director of Gregory Cooney
Belt. (Tom Croke)
Providence advertising agencies Gregory Cooney Belt and Tango USA have formed a strategic alliance with the intention of not only opening dialogue between the two agencies, but between two communities as well.
Delia Rodriguez Masjoan opened Tango USA, Diverse Communication Strategies last year with her brother, Pablo Rodriguez Masjoan, as a consultant based in Argentina. A year later her brother is still a consultant for the firm as well as the creative director at Gregory Cooney Belt.
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Gregory Cooney Belt President Sandra Cooney said she hired Pablo shortly after the 2000 U.S. Census results indicated a 108 percent growth rate in the Hispanic population in Providence.
“The new census information came out at the same time we met Pablo and it was like a light bulb above our heads,” said Cooney.
Gregory Cooney Belt is looking to exercise the same strategy as Tango, in reaching out to the Hispanic community, and forming an advertising alliance between those who speak Spanish and those who speak English, and by bringing Delia’s brother on board, the firm has formed a strategic alliance with Tango.
Delia said Tango’s mission is “to bridge both communities and to mainly work with mainstream businesses who are looking to get to the Latino community.”
Cooney said the alliance between the two firms was inevitable.
“She doesn’t have the resources we have,” she said, “but she has the entree to the community that is even more far-reaching than Pablo’s.”
Delia has been in Rhode Island for 12 years, always specializing in community outreach.
Pablo had been operating the advertising firm RM/LS Image & Communication in Argentina from 1996 until last February when his company began to have serious financial difficulties. The economy got tough, he said, and clients were just not paying their bills.
“Here in the United States all the companies start to cut back on advertising, marketing and everything else,” he said. “In Argentina they just stop.”
Pablo said his agency is still operating, albeit very slowly.
“We have a network set up where if a client wants to reach South America, we can set something up,” he said.
Delia said both companies are making efforts to fill a void she became aware of when she was the public relations coordinator for the 2000 U.S. Census in Rhode Island.
“There was a need to create something more formal,” she said, “where we could not only provide adaptation of the message but integrate it with communication strategies that are more effective.”
Pablo said oftentimes agencies will just put together an ad in English and come up with a literal translation in Spanish that doesn’t exactly translate to the community.
“There are some agencies that say they know how to reach the Spanish community but they’ve never been there and they don’t know anybody,” he said. “And you really have to understand the culture. It’s not about translating as much as it is adapting, because when you’re translating word by word it might not make sense in Spanish.”
Delia agreed.
“Many times the translation alone doesn’t send the right message,” she said.
Pablo’s first client with Gregory Cooney Belt is actually an effort to bring a Latino client to the English-speaking market with Radio Poder, Power 1110 AM, where he has done graphic design for a company vehicle.
Tony Mandez, chief executive officer at the station, said working with Pablo has been refreshing.
“What’s different about this agency is they have someone who understands the culture,” he said.
Cooney said this is only the beginning.
“He’s working his own network at this point,” she said. “I can’t say we have some big piece of business that I could say is either helping the Hispanic businesses in the American market or vice-versa. We’re just starting to develop those relationships.”
Tango USA’s clients have included Fleet Bank, Neighborhood Health Plan, Bank Rhode Island and WJAR Channel 10.
