Latino media business quickly expanding in East Coast

Descuento Libre Acquires Another Latino Daily Deal Site

Establishes Partnerships to Serve Hispanics in Over 70 North American Markets

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Last month, Latino daily deal site Descuento Libre acquired Mi Cupon Del Dia, a Miami based competitor, just a couple months after acquiring Los Angeles based deal site Groupacho. Since Descuento Libre's test market launch in Austin, Chicago, and Mexico City in March 2011, the lean high-growth startup has been optimizing strategies and developing partnerships to best serve Hispanic consumers in both the U.S. and Mexico with relevant deals, content, mediums and marketing messages -- in English and Spanish. As of January 2012, Descuento Libre officially launched in over 70 additional markets in the U.S. and Mexico.

The acquisition of Mi Cupon Del Dia enabled Descuento Libre to quickly expand its offerings to Miami's large Latino market."Acquiring Mi Cupon Del Dia allowed Descuento Libre to tap into the Hispanic community in Miami without reinventing the wheel. The Hispanic deal site is a new concept in the e-commerce market, so collaborations are key to standing out amongst the hundreds of mass-market deal sites that have sprouted since Groupon launched nearly three years ago," said Boris Portman, CEO and Founder of Descuento Libre.

U.S. Hispanics are a fast-growing, complex, and still underserved demographic, with a broad range of cultural roots, ages, interests, and acculturation, so Descuento Libre combines an interesting mix of traditional media and online marketing to reach this audience. In addition to strategic partnerships that allow expansion into new markets, the deal site has also established media partnerships -- including alliances with bloggers in the LasBlogueras.com network -- to create brand awareness among Hispanics.

In Chicago, Descuento Libre works with ViveloHoy.com of the Chicago Tribune Newspaper to advertise deals locally through print and web. In Austin, Descuento Libre partnered with national radio celebrity, El Chulo de la Manana, on Fiesta Mexicana 97.1 FM to publicize its brand and educate Hispanic consumers about using deal sites to save money. Nationally, Descuento Libre will continue to work with Latino-focused websites, and in the next several months will be announcing additional key partnerships, including affiliations with nonprofit organizations. Descuento Libre recently partnered with inova.com.mx, the leader in informational sales in Mexico.

In addition to providing Descuento Libre with a rich variety of deals, the partnership also enhances its marketing reach. As Descuento Libre continues to develop its national presence in the U.S. and Mexico, it will offer a mix of local Hispanic-flavor deals and deals with mass-market appeal. In addition, it has launched the multiple deal feature, as well as online coupons for daily consumer goods such as groceries, so customers have more deal variety on any given day.

Descuento Libre is also developing and testing SMS and rich mobile features that will be rolled out during Q1 2012. Hispanics, in many ways, behave similarly to the mass market -- the key is in communicating with them both via appropriate language and cultural messaging.

SOURCE: Descuento Libre