AD PROS NOT ONLY TRANSLATE, BUT KNOW LATINO AUDIENCE COMPANY CAPTURES NUANCES OFTEN MISSED BY OTHER FIRMS.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Mauricio Osorio leads an international band of advertising professionals helping companies reach Latino consumers - a potential multibillion-dollar market still relatively untapped by U.S. industry - all from the comfort of his second-floor home office.

Osorio, 36, heads Tayrona Communications, a hybrid translation and creative marketing agency he founded some 18 months ago.

The Colombia native had worked as an ad copywriter and graphic designer for Spanish-language media here and abroad for more than a decade when he saw the business opportunity.

When companies attempt to reach non-English speakers, most would merely send existing advertising materials - print, radio or video ads - to a translation service. What they get back is usually a stilted, word-for-word replica lacking the nuance and sophistication communicated in the English original.

Osorio believes he can do better with a process he calls ``transcreation'' - at a lower price.

``You can speak English, but not everyone can write Hamlet,'' he said. ``We need to create a speaker's tone or voice. ... What we're trying to do is to talk the right way - with respect.''

It's a skill Osorio expects will be in high demand. Hispanic buying power has been surging over the past decade, totaling some $686 billion in 2004, according to a May 2004 study by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. That's more than triple from the $221.9 billion from 1990, and the consumption prowess is expected to reach $992.3 billion in 2009.

``The spending of the Hispanic market is close to $700 billion a year,'' he said. ``People like Ikea want a part of that.''

Tayrona, whose clients include Hilton Hotels and larger ad agencies working for such multinationals as furniture giant Ikea, has some 20 staffers on contract from Los Angeles, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. It's a virtual office of collaborators connected by Web cameras and keyboards, and helps reduce overhead, Osorio said.

The firm charges 24 cents per word compared with 30 cents to 40 cents per word from larger agencies, and guarantees more authentic copy.

``Many advertising agencies are charging too much for clients,'' he said. ``They're paying too much for meeting rooms so they can watch people scratch their heads in meetings.''

A page from a furniture catalog describes the company's formula that equals to low prices. The copy Osorio received translated ``equal'' as ``iquales.'' It adds up in English, but not for native Spanish-speakers, so Osorio opted for ``resultado'' or ``results in'' low prices.

Radio and video ads also receive the same attention to meaning, though they were in mediums Osorio could not easily deal with before the world went digital.

He recalled developing a radio ad from a Los Angeles studio. The vocals were recorded over a high-bandwidth phone line with an artist from New York, while the client watches from his home base in Dallas.

``It's good for us,'' Osorio said. ``It's good for the client.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Mauricio Osorio holds a Hilton Hotels flier that his company translated into Spanish. Osorio, 36, heads Tayrona Communications, a hybrid translation and creative marketing agency.

(2) Mauricio Osorio leads an international band of advertising professionals helping companies reach Latino consumers from his home office in Valencia.

David Crane/Staff Photographer