Meet Sara

The Short version | The Long Version

From Central California, attended California State University Fresno, graduating Fresno Pacific University with a degree in Marketing and Management before receiving a Global MBA with a thesis on Building Bi Cultural Brands – US Brands reaching the Hispanic Market.

After working at a local NBC affiliate in Promotions and News, to later working in Marketing and Sales for Univision Communications, Hispanic agency – Mendez Media Marketing, Inc. was born in 2006. Representing clients in the casino, automotive, tourism, healthcare, legal, and retail industries, leading to international brand representation in 16 countries in more than a dozen languages, specializing in digital media.

As a result of expansive digital media work and certifications in 2013, RS Media Inc. was created in 2016 as a digital media company providing digital marketing strategies, including a simple to use, affordable client-friendly analytics reporting dashboard. RS also ventured into licensing and partnerships for Latino brands in the US.

Today, the two companies meet in the middle as they advance companies in a variety of industries, delivering the Hispanic consumer market from every platform, on a simplified digital media dashboard, brining life to new partnerships and licensing opportunities.

Sara taught Business Marketing, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Market Research and Global Business for 5 years, developing courses, and taking MBA students to Singapore and Costa Rica, on business and mission trips, partnering with industry leaders in marketing, retail, and tourism.

Growing up in a small country town in Central California, where everyone went to one high school before heading off to college, the one thing I knew for sure, was that I had to see it all, do it all, and what’s more – I knew I could. Having a grandfather who was Native American and found success in entrepreneurship on his own, to my father who against the odds also found success in his own firm before heading into his judgeship, and a mother who was more involved in every local community event and committee than anyone I knew, I had no chance of thinking my future was limited in any way. Anything was possible. You have to want it bad enough and work hard enough. It was that simple.

When it came to knowing what to study, it literally fell in my lap. After attending a New York City trade show for a bio medical engineering firm, I fell in love with what marketing was all about. Showcasing companies’ products and services to targeted consumer markets and communicating why you are the best option to fulfill their needs. (Talking, writing, storytelling… that was something I could do!) So off I went.

After graduating high school in 3 years, taking community college units my senior year to get ahead before college, I then went to California State University Fresno, Craig School of Business, majoring in Marketing and Management. My second year there, I studied abroad through the exchange program, and went to the University of Central Lancashire in Preston England. After returning, I completed my degree at Fresno Pacific University, a private University incorporating Christian Faith into the learning. As a senior I interned for the local NBC affiliate in the promotions department before heading to work part time in the newsroom. And after three short years in college, I graduated with my degree just after my 21st birthday and off to work I went.

Enjoying the television world of marketing and communications, I saw an opportunity with the vast growing Hispanic market in the US. So, I went to work for Univision Communications in sales and marketing. The amount of training and investment Univision made in their team was monumental and life changing for my career. The relationships made and cultural experiences I was given forever changed my outlook on consumer marketing. It’s not just about products and consumers. It’s about the culture of both consumers and companies. It wasn’t about language, it was about meaning. It wasn’t just translations it was telling a story with purpose.

While at Univision I met my future husband. A second generation Hispanic with family from Michoacán Mexico, raised in Fresno, CA. Robert ended up working with Univision in three markets over 18 years and has been an integral part of my understanding, and passion for this underrepresented market in the US when it comes to marketing and brands.

In late 2006, Mendez Media Marketing, Inc. was born. A Hispanic marketing agency that went beyond advertising. It included training teams on how to be the best versions of themselves, incorporating their corporate culture and being motivated each and every day to be a part of the solution and growth. Though this was the beginning of the economic recession that hit the US during the housing crisis, it was a perfect time for a new solution in the world of marketing. We were saying things like “don’t spend so much, the pool of consumers in a market won’t increase by spending more. Marketing spend determines market share, it doesn’t create a market that economically can’t exist.” Success was immediate and took off in the first year, with casinos, hotels, automotive, state contracts for fairs and economic development departments, retail, legal, and healthcare companies as initial clients.

As Mendez Media Marketing, Inc. expanded it was time to go back to school for a Global MBA. The 2-year program focused in global markets and understanding the political, economic, and social impacts on consumer decision making. The things that really matter before consumers can truly ever be “in market” for anything. My thesis topic was easy – Building Bi Cultural Brands – US brands reaching Hispanic consumer markets. The paper included focus group findings from Hispanic groups in the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico and furthered my passion for this complex and assimilating group of consumers in the US.

By 2011 Mendez Media Marketing, Inc. had offices in Fresno and Bakersfield and soon after began representing multiple international travel and tourism brands in 16 countries and more than a dozen languages. It was after working in countries like Mexico, Brazil, India, and China that the digital world of advertising came to light, as they were way ahead of the US.

From here, in 2015 the idea of RS Media Inc. began, which became incorporated in 2016 as a digital media and Latino licensing company. The company began by developing a digital dashboard, with multiple software engineers, taking digital media ad results and applying them in a business marketing-minded way, featuring simple and affordable reporting, all while integrating the APIs of top digital marketing platforms. RS also recognized the limited exposure of many top Latino brands in the US by way of licensing and industry partnerships.

While growing Mendez Marketing and developing RS Media, I also taught Business Marketing, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Market Research and Global Business for 5 years, developing courses, and taking MBA students to Singapore and Costa Rica, on business and mission trips. Students were partnered with companies like the Marina Bay Sands, and met with industry leaders in marketing, including Singapore’s J Walter Thompson, Pepsi Co, Mastercard, and Brand USA.

After years of work in the Hispanic market, and multi-lingual marketing, multiple speaking engagements ensued. Speaking for organizations like the National Indian Gaming Association, the National Tourism Association in the US, and dozens of local and regional speaking sessions have occurred in the industries of oil, banking, healthcare, automotive, and tourism.

Today, the two companies meet in the middle as they advance companies in a variety of industries, delivering the Hispanic consumer market from every platform, on a simplified digital media dashboard, brining life to new partnerships and licensing opportunities.

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“Remember we are our own brand. Our demeanor, our outlook, our confidence, our willingness to never give up, shows people who we are. We determine our brands and our own reputations. Never stop growing, fighting, wanting, and doing“

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“I am not sure what I want to do when I grow up. And I pray that is still my feeling in the decades to come. Opportunities continue to present themselves as long as you are open to them, and my passion for learning and growing will never die.“

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Over the past ten years, Sara has been an expert speaker in various industries at multiple conferences internationally.

At the National Indian Gaming Associations annual conference, Sara was a speaker about how hotels and casinos can effectively and efficiently reach the Hispanic market. An in-depth review was outlined about the Hispanic consumer markets in the US, by region, language preference, and external impacts that determine where they play, how long, and how much. Research was based on focus groups done in both English and Spanish to Hispanic markets throughout California and looked at how the two markets differ in their opinions of what brings brand value in this industry. (NIGA LOGO – all logos noted in green put at bottom of page)

The National Tourism Association of the USA asked Sara to speak at an annual meeting in New Mexico, as they embarked on new focus efforts to reach US based and Mexican based Hispanics in the tourism sector. Research about inbound and outbound travel patterns within the two markets were reviewed, while an in-depth analysis of the top 5 inbound markets were analyzed. (NTA LOGO)

Companies have also asked Sara to speak with a variety of objectives in mind.

In the banking industry, Sara met with directors and executives with one of California’s largest financial institutions, talking about the value of living a corporate culture, and how to motivate teams through our own contagious passion and motivation to do great things.

Sara worked with a heart hospital in California, and for three years, worked monthly with the executive team including the CEO and hospital administrators and directors, all the way down to all 500 employees, creating and implementing a new corporate culture where customer and patient experiences were at the forefront of everything the hospital did. Goals included increased employee motivation, decreased turnover, increased patient satisfaction, and as a result increased brand recognition and word of mouth of patient experiences in market.

In the Oil industry, Sara and her team met with all 400+ employees, at each oil site, talking about employee requests, concerns, ideas, and development opportunities. As a result, the company received anonymous surveys outlining overall employee satisfaction with the company, areas to improve and areas to expand. The outcome was a partnership the company did with Dave Ramsey – Entreleadership, where Dave Ramsey, came out and trained the group, and empowered each team member to think differently and empower themselves to push forward in a competitive industry.

Brand USA, American’s international brand association representing the country around the globe, asked Sara and her husband Robert to speak in Singapore at the ITB Asia Travel and Tourism Trade Show. Content was focused on why travel USA – including a segment on Grand Canyon West and the Grand Canyon Skywalk, both brands represented by Mendez Media Marketing, Inc.

Why Digital?

Its as simple as 3-4 and 5

In 2018 there were more than 3 billion people using social media, more than 4 billion internet users in the world, and more than 5 billion people using mobile phones (Hootsuite 2018).

This means consumer habits have changed so drastically, that assuming you can still reach them through the same traditional media platforms, or with the same traditional thinking of ad campaigns is never going to work. The consumer’s life experiences and culture have completely changed and ultimately, shaped the way they think. The way the consume media. The way they make decisions on what to do, where to go, and how to do it. And here’s the kicker, when a consumer decides what they want, they want it all NOW. The expectation of the speed at which a brand needs to deliver answers and solutions has increased tenfold over the last 2-3 years.

When over 500 million (half a BILLION) people are watching video on Facebook every day, (via Forbes), it’s probably not a bad place to be to reach consumers. That is assuming they are within the target market of your consumer demographic.

When another 65.3 million US homes have an internet enabled device capable of streaming content to the TV, which includes video game consoles, smart TVs or internet devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV, we know we have to shift our thinking by way of reaching today’s consumer, especially if targeting the Hispanic market, which over indexes in digital media consumption, in just about every category (Nielsen Local Watch Report, 2018).

With digital advertising, whether in the SEO/SEM area, Display, Retargeting, Video or social media space… there are endless, literally hundreds of thousands of platforms to choose from. Knowing which platform to use, how much is the right budget on each, and how to measure ROI on each can be difficult and many still are “guessing”. We don’t. But the number one focus before diving into the world of digital media platforms, should be on the website. Time on site, bounce rate, leads generated, where impressions are coming from, etc. Ongoing web maintenance and improvement is imperative to any successful digital campaign. They go together!

Almost 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store. While 79% say they’re more likely to revisit and/or share a mobile site if it is easy to use. And over 60% of people expect brands to “provide consumers with information they need when they need it,” less than half of them feel that brands are actually delivering (ThinkWithGoogle). The average web user will wait only 3 seconds before abandoning a page load attempt, giving brands literally seconds to make those impressions count, making a website’s user experience the most important KPI of all.

Paying attention to analytics, pulling them, reviewing them, setting objectives to improve KPIs like bounce rates, time on site, click to call, hours and directions, lead forms and more have to become a part of the marketing objectives if not already there.

Digital is no longer a place with one line item on a budget. It’s not a separate piece of the marketing puzzle. It is the piece where the lowest funnel customers are before they decide if you’re the company for them. It's the place where interest meets sales. It’s where branding leads to advertising leads to digital leads to search leads to time on site, leads to in store visit or path to purchase. They are all one in the same in today’s digital environment.

are before they decide if you’re the company for them. It's the place where interest meets sales. It’s where branding leads to advertising leads to digital leads to search leads to time on site, leads to in store visit or path to purchase. They are all one in the same in today’s digital environment.

Don’t farm it out! Too many companies are paying layers upon layers of vendors who contract with vendors to handle digital. By the time your digital is placed, sometimes less than 50% of it actually hits the digital marketplace. Know what kind of transparency you should get and don’t settle for less. Audit everything.

What have I done about this growing segment. Two things.

1) I immediately trained a team of digital marketers in house to get certified on Google search display and video as well as social platforms and immediately began working in the OTT, and digital space with lead vendors specific to multiple industries and continue to expand digital partnerships with platforms all the time.

2) Created a company – RS Media Inc., dedicated to digital media development of our own digital software programs, learning and growing in the digital space every day.

What kind of results have we seen? Glad you asked! Here are just a few to share among the more than 3 million dollars of digital media placed -

Sazón is what I like to call the final ingredient. Or that moment when the marketing campaign is perfect and ready to hit the market – it’s ripe! Or in other words – it has Sazón!

sazón n.

1. (madurez)

a.ripeness

en sazon (ripe)

2. (sabor)

a.seasoning, flavoring

a la sazónthen, (at that time)

When Mendez Media Marketing, Inc. was created, it was because for so many years, while at Univision, I watched brands, some small and some from very large, including advertising agencies, do the bare minimum and simply translate English ads to reach Hispanic markets. It was the easy way to go. And since business owners for the most part were not able to review the plan – both advertising programming, and the commercials or ads themselves, to check for accuracy and creativity, it was never-ending. Understanding Spanish television programming, formats, and network backgrounds, makes a huge difference in comprehending whether or not your strategy will work. Spanish, much like English in this way, isn’t as simple as saying “I advertise on Radio.” That's like saying “I advertise on one English radio station, so I cover the whole English-speaking market.” Of course we know that for English radio we have oldies, hip hop, talk, country, soft rock and more. So, it is impossible to reach them all on one station, or even two. Plus, geographical location matters – the demographic of target audiences is not uniform from region to region. The region has a large impact on what kind of programs, stations, and formats that are being used by consumers. The same is true with digital media consumption in Spanish.

So, I decided it was time for companies to better reach, this growing market of Hispanic consumers with billions of dollars to spend in the US. It was unacceptable to me that so many had taken advantage of this market for so long.

After working with marketing and PR firms in Mexico City over the years and partnering with them on various projects between the two countries, the opportunities are endless for US brands. The time is now to think about how you are reaching this market and what you can do better. The market is ripe, and your share is destined to increase. Give your brand Sazón.

Just about every company everywhere has three things on a wall somewhere: Mission, Vision, and Values. Yet, if you ask anyone working there, most have no idea what they are, and what’s worse, if you ask them if they feel the company adequately represents those daily in how the conduct business, they typically say no.

Much like what I tell people who show me their new logo, or new ad creative, and they say, “What do you think?” I say the same thing most times “It's a logo. It’s an ad. Looks like a logo. Looks like an ad.” What is it that makes those logos or ads have value? It’s not the design, the colors, the size or the images used. It's the meaning that the viewer can get by seeing it. It has to be felt. Known. Understood. Lived. Are they getting it or just seeing and hearing it.

Everything is founded on research. Why? Because as much as I think my ideas are great. You shouldn’t. If anyone ever comes in, not knowing everything about your business and your customer, and starts telling you their ideas on how to improve your business through advertising, digital media, or anything … run. If anyone on our team makes a recommendation (to or not to do something) it is with WHY. (I call this, as my former students will remember, “The Why Factor”.) If I ever get something from anyone, including sales people and students, I ask why will this work or why does this make sense, and if the answer is “I don’t know”, then your proposal isn’t ready to be presented.

There are so many smoke and mirrors in marketing today. So, when Mendez first opened in 2006, from the get-go, there was one non-negotiable principle in the business… TRANSPARENCY in all things. Invoicing. Billing. Fees. Media Plans. Proposals. Auditing. Everything. No secrets. No blocks in communication. And No laziness. Period. Invoicing. Billing. Fees. Media Plans. Proposals. Auditing. Everything. No secrets. No blocks in communication. And No laziness on behalf of our clients. Period.

What does that mean?
Invoicing, billing and fees – Believe it or not many companies won’t show clients actual media or vendor invoices. Everything has to go through the marketing company and then bills from them to client. No reason for that. Be transparent. Be fair. Reconcile. And be open. It always works out better.

Media or client proposals – I can’t tell you how many times I have seen, both as an employee of NBC or Univision, or as an agency owner, proposals presented that never make it to the client. Agencies just decide on their own laziness or volition that the client doesn’t want it. Well maybe they do. You can still make your educated recommendation to either move forward or pass but why not share the proposal in a simple quick way, so the client knows what’s available and doesn’t miss anything. Isn’t that part of our job? To represent them in all things and ensure information is shared? I think so. So, our rule – all calls and emails, even new sales calls from vendors or media, are returned within 24 hours, AND all proposals are shared with clients with our recommendations and reasoning which always includes research.

Auditing – Just like checking your order after getting a bag at a fast food or checking the bill when the receipt total doesn’t sound right… audit your monthly marketing spend. Especially if it's a large spend. The larger the spend the easier it is for things to slip. Audit third party vendors, leads results, and invoices. Audit traditional media and bumps and make goods and totals (it’s almost never what you bought that actually bills – usually less) and audit your digital. Digital media is where current agencies are finding ways to shave off upwards of 40% or more and hide it in reporting and invoicing. Make sure you know where every penny of spend goes. Commissions and fees for services are fine. Or course we all have to make a living from services, but don’t hide them.

Research based approach – Don’t take our word for it. As much as I may know today, resulting from experience and education, the markets are always changing, consumer needs, and outside influences are forever altering how and why people do business the way they do. So, make decisions based on what the market is doing. What we KNOW is happening and what results can be driven from. Don’t settle for anything less. Ever.

“At the end of the day, be a good person. Be honest. Be humble. Always be willing to learn and do more. The answer is always” yes, sure, no problem” and you figure it out along the way. Be innovative. Work fast and assume it was due yesterday. Give two options and always send solutions with the problems. Be a part of the team. As many successful teams have said, “The name on the front is always more important than the one on the back.” And then, when you have done it the best way you can and got the best results thus far; do it better next time. “