|
| | | | | REPRINTS
|
New Omnicom Venture Matraca Set To Launch
July 28, 2005
Matraca, the recently formed joint venture between Omnicom companies Cultura, a Dallas-based Hispanic ad agency, and The Radiate Group, a promotions and events marketing firm headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., officially begins operations Aug. 1, said Cultura President Juan Faura. A matraca is a type of noisemaker toy popular in countries such as Mexico. Matraca, the company, offers experiential marketing services, sporting the tagline: "It's more than just making noise."
Matraca presently is involved in four business pitches, "one of them pretty huge, in the retail industry," says Faura, who confirmed that a project for home improvement chain Lowe's is in the works. Last year, Cultura developed a soccer program called Copa Lowe's, in which the chain's customers participated in soccer tournaments. Matraca will expand its relationship with Lowe's to include experiential marketing programs.
Matraca currently has five people on staff, including Víctor Arroyo, who previously worked at Spice, a promotional unit of Dallas-based Dieste Harmel & Partners, another Omnicom shop. Arroyo will lead operations at Matraca and report directly to Faura. Matraca will be located at Cultura’s headquarters and will operate as a separate P&L unit.
The name Matraca was chosen for being recognizable as Hispanic and for being "irreverent," Faura says. "Most agencies have either somebody's name or is a description of what the agency does."
Radiate last year partnered with Dieste to form Spice. Within less than a year of operation, Radiate was dissolved. One reason cited by The Radiate Group for the dissolution is the fact that Dieste is not a minority-owned shop. "I don't think either parties were ready to do that," says Steve Knill, svp of events entertainment with Radiate. Cultura, on the other hand, is 51 percent owned by Juan Faura and 49 percent owned by Omnicom-DAS (Diversified Agency Services).
|
| | | | | REPRINTS
Copyright 2007 Marketing y Medios |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
QuickLinks:
1-click access to topics in this article.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
