According to Wikipedia, disruption can be defined as "an event which causes an unplanned, negative deviation from the expected delivery... according to the organization’s objectives." Disruption is a shift from the norm and a journey in exploration where the destination is often comprised of increased creativity, efficiency, and profitable growth.
There are many disruptions taking shape all around us from crowdfunding to open education and 3D printing. These trends and new technologies are making a pretty big splash. The Hispanic marketing arena faces its own pivots of innovation where questions arise as to who should handle the navigation. The debate surrounding general-market vs niche Hispanic shops is just one example. And now another chapter is unfolding as the result of a recent event in which Univision announced the launch of their own agency.
"Univision Communications, the leading media company serving Hispanic America, today announced the formation of the Univision Agency. Overseeing a media inventory of more than $500 million across all of Univision’s broadcast, cable and radio properties, the Univision Agency will be responsible for all cross-channel promotions as well as research and creative services for clients and internal divisions."What does this mean for existing Hispanic marketing agencies? José Villa, principal at Sensis, wrote an excellent blog post providing some insight into just how this announcement might impact the industry. There's no denying that this announcement has some pretty big ramifications for those involved with Univision but the real disruption lies in recognizing what just took place. A media company just became an agency or rather added an agency element to its repertoire of an already stout position as a leader in Hispanic engagement.
The time for agencies to disrupt themselves is now. How can we compete with the likes of these huge media holding companies? The answer lies in our ability and willingness to transform into a nimble, responsive, innovative, and forward-thinking enterprise where the words crowdsourcing, lean canvas, and trailblazer to name a few actually become second nature. Es posible.