold fewer than 35,000 vehicles in the United States through the first five months of the year, down 7.5% from a year ago and less than 1% of the U.S. auto market. Ford has said Lincoln would get seven new or significantly upgraded vehicles over four years but dealers haven't seen them yet, while being …

General Motors is showing the South American-designed, midsized Chevrolet Colorado Rally truck at the Buenos Aires International Auto Show. It is the second show-truck version of the automaker's next generation global midsize pickup, which was designed by engineers at GM do Brazil. Demand for midsize pickups has diminished greatly in the U.S. as Toyota's Tacoma has seen sales dwindle and Hyundai and Kia have opted to completely avoid entering vehicles in the segment. But industry sources believe there's enough of a market that GM eventually will bring the new Colorado to American showrooms.

Foster's Group Ltd., Australia's biggest brewer, rejected an unsolicited A$9.5 billion ($10 billion) conditional cash takeover offer from SABMiller Plc as too low. The Melbourne, Australia, company said the bid "significantly undervalues" the company for a change of control, and said it won't take further action on it. The offer is 8.2% higher than yesterday's closing price. The bid is the first announced by Foster's since it spun off its wine unit. The 8.2% premium offered by London-based SABMiller compares with an average of 13.4% for brewery deals pending and completed in the past five years, according to …

Sites that offer quick, first-come, first-served deals during a brief period are a way for brands to dump inventory, but they may also be a way to advertise and bring in new customers. For example, Saint Parfum sold its high-end perfumed candles on flash site One Kings Lane, then saw visits to its own site explode from the typical 250-per-day status to 6,000. Volkswagen, Brooks Brothers and Starbucks are some of the brands advertising on these sites now.