Frank Guerra: spellbinder of the latino vote

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, June-July, 2004 by Jorge Ferraez, Albert Sgambati

Call Frank Guerra a marketing whiz, an advertising genius, a public relations guru, but whatever you call Guerra, founder and CEO of Guerra DeBerry & Coody Marketing and Communications, the essential adjective you would have to use in typifying his eight-year run in the business, is: successful. Just ask the man living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., President George W. Bush, who without Guerra's help might not have been able to install himself as the current resident of America's most prestigious address.

A seemingly relaxed and thoroughly thoughtful strategy man, Guerra, underneath it all, is an intense individual with an absolute focus on winning and achieving, which are the exact set of qualities that the Bush-Cheney team tapped into for their 2000 campaign as they looked to Guerra for an effective advertising strategy for the Republican National Committee's Hispanic outreach campaign. And it appears that, due to his earlier success capturing thirty-five percent of the Hispanic vote for the GOP, the Republicans will utilize Guerra's expertise in multicultural marketing once again for their 2004 presidential re-election effort. "It's a real specialty area," says the San Antonio based Guerra when speaking of political marketing, "and there (are) not a lot of people who do it very well."

More than that though, Guerra is passionate about his involvement in this area of marketing. For him, it is both the way and he means in which Hispanic voters become empowered. "If only (the) Democrats went after the Hispanic vote we would become politically invisible. With the Republicans involved them is fierce competition, and this makes our vote more powerful within the American political system." And the results underscore Guerra's point, as he jumped into the fray and helped haul in the votes and tally up the count, district after district, in both Texas and Florida, where he worked on Rick Perry's and Jeb Bush's campaigns. Both were campaigns in which both candidates fought hard to win the Latino vote, and more importantly, where they paid close attention to the Hispanic community's concerns and to addressing their particular issues.

In this area, Guerra has kept the Republican campaigns right on track. 'The Latino community is very concerned about jobs--well paying jobs that will help them support their families. They want opportunity and an education for their kids, and for their kids to have a future." To get this point across for the Republican Party's benefit, Guerra has connected the dots, playing the GOP's strong suit on values and economics that he feels are in synch with Latinos in the U.S.

"The vast majority of Hispanics in America," Guerra says, "are employed by small business, and Republicans are very big on small business. What the Republicans do, and how they support Mom and Pop shops and small businesses directly "affects the well-being of Hispanics." While there are many similarities in marketing products and candidate, the differences are profoundly marked. "If a company doesn't meet sales goals, there's always another day. In politics, if you don't meet your sales goal, you go away. For the politician it's very personal--and it's very public. It either makes your career, or ends your career."

Guerra's reach is even wider within the business community. Specializing in getting the word out for telecommunications, health care, and retail interests, GDC has not only built an enviable portfolio of clients, it has also fulfilled a lifelong dream of Guerra's. "I always wanted to open up an advertising agency," says Guerra, "but I also wanted something more than that. I wanted a real marketing company that helps companies reach consumers in very creative ways--so it's marketing, it's advertising, it's public relations, it's crises communication, it's video production--it's a lot of different things."

With a business built on high-visibility due to its success in the political arena, Guerra confides, "The politics is fun, but it doesn't pay the bills." What attracted political contracts to GDC and made it the winner it is today is, "the way we approach our corporate clients. We come from an environment where we're one hundred percent accountable at all times, and we have to show a return on investments."

It can be equally stated that Guerra also understands investment and return in terms of employees, a fact evident by GDC's high employee retention rate. Innovations born of sound ethics and high morals have earned him an outstanding reputation with the creation of a unique and people-sensitive environment in the workplace. Along with his two female partners, Guerra employs forty-nine women and nine men. The firm's on-site daycare facility provides peace of mind to working parents. The firm also boasts an open door policy where new ideas and constructive criticism are welcome.

The atmosphere that Guerra and his partners have fashioned at GDC, where they, have made an effort to recruit people of varied socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, has a reach far beyond the doors of their San Antonio offices. Extending their services free of charge to a long list of organizations such as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and others, GDC's impact echoes throughout the community, setting an example for corporate responsiveness and responsibility.