Fabián Castro has been upped to Senior Vice President of Multicultural Marketing, almost 4 years after joining Universal Pictures as VP of that division.
In his elevated role, he’ll supervise the work of the multicultural division and its contributions to the films of Universal Pictures.
Under his leadership, the department will expand its team and escalate its presence on current and upcoming marketing campaigns to oversee a broader range of ethnic and specialty demographic groups.
Universal created the multicultural marketing group in 2010, hiring Castro to focus on Latino outreach, working directly with the publicity, field, promotions, media, digital, creative, research and partnership divisions to customize existing and develop new strategies, marketing and outreach efforts.
According to the company, his strategies and culturally relevant tactics helped increase Hispanic attendance and interest in Universal films.
For example, Guillermo del Toro’s surprise horror hit “Mama,” had 46% Hispanic attendance when it debuted at No. 1 at the box office; “Fast & Furious 6,” enjoyed 32% Hispanic attendance during its $120 million opening weekend; and “Despicable Me 2,” pulled in 28% of its $150 million opening from Hispanics last summer.
Before Universal, Castro was Director of Brand Development for Hearst’s Food Network Magazine and spent eight years working for several Time Warner publications. He was Director, Strategic Marketing and Promotions for People en Español for almost two years and Director, Entertainment Partnerships and Promotions for Entertainment Weekly from 2004 to 2005.
