Walmart’s Carla Dodds to Headline Hispanic Conference

Retailers from such companies as 7-Eleven, Kum & Go, Jewel-Osco and others will join Walmart’s director of multicultural marketing Carla Dodds on the agenda for this year’s Hispanic Retail 360 Summit.

The six-year-old conference and exhibition will be held Aug. 8 to Aug. 10 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine in San Diego.

The event will kick off on Sunday, Aug. 8, with a store tour of local San Diego-area retailers that serve Latino consumers. Later that afternoon, the conference will begin with a joint presentation by Dodds and Steve Wolfe Pereira, SVP of Chicago-based MediaVest, Walmart’s Hispanic agency.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart was named the 2009 Hispanic Retail Excellence Award winner at the conference last year for its successful efforts at engaging the Latino community.

Following Walmart, the first general session will feature a panel of retailers, including Irene Sabaja, senior director of multicultural marketing for Dallas-based 7-Eleven Corp., discussing how to best serve blue-collar and budget-conscious Hispanic shoppers.

On Monday, Aug. 9, CNN correspondent Soledad O’Brien will deliver the keynote speech. O’Brien, who was host of CNN’s “In America” documentary series, including “Latinos in America,” will be followed by a special presentation by Diane Wallace, VP, shopper marketing for Coca-Cola North America, on “Connecting Latino Capabilities with Latino Marketing Strategies.” Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is a presenting sponsor for Hispanic Retail 360.

Wallace will be followed by a joint presentation by noted Hispanic studies professor Dr. Felipe Korzenny of Florida State University and multicultural research pioneer Cesar Melgoza, founder of Miami-based Geoscape, on “Why In-Culture Marketing Is Critical to the Long-Term Success of Any American Enterprise.”

The Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, now in its sixth year, is a high-level conference and tabletop exhibition including an informative conference program and opportunities for face-to-face interaction between retailers, suppliers and experts in Latino marketing. The conference provides retailers and suppliers a complete 360-degree look at the Hispanic shopper, using data from The Nielsen Company, retailer case studies, and noted experts on demographics, buying behavior, segmentation, marketing, merchandising, product sourcing, store design and in-store marketing to Latino consumers.

As in past years, retailers will share their success stories in branding, marketing and selling to Latino shoppers. Retailer panel topics will include “How Soccer is Influencing America Mainstream,” featuring Kum & Go CEO Kyle Krause and Jewel/Osco multicultural business development manager Tracy Galindo, and “Targeting Hispanic Shoppers in the New World of the Internet.”

Also on the agenda is an impressive lineup of speakers from consumer product goods manufacturers and leading multicultural marketing authors, consultants and agencies.

Last year’s summit, held in Las Vegas, attracted about 360 attendees composed of retailers from across all channels of retailing, major consumer products goods (CPG) manufacturers, advertising agencies and consultants.

Attendees included representatives from such major retailers as 7-Eleven, Ace Hardware, Albertsons, Aldi, Best Buy, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Food Lion, HEB, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, Kohl’s, Kroger, Mi Pueblo Foods, Papa John’s, Save-A-Lot, Stripes, Thorntons, TJ Maxx, Walmart, and Winn-Dixie Stores.

Hispanic Retail 360 is produced by Progressive Grocer and Convenience Store News, both brands of Stagnito Media.

For the sixth consecutive year, Coca-Cola is the presenting sponsor for Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. Other sponsors include Wrigley, Anheuser-Busch, TriMex Outdoor, Geoscape, Power Direct, Trimex, Western Union, Power Direct, Save-A-Lot, Sanfilippo & Sons, Constru-Guia al Dia, Unilever, Telemundo and Televisa.

To learn more about the many levels of available sponsorship opportunities, contact Michael Hatherill at 646-654-7501, or at [email protected].

SOURCE: Convenience Store News
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