NEW YORK—The prestigious Crain’s New York Business trade publication ranked Admerasia as one of the 25 largest minority-owned businesses in New York in its May 3, 2010 issue. Admerasia was also the only minority-owned advertising agency on the list.

“It is our diversity that makes us a very strong, robust company,” says Tommy Ng, general manager of Admerasia, a full-service Asian American advertising agency whose earnings of $16.5 million in 2009 put them on Crain’s list.

“We are proud to be part of other minority-owned companies that made it to Crain’s New York Business list,” he adds. “We are even prouder to find out that we are the only advertising agency on the list.”

Crain’s New York Business is part of Crain Communications, a major publishing conglomerate that also publishes Advertising Age.

Crain’s list is based on 2009 revenues of privately owned minority-owned businesses in the New York area. This covers New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties in New York, and Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties in New Jersey.

To qualify, 51% or more of the firm must be owned by minorities which are defined and classified by the U.S. Census Bureau and Empire State Development as follows: black/African racial groups; Hispanic/Latino (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Central or South American of either Indian or Hispanic/Latino origin, regardless of race); Asian (having origins in any of the Far East countries, Southeast Asia or Indian subcontinent); American Indian/Alaskan Native (having origins in any of the original peoples of North, South or Central American and maintaining tribal affiliation or community attachment); and native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander (having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands).

The ranking was based on the 2009 annual revenues of minority-owned companies with information provided to Crain’s New York Business.

Admerasia is recognized for its creative and media excellence by many of its Fortune 500 clients, including Citibank, Nissan, P&G, Lowe’s and McDonald’s.

General market brands also rely on Admerasia’s high-quality research and proprietary tools, AdTrackTM for competitive tracking and MBATM for budget media allocations.

For more information about Admerasia, please contact Tommy Ng, general manager at tel. 212-686-3333, with offices at 159 West 25th Street 6/F, New York, NY 10001. Visit admerasia.com for more information.

Efren Peñaflorida, who started a “pushcart classroom” in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed Peñaflorida’s selection at the conclusion of the third-annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Saturday night.
The gala event, taped before an audience of 3,000 at the Kodak Theatre, premieres on Thanksgiving, November 26, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the global networks of CNN.

Peñaflorida, who will receive $100,000 to continue his work with the Dynamic Teen Company, was selected after seven weeks of online voting at CNN.com. More than 2.75 million votes were cast.

In his speech he said, “Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry,” Peñaflorida said upon accepting the honor. “Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.

“So to each and every person inside this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers … you are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

According to AdAge,  blogging has become a national obsession in China, with over 50 million Chinese regularly contributing to local blog sites.  We would gladly post the list of blogs here, but AdAge would not like it.  Please just click on the link here to get the list.

http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=140113

We wonder if all Asian American advertising agencies would agree with the list.

Admerasia, the leading Asian American advertising agency, recently extended help to flood victims  of typhoon Ketsana (Philippine name, Ondoy) in the Philippines thru the Philippine Consulate in New York which will then send the donated money to the Philippine National Red Cross.

The Philippines suffered the worst flooding in recent memory, as it submerged 80% of Manila, killing over 260 people and displacing nearly half  a million Filipinos in its major city and nearby areas last weekend. To make matters worse, another even stronger typhoon is expected to hit the country this Saturday.

Consul General Cecila Rebong was in attendance at the Philippine Consulate when Admerasia paid her a  courtesy call.

The Philippine Consulate also invites everyone to join the 2009 Lakad Tulong on Oct. 11, 2009 to be able to extend more help to the flood victims and encourage Filipinos to participate in the upcoming 2010 Census.

If you wish to donate in kind (clothing, shoes, canned goods, etc), you can drop this off on Saturday, October 3 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Nodutdol for the Korean Community Development, 53-22 Roosevelt Avenue,  2nd floor, Woodside, Queens (between 53rd and 54th streets). After October 3, materials can be dropped off at the DAMAYAN Office, 406  West 40th Street, New York, NY, 10018.  Contact Leah Obias, Chevy Evangelista at 212.564.6057.

If you would still like to donate money, visit the Philippine National Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org.ph/ –dennis clemente

Admerasia, the pioneer and leader of full-service Asian American advertising since 1993, recently set a media milestone when it initiated the development of a new online advertising system for targeting Asians in the U.S. through YouTube.

“We take pride in being the first Asian American advertising agency to have taken this initiative,” says Doris Huang, media director of Admerasia.

The initiative was borne from Admerasia’s idea of targeting the high percentage of online activity by Asians in the U.S. After several weeks in development, YouTube eventually provided the solution that will now allow any company to target language-dependent Asians in the U.S., a fast-growing minority totaling more than 13 million.

This system is based on language and location settings of U.S.-based Asian users. For its current campaign targeting the Chinese and Koreans, the settings had to be precise. Domains were set to Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan with IP addresses in the U.S.

China is not included in the domain setting, because of Internet restrictions there.

With all these in place, Admerasia was able to go full steam ahead with its new campaign for McDonald’s on the midnight of September 10 on YouTube.

In choosing the media channel, Admerasia based its strategy on Asians’ behavior online as well as its current campaign.

YouTube has the reach and ability to be culturally relevant, and addresses demographic (18-49 years old) and psychographic targets (online entertainment/TV activity is huge among Asians). It can also make the most impact for Admerasia’s current campaign in only a short period of time (three months up to December 2009).

Tommy Ng, general manager of Admerasia, says this latest move of Admerasia will create more opportunities for Admerasia to cultivate new, strategic partnerships, especially its recent one with Double Click.

Sidney Yee, EVP and the agency executive in charge of the McDonald’s business, agrees, “Selecting the right strategic partnerships will help our client’s brand engage Asians in the U.S. and remain the industry category leader.”

Admerasia has always been at the forefront of innovative marketing to the Asian-American market, whether this is traditional or digital advertising. With the latter, Admerasia has always been an early adopter. In the late 90s, it will be recalled that Admerasia was instrumental in guiding E*TRADE to the digital path with the ground-breaking “Chinese localization” of E*TRADE’s English-language website.

Figures from the Phoenix Multicultural and Interviewing Service of America study of Asian Americans released this year substantiate the path Admerasia is taking in the digital world is right on track.

For instance, Asian Americans are close to matching Caucasians in the U.S. in terms of Internet access at home at 82% and 84%, respectively. Better yet, Asian Americans rule by a wide margin in the consumption of in-language/in-cultural programs or online entertainment programming (movies, TV, sports): 55% against 37% for Caucasians.

Today, Admerasia helps other general market brands such as Lowe’s and Foxwoods succeed in the Asian American market by seamlessly integrating new technologies with its traditional full-service advertising.

For more information, please call Tommy Ng, Admerasia general manager, at 212-653-9177. Visit Admerasia at www.admerasia.com or at its offices at 159 W 25^th St. 6/F, New York, NY 10001.–dennis clemente