Richard Vasquez
Richard Vasquez is a creative and entrepreneurial marketing executive with over twenty years experience that has taught him one thing, nothing happens until the first touch.
It all began with a call from US Senator Alan Cranston who wanted to find new and better ways of engaging his growing Latino constituency in California. In 1980, the first "decade of the Hispanic," Vasquez was the Senatorʼs man on the street for Southern California with responsibility over the largest concentration of Latinos in the US. During this phase, he connected with Latino leaders from all walks of life. Educators, students, entrepreneurs, business owners, professionals, farmers, farm workers, union leaders, union members, artists, filmmakers, singers, developers, bankers. Vasquez managed field operations in eight counties of Southern California.
In the middle of all this, he took a leave of absence to help Sen Cranston organize Latino voters throughout eleven western states, with extended stops along the way in Iowa, Maine and Wisconsin. His job was simply to identify and tap new voters for Sen Cranstonʼs fledgling exploratory bid for the Democratic Nomination in 1984. Cranston did better than expected when new Hispanic voters began arriving at caucuses and primaries in record numbers. When asked by the Wall Street Journal how this came to be, Vasquez told them simply, "I knocked on their front doors and invited them." After the New Hampshire primary, Sen Cranston abandoned his bid and returned to California to focus his attention on 1986 reelection, which he won handily with heavy Latino support.
After this experience, bigger challenges beckoned. Vasquez turned his sights to marketing. He joined Danny Villanueva at KMEX-TV 34 (Univision) organizing 15 grassroots concerts extending over the entire LA DMA. This meant bringing the strum of Mariachi guitars and blaring trumpets to suburban Orange County, events that surprised even the Hispanics who lived there but in the shadows. At the same time, Vasquez arranged appearances for legendary radio personality Wolfman Jack (American Graffiti), popular with more acculturated Latinos.
Vasquez attended a "massive dance" at the LA Sports Arena headlined by Mexican super group Los Bukis and was struck by the image of 40,000+ people in the middle of the arena floor swaying back and forth to the bandʼs romantic rhythms. For the next five years, he organized events under the banner of Vasquez Productions. He was retained by international Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel to attract new audiences for his forays into North American concert venues. Vasquez called on Larry Vallon at the Universal Amphitheater and raised the prospect of booking Gabriel for a multiple date engagement resulting in the first Latino concert series. The engagement shattered previous box office records for any artist in that venue. Vasquez had learned from organizing "massive dances" that music was a great touchpoint for motivating and engaging inner-city Latino immigrants.
Vasquez teamed up with Cecil Heftel with his group of radio stations forming Vasquez Entertainment and went on to produce and co-produce some of the biggest shows during that era. Vasquez created a 53 acre theme park experience with food and live music from all over Mexico and Central America at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area for struggling Hispanic families, he envisioned and produced Cinco de Mayo at the Santa Monica Pier and Fiestas Patrias on the steps of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. He produced Mexican Regional super group Los Tigres Del Norte to a capacity crowd at LA Memorial Coliseum just weeks after the 1992 civil disturbances brought on by the Rodney King verdict.
After a successful run in the promotion business, an opportunity emerged at Sears. The marketing team driving Searsʼ comeback from the brink of bankruptcy focused their sights on inner city Sears stores and tapped its media agency Focus Media to find and connect with these new audiences. Focus Media quickly discovered that Latinos comprised the core of consumers around 130 stores across the US that were scheduled for closure. Through a relationship established during the Cranston days, Focus Media reached out to Vasquez with the assignment to find a way to touch this consumer potential. Vasquez assembled a team of the top media minds working at Hispanic agencies. He paired Hispanic media talent with Focus Media strategies and tactics. The results: On "Black Friday" 1994, one day after the Thanksgiving Day world premiere of ET on Spanish television (Telemundo) Sears experienced record sales at these stores. Sears executives reported that customers came into the store just to buy 4 new tires, and just carrying them away! Electronics, appliances, apparel, tools, everything was selling! Resulting in record breaking sales that saved the stores from closure. The secret: understanding the market and that media is media, it doesnʼt speak a language. A key component of this strategy was the creation of a national grassroots event marketing program, a first in the retail category.
Vasquezʼ ability to find ways in to the Latino community did not go unnoticed by Korean car manufacturer, Kia Motors America. Kia tapped Vasquez to head their first Hispanic marketing campaign. What followed was the creation of a national multi-platform marketing campaign that leveraged Univisionʼs novelas on network television, local radio promotions and event marketing. From Miami to South Gate, Latinos loved the improved reliability, unconditional warranty and the price point Kia offered. The rest is history.
Vasquez was called by the Mayor of Los Angeles to secure corporate sponsorships for the cityʼs multicultural celebrations. The result of his efforts, over $1.000.000 in sponsorship over three years. The Mayor named Vasquez to the El Pueblo Monument Authority Commission, the agency with stewardship over the Los Angelesʼ birthplace. Currently, Vasquez is focused on projects with a digital touch. Creating value experiences, listening, and feeding back sustainable solutions. Did I mention listening? Vasquez and his team listen to what Hispanic consumers are saying and conversing on the subjects that are key to achieving the American dream.
Currently, Vasquez is the lead producer for Feria de la Salud & Experiencia Deportiva for Telemundo 52 in Los Angeles. He is also the cultural marketing consultant to El Portal de South Gate, a major shopping and lifestyle destination center to be built in the heart of Los Angelesʼ Latino market that uses a digital signage network and sophisticated digital interactivity to engage todayʼs Latino consumer. How do you do that? Simple, says Vasquez, meet them where they are technologically.
He is developing a company whose goal is to provide metabolic health screening to every Hispanic in the US. He serves on the board and as an adviser to the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival on strategic marketing and development issues. He is also a senior strategic marketing consultant to Walt Disney Company on special projects.
Interesting how a call from a powerful US Senator could lead to such interesting relationships and wide range of experiences. Nothing happens until the first touch. Isnʼt that what marketing as all about?
Richard Vasquez graduated from UCLA. He was a 1980 Coro Foundation Fellow-Los Angeles and completed the Program in Public Policy Analysis at Claremont Graduate School that same year.
