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Posted: 4/15/98

Latino Marketing Expert Sosa to Lecture at A&M International

 

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Lionel Sosa, top Latino business executive and author of The Americano Dream: How Latinos Can Achieve It in Business and in Life, will be presented in a special lecture Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at Texas A&M International University's Great Room in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.

Sosa's lecture is being co-sponsored by the University's College of Business Administration and the Laredo-Gateway Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). It is free of charge and open to the public.

Prior to his lecture, Sosa will conduct a book-signing at BookMark Books from 4 - 6 p.m.

Dr. Khosrow Fatemi, Dean of A&M International's College of Business Administration, said the lecture offers students and the community at large a rare opportunity.

"Mr. Sosa brings a lifetime of practical business experience that has real-world value to all of us. We look forward to his insight and sage advice. It's a great opportunity for our students and our community, and we appreciate the efforts of our faculty members, Drs. Jacqueline and Milton Mayfield, in securing Mr. Sosa's appearance, " Dr. Fatemi said.

Henry Garcia, president of the co-sponsoring PRSA-Laredo Gateway Chapter, said the group is proud to be able to help bring Sosa's important message to Laredo.

"As public relations professionals, our group is keenly interested in how messages best reach audiences. We are looking forward to hearing of Mr. Sosa's experiences and urge everyone to join us for his lecture," Garcia said.

Sosa, considered by many to be the leading authority on marketing products to Hispanic consumers, is a native of San Antonio. He grew up on the West side and started his own graphic design studio, Sosart. He eventually merged with another San Antonio agency to form Ed Yardang, which soon emerged as a major leader in Hispanic advertising.

In the 1980s, Sosa started his own agency, Sosa and Associates, which eventually became Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar, Noble and Associates, the largest Hispanic agency in the US with annual billings of more than $100 million.

The same day his intended retirement was to take effect, Sosa signed on at small ad agency, KJS, founded by his wife, Kathy. While squeezing in some vacation time, he remains committed to trying to find out ways Anglo businesses can better market their products to Hispanic consumers and how Hispanic entrepreneurs can overcome their perceived inferiority complex to market themselves to Anglos.

The results can be found in his new 240-page book published by E.F. Dutton this Spring, The Americano Dream: How Latinos Can Achieve It in Business and in Life. It is also available in a Spanish-language paperback, El Sueno Americano : Como Los Latinos Pueden Triunfar En Estados Unidos.

In Americano Dream Sosa draws upon his own experiences as well as those of other successful Latino politicians, entertainers, sports figures and business people to illustrate the obstacles that Latinos must overcome and the power of their heritage.

Sosa is now turning his creative energies to developing single, multi-cultural marketing strategies that can be applied to Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans all at once.

For more information, please contact the A&M International Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at 326-2180.

Office hours are from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu