A Millennial Learns the Public Relations Way of Life

I have been out of the loop for a couple of months finishing college and seeing my options for the future. Thinking about what to do with my future is possibly a very “Millennial” generation way of perceiving life and one that has been written about in the news of late. I consider myself a Hispanic Millennial – one individual in the ocean of 74 million people born between the years of 1982 to 2001. This Millennials generation has gotten a lot of press – both positive and negative – and I must say it is mostly all true. These are some of the adjectives used to describe us – optimists (+), narcissistic (-), self-centered (-), multi-taskers (+) – and the list goes on and on. There are numerous articles geared towards employers who are or will be filling their offices with newly-graduated college Millennials – giving them advice about how to handle this new breed of employees.

I found myself reading these articles and realizing that this advice was mostly being given to the same individuals (employers) who had “created” and “defined” the Millennials generation by way of parenting in their own households. The theory is that we were given a plethora of opportunities by our parents – education, trips, tech toys, and trophies for “trying out” sports – that have defined a lot of our present and future perspectives about the world.

The Hispanic Millennials are of interest to me for many reasons – born in Puerto Rico, raised in the United States (Boston and Miami), but visiting the “abuela” every summer in the island – I have been raised by the American Dream system but respect very much my heritage. College educated in Connecticut, but finding my way back to the beaches of Puerto Rico every summer has been, until now, a way of life. Cross-cultural influences have shaped my likes and dislikes.

One of the best summers I had in Puerto Rico was last year – when I was accepted to be a Burson-Marsteller intern in their Puerto Rico office. While other six interns spent their time making rounds in the several departments that compromise Young & Rubicam and B-M – I was given the opportunity to spend my whole time working within the Public Relations area of B-M. Sara Lora, Director of B-M Puerto Rico, became my boss, my mentor, and a friend. Just like any “Millennial” – what started as a chore (expected college credit) transformed into a passion for Public Relations. Suddenly I was spending less time at the beach and spending more time at the B-M office (late-nights were usual) … and I was doing so willingly!

In two YouTube interviews, Paul Herrick, Director of Human Resources at EMEA stated – “the learning and training you get at B-M is second to none.” He also talks about the “mentoring program” that B-M has introduced to capture the environment of learning among senior-level management and new employees.



This was the same thing mentioned by Susan Heathfield in an article titled Managing Millennials: Eleven Tips for Managing Millennials. The very second point she mentions is “Provide Leadership and Guidance” which is exactly what my time as an intern under Sara Lora’s supervision was all about.

Now as I embark on this trip of job searching I take inside my bag : my knowledge of the importance of technology and social media learned at college; my Hispanic Millennial values of multi-tasker, optimism, and cross-culturalism; and last, but definitely not least, what I learned at B-M Puerto Rico thanks to the leadership and guidance of a great mentor. Thanks Sara for having confidence in my abilities to succeed in Public Relations!

"Que Pasa USA?": Hispanics, Social Media and Corporate USA

The Hispanic consumer market is something that interests me because of obvious reasons: I was born in Puerto Rico and although raised between Boston and Miami, I still consider myself a Hispanic. I am a prime example of what millions of young adults are in the mainland United States: born of Hispanic parents, raised in the United States, and “aficionados” (fans) of our Hispanic traditions. Although for many, English is their native tongue, they understand the Spanish “mother-tongue.” We also constitute, with our parents, a marketing group that some U.S. corporations do not seem to understand or know how to market to. Like my grandmother and mother would say, “Ay Bendito!”

On March 5^th Erin Byrne wrote a blog, “A Missed Opportunity," in the B-M’s Proof Digital Media site (http://www.digitalperspectiveblog.com) that pointed to a research which showed that only 22% of corporations are using social media tools to attract the Hispanic market. This research (http://www.clickz.com/3639701) states that Hispanics constitute a possible $1 trillion buying power and that 78% of Fortune 1000 corporations are either not tapping into, ignoring, or do not have the social media “know-how” on how to relate to Hispanics through these channels. The agency who did the research stated that “the survey data showed that the biggest advertisers were among those targeting Latinos the least. ‘About 50 of the Fortune 500 firms are not marketing to Latinos at all, via cyberspace, TV, or radio."

Those 78% of corporations “not marketing to Latinos” could and should- hire Public Relations agencies that have the necessary tools to engage the Hispanic market. As a company in these difficult economic times wouldn’t you want to tap at least bit into that $1 trillion pool of money? Like Erin Byrne said “What a missed opportunity! Latino’s are a very social community, both online and off.”

In an analysis done last year by Hispanic Online Marketing entitled “The Multicultural World of Social Media Marketing,” (http://www.hispaniconlinemarketing.com/2009/02/the-multicultural-world-of-social-media-marketing/) it was found that ethnic minorities visited social media sites more often that non-Hispanic whites and that English-preferred Hispanics were at the top of the list of these minorities who used the social media channels. Actually, and almost surprisingly, 24% of the Hispanic community OVER the age of thirty-five visited social media channels at least three times a month (as opposed to only 13% of the non-Hispanic Whites).

I say “Que Pasa USA?” and “Wake up and Smell the Café con Leche” to those corporations who are 1) lagging in their social media efforts and 2) lagging in their efforts to attract the Latino community. Kudos to B-M’s Erin Byrne for bringing this research to our attention!