Schocken Books announces the publication of the pathbreaking Shopping For Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity by Dr. Marilyn Halter, professor of history and research associate at the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture at Boston University. Shopping For Identity is an informative and entertaining look at the interaction between comerce and culture in the ethnic marketplace. In a smart, lively, and accessible narrative, Professor Halter examines the revival of ethnic identity that began in the 1970's, replaced the time-honored melting pot with a new generation of "hyphenated" Americans and changed forever our culture of mass consumption. Publishers Weekly calls Shopping For Identity a "highly engaging" and "refreshingly radical" study in which "Halter traces the complicated history of ethnicity and consumption in the US. Kirkus Reviews raves that the author, "moves easily form culture to culture, writing with confidence and competence on such topics as Yiddish iterature, kwanzaa, Latino cusisine and cosmetics." Available at bookstores everywhere or contact Professor Halter directly at 617-353-6736, mhalter@bu.edu.

The Chase Manhattan Corporation will roll out its multicultural efforts by launching a corporate branding campaign targeting Hispanics in New York and Texas. The campaign will debut this fall on Hispanic television and radio stations as well as Hispanic publications. "At Chase we recognize how important Hispanics, the fastest growing ethnic group in the country, are for our business, and we are committed to providing our Hispanic customer our broad porfolio of products and services in an in-language, culturally friendly setting," said Rika Levin, VP Marketing. Traditionally, Chase has been a long supporter of the Hispanic community sponsoring key events and organizations at the community/grassroots level, and business commmunity. THe Chase Manhattan Corporation is a premier global financial services firm with assets in excess of $396 billion. Chase combines the best of commercial and investment banking, offers worldclass information and transaction processing services, and has a leading US consumer franchise that serves 30 million customers. With offices in more than 45 countries, Chase has a presence in all of the principal financial centers of the world. Call Carmen Sepúlveda, VP Diverse Markets, 212-522-7960 or visit www.chase.com.

The American Advertising Federation (AAF) has been working for several years to empower the industry with a more diverse work force and information about emerging multicultural markets in the US. Recent initiatives of the AAF and its non-profit educational Foundation help facilitate the exchange of information and ideas between national advertisers, ad agencies and minority firms. Recent efforts include the Executive Roundtable on Multicultural Advertising and Diversity and the ad hoc Business Practices Review Committee (BPRC) to address long-standing complaints that some corporations' business practices restrict opportunities for companies that target multicultural consumers. Now in its 4th year, the Most Promising Minority Student (MPMS) program has presented the ad industry with over 250 top candidates. The MPMS program's two-day agenda, which is co-sponsored by companies like NBC, General Motors, Advertising Age and Procter & Gamble includes the annual Building Bridges for our Future national awards luncheon. Call Heide Gardner, Vice President, National Multicultural Initiatives, 202-898-0089.

New Jersey's oldest and largest marketing communications firm, Brushfire Inc., specializes in the creation and execution of event marketing and sponsorship strategies around the world, including a leading ethnic marketing group with multi-cultural skills and experience. The newest 30-year-old agency prides itself in designing fully integrated programs that can be as targeted as its clients require, reaching specific audiences within markets, fostering long-standing brand image and awareness among key community leaders and users, as well as product trial and community relations with key ethnic groups. Brushfire's 50+ staff includes a multilingual team providing support to international clients in major world markets, as well as localized highly targeted efforts. Clients like Berlitz, Western Union, GPU Energy, Colgate-Palmolive and Lucent Technologies have taken advantage of the agency's unique capabilities, introducing products and services to the Hispanic, Caribbean, European, Middle-Eastern, Asian, Indian and African communities. Call Miguel González, VP Ethnic Marketing, 973-386-1776 or email mgonzalez@brushfiremarketing.com.

IMAGES USA is an Atlanta-based, minority owned, international communications firm specializing in advertising, marketing, public relations, creative services, event management, market research and sales promotion. IMAGES provides specialized ethnic marketing and advertising programs for a diverse client base, including the African-American, Hispanic and Asian market. Founded in 1989 by Robert L. McNeil, Jr, who at the time was a 19-year old Industrial Engineering student at Georgia Tech, IMAGES first official client was Coors Brewing Company. Throughout 11 years progression, IMAGES has added Atlanta's DeKalb Convention and Visitors Bureau, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dean Foods, McDonald's, the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC) and the U.S. Army to its clientele. With an annual billing of $10 million for 1999, the company employs 37 marketing and advertising professionals, with offices in Charlotte, NC and Miami, FL in addition to trained field-marketing agents located within the top 40 markets across the United States. IMAGES USA has also received numerous professional and entrepreneur awards, including the 1998 Young Advertising Professional Award from the Atlanta Ad Club and placement on Black Enterprise Magazine's 1998 B.E. 100 list, spotlighting the nation's largest Black-owned advertising agencies. Call Linda Hearns 404-892-2931.

Esther Novak, an entrepreneur with a solid corporate background, is a pioneer in ethnic marketing. Today she is CEO, president and founder of Vanguard Communications, a firm specializing in marketing communications for multicultural markets, where she has led efforts for Fortune 500 companies such as Gillette, Sprint PCS and Tropicana Dole. As agency of record for African American and Hispanic markets for Gillette, Vanguard moved market share significantly with public relations, promotions and advertising. Vanguard launched the Spanish-language campaign for Sprint PCS wireless service to the Hispanic market in the New York Metropolitan Area and, via PR and promotions, moved cases of Tropicana-Dole 100% Juice. Vanguard has strong expertise in promoting internet companies including the newly formed MinorityInterest Network. Prior to founding her firm and during her 11 years with AT&T, she was the leader in establishing a multicultural communications division, which focused on the Hispanic, African American, Asian and Eastern European markets. Peruvian born, Novak has been honored for her contribution to Hispanic media by the National Association of Hispanic Publications. Call Esther Novak 212-626-6751.

The Bravo Group is a fully integrated Hispanic marketing and communications agency. The group, which serves a wide range of clients in the United States, was established in 1980 and is ranked #1 among Hispanic agencies in the country. Under the leadership of Daisy Expósito, President and Chief Creative Officer, the company has grown from capitalized billings of less than $5 million in 1985 to more than $200 million in 2000. Bravo's multidisciplined services include advertising, direct marketing, public relations, research, promotions and event marketing. The Bravo Group has expanded to include divisions specializing in e-marketing, Bravo 2.1; the Latino youth market, Bravo Lateeno; and Hispanic health care and well being, BravoMed. Clients include AT&T, Kraft Foods, Glaxo-Wellcome, Philip Morris, Columbia House, Banco Popular, Orchard Supply Hardware, Whitehall-Robins, the US Postal Service, Blockbuster, Sears and BestFoods. Call Daisy Expósito, President & Chief Creative Officer, 212-614-6000.

San Francisco-based KTSF Television is the only source of news and entertainment programming for 1,600,000 Northern California Asian-Americans. The station carries programming in fifteen languages including Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Japanese, Tagolog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, and Laotian. News is a primary focus of station programming. KTSF is the only television broadcaster in the United States airing nightly, live newscasts in both Cantonese and Mandarin. With its crew of reporters in the station's recently opened San Jose news bureau, KTSF can provide the latest in-language news from the heart of Silicon Valley. The top-rated dramas from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China air on KTSF each weeknight from 9:00-11:00pm. The station is committed to community outreach and maintains a high profile corporate presence at numerous events and fundraisers. KTSF is the leader in Asian market consumer and viewership research and has commissioned a series of such studies since 1987. KTSF's newest Chinese consumer study will be released in October, 2000. Call Michael Sherman, General Manager, 415-468-2626.

The Strategic Research Institute will hold its 7th annual ethnic marketing conference in Chicago Sept 25-27. Premier marketers will discuss success stories and new media tools to gain share of mind, heart and wallet of the African-American, Asian-American and US Hispanic consumers who are fueling consumption and growth in the New Economy. Keynotes by Chief, Census 2000 Publicity Office, U S Census Bureau; Omar Wasow, Internet Analyst for NBC and Executive Director BlackPlanet.com, Bruce Brooks, Microsoft Corporation and a galaxy of 43 experts from the industry. Participating companies include Quaker Oats, Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, SmithKline Beecham, Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, Pfizer, Colgate, Allstate, Nike, Southwest Airlines, Charles Schwab, Ralston Purina, Gateway Computers, Major League Baseball, Henieken, DirecTV, Walgreen, Office Depot, Sina.com, Asian Avenue.com, Namaste.com, Household Credit Service, State Farm, and American Family Insurance. Visit www.srinstitute.com/cm326, call Rupa Ranganathan at 212-967-0095x252 or send email to rranganathan@srinstitute.com.

Tuzona.com, a new company providing Hispanics in the U.S and Latin America with easy access to the world of technology, has recently joined the prestigious Women's Technology Cluster (WTC). Projected to become the preeminent English/Spanish bilingual e-commerce site, Tuzona will offer the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets business-to-consumer and business-to-business technology products, information and services. Scheduled to launch in the U.S. early September, Tuzona.com has now joined the ranks of other successful WTC companies within the Silicon Valley. Founded by Liliana Miranda Townshend, Tuzona.com promises its customers a value-added purchasing alternative to the current dot.com experience. Ms. Miranda Townshend's innovative concept, along with her entrepreneurial spirit, led WTC to select Tuzona.com out of a pool of four hundred applicants. Tuzona.com will provide the rapidly-expanding Hispanic population with a website that provides bilingual information on an equally-expanding industry. Through Tuzona.com, savvy or novice Internet users will have access to technology products, information and services in both English and Spanish. Contact Michelle Maldonado, Account Executive Public Relations, The Bravo Group, 212-614-6266.

KSCI-TV, founded in 1976, is the preeminent Asian language TV station in the US, providing news, sports, dramas and entertainment in 14 languages including Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The station delivers upscale Asian families for advertisers such as AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, Toyota, McDonald's, Metropolitan Life and Disneyland. The station's numerous community awards, including the Organization of Chinese Americans' Image Award and the Korean American Coalition's Community Service Award, shows its commitment to viewers. KSCI-TV was the first Asian-language station in LA to win an Emmy for its series, "U.S. Citizenship: A Dream Come True." Call Jon Yasuda, President & CEO, 310-478-1818.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, HTVN is a rapidly growing Hispanic television media network serving the needs of the Hispanic population with over 40 affiliates and 17 owned television stations. It broadcasts to over 20 million US homes through cable and broadcast feeds, and through its affiliate Internet portal Cubico.com. Call Luis Estrada, VP, Creative Services, 817-222-1234 x 228.