Melissa Harris writes that event promoter Henry Cardenas is one of those men that mass marketers should know but often don't. His Cardenas Marketing Network specializes in getting clients' products,
such as Wrigley and Budweiser, in front of a growing Hispanic population, as it did during a soccer match at Chicago's Soldier Field on Monday night.
More than 60,000 Mexican soccer
fans watched commercials for Wrigley's Extra gum on the venue's Jumbotron, observed field barriers wrapped in Extra banners, and displayed 20,000 log-bearing tchotchkes -- from bandanas to
ear-splitting horns called vuvuzelas -- that were given away. Even the stadium's recycling bins were marked and two logo-emblazoned leather chairs on the sidelines were reserved for the winners of an
Extra-sponsored Univision Radio sweepstakes.
Cardenas, who spends a lot of time overseas, has a Chicago office that is a Latin American version of the Hard Rock Cafe, with autographed
guitars and soccer balls. The company also has offices in Miami and Los Angeles. "Henry is like the Dick Clark of Hispanic marketing," says Kathleen Scovel, who works as one of his contractors.
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