In an ongoing effort to support and diversify the creators its clients work with, Omnicom Media Group has partnered with Latinx media group NGL Collective to help brands connect with Hispanic creators and their audiences.

OMG’s Diverse Content Creators Network, announced in June of last year, helps to connect Omnicom clients with thousands of diverse content creators across platforms, many with millions of followers. Creators include Tiara Willis, who was featured in a Burt’s Bees Twitter campaign; Chef Aaron Sanchez; Latinx beauty expert Desi Perkins; and YouTuber Marques Brownlee. NGL Collective, which stands for Next Generation Latinx, recently merged with digital media company Mitu, and will provide content and help distribute campaigns activated through the Diverse Content Creators Network.

“Hispanic audiences are some of the youngest, and they index heavily with social media, which is an instrumental piece of this partnership,” said Michael Roca, managing director of diverse investment at Omnicom. “We often hear that clients don’t invest [in minority media] because of the lack of reach and scale. We want to build that supply.”

The collaboration comes as Hispanics now represent 19% of the U.S. population, and held buying power of $1.9 trillion in 2020. The median age for Hispanic Americans is 29.8, nearly 9 years lower than the median age of 38.5 for the entire U.S. population. And 31% of Hispanic Americans are younger than 18, compared to 22% of the nation, according to USAFacts, a data nonprofit.

The partnership was announced onstage yesterday at OMG’s Future of Connection client event.

In October 2021, Omnicom worked with the National Minority Suppliers Development Council (NMSDC), an organization that certifies and supports minority-owned businesses, to certify OMG’s creators as Minority Business Enterprises (MBE). This latest partnership with NGL aims to get more creators MBE certified. For many brands, the MBE certification means spending on that creator can be marked as a diverse investment, meeting diverse media pledges, many of which were made in response to the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Earlier this year, OMG held an “infront” to highlight diverse media partners, including NGL.

Certification is not required to be part of Omnicom’s diverse content creators network, but does make creators more discoverable to brands in the network. Omnicom also runs a grant program that reimburses certification fees, cutting down barriers to entry for creators. Colombian-American actress Zulay Henao will be the first creator to go through the certification process as part of the new partnership.

“I am certain that we will gain the visibility needed to create a solid revenue avenue for my company, Modern Muze,” Zulay said in a statement. “Becoming MBE certified will be a stamp of approval in a way, and will ensure that we have  an equal opportunity at strategizing and creating equitable partnerships with clients who are committed to a multicultural ad spend within their budget.”

Omnicom isn’t the only company working to put dollars behind Latinx creators. Influencer marketing company Influential recently announced a partnership with UniComm Media Group, a Hispanic-owned agency.

“There is a lot of talk about Black culture impacting larger culture, and that is true,” said Joe Bernard, chief revenue officer at NGL. “But that is also happening with Hispanic culture. So we need to improve the number of creators, help them with content and their business goals.”

NGL began as the NGL Consortium in 2001, founded by David Chitel and Ben Leff. The group originally carried out research studies on Latinx audiences for marketing and hosted TED Talks on the subject. In 2012, actor John Leguizamo, director Ben Dejesus, and former senior VP at NBCUniversal Telemnudo Joe Bernard repurposed the company to create content and run ads as the NGL Collective.

“This is about owning our narratives, and telling our own stories,” Leguizamo said in a statement. “Working together, OMG and NGL will show the industry what can happen when you adjust the system to allow authenticity to trump algorithms, and you break down barriers to entry.”