After Maria struck, “there was no electricity, there was no phone, there was no cable,” says Freddie Hernandez. “So we undusted the radio book and started using radio and outdoor as the main vehicles to really communicate with our consumers.”

At Beet Retreat 2018 in San Juan from Nov. 28-30, there will be a special session titled Lessons Learned: Hurricane Maria’s Impact on the Media Industry of Puerto Rico. Among other topics, Hernandez and other executives will discuss how in the absence of broadband advertisers turned to over-the-air broadcasting along with traditional media like outdoor, radio and print.

In this interview with Beet.TV conducted on the island, Hernandez explains how many Puerto Ricans have been cutting their cable cords and migrating to digital services like online shopping after their experiences in dealing with the devastation wrought by Maria.

“We were on the verge of re-launching our media investment, trying to look into digital and how things are changing with Millennials and how media is being consumed on the island,” Hernandez recalls. “It doesn’t necessarily follow how it is consumed in the States and other developed areas as we’re lagging a little bit behind. But we know that we need to get into the digital arena.”

Having to rely on traditional media “was a great exercise to really acknowledge that radio is still there. And we sometimes take it for granted and focus so much in digital, in mobile and other platforms that we forget about radio. It was very helpful for us,” Hernandez explains. “After that we have seen a quantum leap in terms of the media consumption by the consumers here in Puerto Rico.”

Lacking cable television and electricity, many residents migrated to phones and wireless communications where possible.

“So we’re seeing a lot of movement in that direction and you can see in the trends of people not renewing their cable system and looking at other options to consume media. So we are really on the verge of understanding what are the different venues that people are using to really change,” Hernandez says.

Before Maria there was one online grocery provider. “We have three now and they are expanding aggressively because consumers are ready to embrace what digital can bring to their lives and how they can do better by using this technology advances that we have available.”

P&G has customers who are doing 10% of their business “with online selling that was nonexistent a year ago. It’s a movement that is moving very fast and it’s here to stay. So we need to make sure that we get ahead of the curve and start looking at what are the options we can tackle…try to be the number one investing in technology, investing in venues that are going to help us continue leading the market in the categories that we compete in.”

Joining Hernandez to discuss media in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Maria will be Melissa Burgos, Marketing Director USVI/Puerto Rico, AT&T Mobility; Jose Cancela, President, Telemundo/NBCUniversal Puerto Rico; and Andres Claudio, General Manager, Hearts & Science, Puerto Rico. The session will be moderated by Phil Cowdell, President of Client Services at GroupM, who has been deeply involved with Puerto Rico relief and recovery.

The session will conclude with a briefing by Olga Ramos, President of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico, who will present data on the impact of the storm on the island’s youth and her organizations’ efforts to improve their future.

There will be more storms and “people are still living under roofs with plastic tarpaulins…there are still people who don’t have power. So what we have to do is help to sustain relief to make sure that people live their own lives and be independent.”

At last week’s Beet Retreat in the City: Television Advances as Consumers Choose, Cowdell provided an update on those relief efforts.  He presented an overview of what he and his colleagues from GroupM undertook in tthe weeks after the storm.via slides and video. In this interview with Beet.TV contributor Ashley J. Swartz, Cowdell explains how a GroupM team including people from agencies like MediaCom, Media Edge and Wavemaker responded after Maria struck on Sept. 16, 2017.

“What happened immediately after the storm is I reached out and said, ‘how is everybody’? It took a couple of days to find out at least they’re all okay and they’re alive,” says Cowdell, who is Global President, Client Services. “And then when you get a message from a colleague who says ‘but I have no drinking water for my 13-month old baby,’ what do you do? You have a choice.”

While some people donated money or made pledges to do so, Cowdell chose to “get on a plane and you can take water purification. I managed to get on a phone, collected water purification, filters, solar lamps, medications, etcetera.”

Cowdell expresses frustration when he recalls seeing events on the ground versus what the news media was reporting during the immediate aftermath of the hurricane. He says the national narrative the weekend after the storm was characterized by people tweeting “about the NFL and taking a knee. They weren’t about thousands of Puerto Ricans at risk and potentially thousands dead.”

Some news reports conveyed the impression that there were lots of relief efforts going on by individuals and the military.

“What was being told didn’t reflect reality on the ground. I know we’re in a world of fake news now, but for me personally it was my first real experience of seeing the reality of a situation on the ground and what’s being communicated through the storytelling of the media,” Cowdell says.

His focus going forward is to continue to help marshal continued assistance to Puerto Ricans in the face of inexorable threatening weather conditions.

“The real issue is, the storm when it first hit was a weather disaster. What happened after it became an economic disaster. People who are very rich paid $25,000 they flew out and moved to their houses in Miami. Then it got to the next class and the next class.”

Meanwhile, in places like the hills of Campos, “They are still in desperate need. There was no real tolerance for a storm like this. Those are the people who need help.”

At a reception following Beet Retreat in the City, there was an auction to assist the Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico. So far, that effort has raised some $20,000.

This video was produced at the Beet Retreat in City & Town Hall on June 6, 2018 in New York City. The event and video series are presented by LiveRamp, TiVo, true[X] and 605. For more videos from the series, please visit this page.

On May 15, Beet.TV went to San Juan to interview Boys & Girls Clubs leaders and members for a status report on the island’s post-hurricane progress. It was made possible by a grant from interactive advertising pioneer true[X].

As it has since the natural disaster, the advertising and media community will coalesce once again to assist the organization in a fund-raiser that will take place during the Beet.TV Retreat in the City on June 6. It’s organized under the auspices of Stand With Puerto Rico. Olga Ramos, President of Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico, will be one of the featured guests at the Retreat.

The San Juan interviews begin with Beraliz Germocen explaining how she and other young people have responded to “a state of chaos and downfall.”

Says Germocen, “We cleared our streets, we got out the garbage, we aided our sick children, we gave food to each other. We know we have this potential and this spirit in us to fight.”

As efforts progress, however, Germocen explains that it’s not easy to keep everyone motivated toward the common goal of complete recovery. This poses challenges. “As a youth, I find in myself, how can I reach or approach a fellow youth or adults, elderly and everyone in my community to take the next step?”

Says Cotto of Germocen, “She’s a powerful young woman and she’s an example of the courage of our teens, of our young, of our kids in our community. They want to do something different. They only need the opportunity.”

While Puerto Ricans in general are known for being resilient, “When you look at young people I have to say it’s resiliency at its best,” says Ramos, an attorney and longtime Walmart executive who managed all the Sam’s Clubs on Puerto Rico before assuming her present role. “They’re looking for new things to do. They’re looking for avenues to get their success. They’re looking for avenues for growth. I think that what this situation has brought to the table and has shown them is that we can come out stronger from this situation.”

Another club member, Bryan Colon, tells Beet.TV that the eight months since Hurricane Maria have been “mind blowing.” And while it’s hard for him to envision himself in a few years not being a part of the Boys & Girls Clubs, “They will always be with me in my knowledge, in the way I am, so it’s not like I’m going to lose them forever.

“If I become rich, you never know, I can make investments like a lot of people are doing. Helping them in the same way they helped me, and help them help some other people. That’s a lot of helps.”

“Luckily, our club in Vieques was directly affected but was not directly impacted. So we were able to reopen our club really fast,” says Olga Ramos, President of Boys & Girls Club Puerto Rico. “Our Vieques community is a small community and it’s committed. And our Boys & Girls Club has become kind of the community center for the Vieques people.”

The Club has been handling everything from assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide Housing & Urban Development meals, Ramos explains in this interview with Beet.TV.

“Basically our club is where all of the NGO’s are coming together to provide relief efforts and help to the island. Besides our educational program, we’re doing everything we can do to make sure that the community bounces back to normal.”

Located eight miles east of the Puerto Rican mainland, Vieques relies on its own water sources, which were shut down by Hurricane Maria. So finding replacement supplies has been at the forefront of most relief efforts.

“Last week, we were awarded by the Banco Popular Foundation a desalination plant that we’re going to be taking to Vieques next Monday,” Ramos says. “As well, we were able to get a community water tank that would allow us to provide water to the community, either filtered rain water or pond water and make sure that we provide safe water for our kids.

“Looking into the medium term, we’re partnering with other institutions to make sure that we provide a sustainable system where Vieques people can get purified water for drinking.”

On Sept. 20, when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, the group ViequesLove was formed to provide assistance to the island. As of Nov. 9, the group had raised $879,420 from 7,122 donors via its GoFundMe website.

Stand With Puerto, The Industry Steps Up 

This video reports on the pressing issues facing Puerto Rico and the organizations that are having an impact. It is part of a media industry initiative titled Stand With Puerto Rico. It is organized by Beet.TV and Omnicom Media Group along with founding partners AT&T AdWorks and Teads. Please find additional videos from the series here. The series was recorded in Miami at the Festival of Media/LATAM on October 30. 

“Vieques is almost an indescribable place for most people. If you haven’t been there, if you haven’t lived there, it’s hard to understand it,” says Stephen Mueller, a Principal of the aid group ViequesLove who called the island home for three years. “There is something about the island, the community, the people there that’s just very different than what most of us have experienced.”

Since ViequesLove was formed the night that Maria struck Puerto Rico, it’s been juggling all manner of requests for assistance.

“We’ve gotten a lot of very interesting asks,” Mueller says in this interview with Beet.TV. “The most recent one that we did is we successfully got two radiators down there specific to the generators for water sanitation,” a route that stretched from Atlanta to Miami to the Puerto Rico mainland to Vieques.

“We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to use private planes to get things down there,” Mueller adds. “There are a lot of moving pieces. It takes a lot of organization and creativity.”

Having been a resident and owned a business on Vieques, Mueller is well versed in the day in and day out milieu.

“Something as simple as going to the postal box requires about 30 minutes of your time, because inevitably you’re going to meet plenty of people that you know, and you all stop and chat, ask how their day’s going. It’s this huge sense of community and involvement.

“For the three years that we lived there, it was probably one of the best times of our lives and probably one of the few places that have truly felt like home.”

As of Nov. 6, ViequesLove had raised $873,696 from 7,084 donors via its GoFundMe website.

Stand With Puerto, The Industry Steps Up 

This video reports on the pressing issues facing Puerto Rico and the organizations that are having an impact. It is part of a media industry initiative titled Stand With Puerto Rico. It is organized by Beet.TV and Omnicom Media Group along with founding partners AT&T AdWorks and Teads. Please find additional videos from the series here. The series was recorded in Miami at the Festival of Media/LATAM on October 30. 

In the wake of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, for the media industry “It’s going backwards, 25 years ago. You have to take your car and visit your clients, you have to do radio, probably billboards and basics to communicate,” says Andres Claudio, GM of Omnicom’s Hearts & Science agency on the island. “Life is before Maria and after Maria.”

Freddie Hernandez, who runs P&G’s operations in Puerto Rico, is already looking beyond relief to reconstruction—rebuilding infrastructure while convincing companies to invest there for the future. “We will recover from this. We will impact the communities and we will get to a better position,” he says.

Beet.TV interviewed Claudio at this week’s Festival of Media/LATAM conference, where the STAND WITH PUERTO RICO: The Industry Steps Up initiative was launched. His interview is followed by a segment with Hernandez that was produced by P&G  in Puerto Rico where one of the company’s mobile Ace detergent units was operating.

“This is a time that companies have to show their commitment to the island and the community with their brands,” says Claudio. “Besides advertising, this is the perfect moment for companies to get connected to the people with their realities and needs.”

On Puerto Rico, brands don’t have to look very far to identify with causes and be “relevant” to the situation, according to Claudio. “Once the brand understands there is a need in the market, you can relate your brand to that particular need. It gets a connection that people will love and people will acknowledge that you are doing something right for them.”

After thanking the organizers of the Festival of Media/LATAM for hosting and supporting the STAND WITH PUERTO RICO initiative, Hernandez explained that the relief mode is still under way and that sometimes, the basic necessities aren’t so obvious.

“We take things for granted. We never thought that just having your laundry done was so important to people. It’s overwhelming to see how people are reacting to this effort,” says Hernandez.

As relief progresses to recovery, reconstruction will follow, posing more challenges that will require widespread participation and support. “The donations that we’re getting and the support that we’re getting is fantastic but it’s not going to last a lot,” Hernandez explains. “We need companies to look at Puerto Rico once again as a place to invest, as a place to bring their best talent to grow our economy, to leverage the talent that we have on this beautiful island, to help us and together bring this island to the future.”

Claudio is realistic and optimistic looking forward. “It’s not easy but you can do it and make it happen. This is a time that companies have to show the commitment to the island and the community with their brands,” he says.

Stand With Puerto, The Industry Steps Up 

This video reports on the pressing issues facing Puerto Rico and the organizations that are having an impact. It is part of a media industry initiative titled Stand With Puerto Rico. It is organized by Beet.TV and Omnicom Media Group along with founding partners AT&T AdWorks and Teads. Please find additional videos from the series here. The series was recorded in Miami at the Festival of Media/LATAM on October 30.