LOS ANGELES, CA –May 15, 1989 –In May of 1988, El Clasificado set out to chart a bold new course for Hispanic print media. Now, after just one year of publication, El Clasificado has expanded circulation to 90,000; a growth of 76% since the publication was first introduced to 50,000 Hispanic homes on May 4, 1988.
El Clasificado is an entirely new concept in Hispanic print. It is a weekly publication directed to the Spanish-speaking consumer and is the only publication of its kind that is home delivered free of charge to a targeted market of Hispanic households throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Although similar publications exist, none offer the verifiable market penetration that home delivered distribution provides.
Advertisers are attracted to El Clasificado not only because they finally have a vehicle that is guaranteed to reach potential customers in their homes, but because they can target their advertising to reach specific communities. “With the addition of our new zone in Pico Rivera – Montebello, El Clasificado now can offer customers six carefully carved out Spanish speaking zones,” states Martha de la Torre, president and publisher of El Clasificado. “Over the past year we spent a lot of time and money fine tuning our zones to make sure that our Spanish language publication reaches Spanish speaking consumers. We define our zones more narrowly than by zip codes or carrier routes – we define our zones down to blocks.”
According to de la Torre, this down to the block zoning could not have been achieved simply by using census data or demographic studies. It took a lot of “get in the trenches” work by El Clasificado staff walking delivery routes and talking with residents to delineate the zones as they presently exist. But the work certainly has paid off. Customers are getting results and many have increased the size of their ads in El Clasificado says de la Torre.
In the past, local businesses and merchants made up the bulk of the advertising placed in El Clasificado. Now national and regional advertisers are taking notice of this fast growing publication. Jack-In-The-Box recently ran a full page coupon promotion in El Clasificado. Transamerica’s subsidiary Americans Rent-to-Own is currently running a 13 week full page campaign. “Many major accounts we have been working on for a long, long time are finally coming in,” says Gerardo Santana, Assistant Advertising Manager. “We seem to have accomplished a lot in such a short time but I know it’s only the tip of the iceberg. We just doubled our sales staff for display as well as classified advertising but I don’t think it’s going to be enough.”
Besides a zone in Pico Rivera – Montebello and one in East Los Angeles where El Clasificado is headquartered, the publication is also distributed to residents in El Monte, La Puente, Huntington Park, Bell, San Fernando, Pacoima, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, and Van Nuys. When asked what area El Clasificado will penetrate next de la Torre replies, “It could be South Gate, Baldwin Park, Wilmington, Canoga Park or even the Inland Empire. Also many of our existing zones could be expanded. There are so many possibilities, we’ll just have to see what makes sense next. But rest assured that we will surpass a circulation of 100,000 by September.”
El Clasificado has relocated to larger offices at 790 S. Ferris Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90022 at the corner of Whittier and Ferris.
Contact:
[email protected]
(800)450-5852
