• April 8, 2005

Nextel Communications brought its largely print-based and local TV-centered Hispanic ad campaign "Nextel. Ya." Thursday night to Hispanic television networks Univision, Telemundo, Galavision, TV Azteca, Fox Sports En Espanol, and Telefutura. The new national television commercial "lender" mocks a service that mimics Nextel's International Direct Connect, a walkie-talkie service that crosses the United States into Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Canada in under a second.

The campaign was created by Accentmarketing, Nextel's Hispanic ad agency. Nextel is also sponsoring a Spanish-language TV special "Tributo a Selena," a tribute concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of Latin singer Selena's passing. The program also aired Thursday night.

In conjunction with the new TV campaign, Nextel has also launched "Latinoamerica Ya", a national online and in-store campaign that features a contest in which the prize is a trip for four people to any Latin American country of their choice. -- D.K.