Alarcón Design Brings Unique Latino Flair to Atlanta Market
When Marco Alarcon relocated from his native San Antonio, Texas last year to live and work in Atlanta, he worried most about leaving behind his beloved enchiladasverdes and freshly made tortillas. He also assumed that he would be hundreds of miles away from Latin music, festivals and the language that he grew up with. Atlanta had something quite different in store for him.

With a Hispanic population of over 64% in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan area¹, there was no shortage of Latino culture in this bustling and cosmopolitan center. In the end, he would feel very "at home" in Atlanta and he would tap into an incredible potential for the local Hispanic market. As a small and minority business owner, Alarcón knows a thing or two about looking ahead and having the flexibility to stay on top of market trends.

Since founding Alarcón Design, a full-service graphic design studio, in 1991, he has used his expertise in Hispanic marketing to help large companies and corporate clients successfully penetrate this once "niche" market that now has an estimated annual buying power of nearly $600 billion in the United States. The US Hispanic
community's purchasing power represents the ninth largest economy in the world, larger than the GNP of Brazil, Spain or Mexico².

According to a recent study by the Selig Center of Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, the state ranked third for Hispanic buying power in the US and Hispanic buying power in metro Atlanta is more than $7.6 billion, an increase of 861% since 1990.

"Small, Women, and Minority-owned businesses have a tremendous impact on the larger business community," states Alarcón, who has become an expert in appealing to the ever-growing Hispanic markets of the Southern United States. "The key is appealing to your audience with a message and campaign that speaks to them and is inclusive."

Through his experience with national and regionally-based clients, Alarcón has been able to translate client strategies into brand relevant and effective campaigns with messages geared toward specific audiences, in particular Hispanics -- the fastestgrowing audience, by far.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the buying power of Hispanics in Georgia totals approximately $11 billion -- about 5 percent of Georgia's entire economy. Georgia has a considerable Hispanic population, totaling around 531,000 in 2003, almost a fivefold increase from the estimated 109,000 Hispanics in the state in 1990.

¹U.S. Census Bureau, 2004
²Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, 2003

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