Grupo Salinas

Contacts
Letter to
Our
Readers
ContenT
FEBRuary 2015
ISSUE 84
Totalplay
Fastest Gun in the West
Grupo Salinas’ firm Totalplay offers telecommunications services on fiber
optic cable direct to the home with the highest Internet speed in the Western Hemisphere, according to the most recent Netflix ISP Speed Index.
The study measured the average net speed, registering Totalplay at 3.53
megas per second (mbps), 40% above Telmex, which registered 2.09 mbps.
It was even 5% faster than Verizon’s FIOS service, the fastest in the United
States.
>>
Letter to
Our Readers
@lecharte
This month we have the confirmation of Totalplay as the fastest network in Mexico and the rest of the Western Hemisphere, according to Netflix, thanks to its
innovative direct-to-the-home fiber optic network, surpassing even US and Canadian providers. This is a guarantee for customers who value entertainment and
connectivity.
We are also pleased to announce that the elektra.com.mx portal has a new look.
Customers will be able to make their purchases even more easily, safely, and reliably, with a greater array of products and forms of payment.
For its part, Advance America improved its customer service in the United States
through its call center, increasing its capabilities for better serving loan applicants.
Azteca continues boosting its position as one of the world’s most important producers of Spanish-language television content with the premieres of new entertainment programs and novelas that promise to please broad audiences.
Our shared social value activities are growing and offering new opportunities for
transforming the community, like the recently inaugurated Casa de la Música de
Viena in Puebla. This space will promote music as a tool for forging better human
beings.
The FIRST Robotics time of year is here, and we will soon know who the young
winners will be who will represent our country in this international robotics
competition.
We have also put out the call for the seventh Limpiemos Nuestro México, the
country’s biggest trash collection campaign. In addition, in this issue, we review
the energy-management activities for which our group is a point of reference
nationally and internationally.
I hope you enjoy this issue, and, as always, I thank you for your interest in Grupo
Salinas.
Luis J. Echarte
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editorial
Totalplay,
Synonymous
with
Technological
Innovation
Internet use is constantly on the rise. In
2006, Mexico had 20.2 million users, and
by 2013, that figure had increased over
150% to 51.2 million, according to the
Mexican Internet Association (Amipci)
and INEGI data.
This substantial jump in the number of
users demanding quality services requires providers to develop cutting-edge
infrastructure to deal with the needs for
greater efficiency, reducing intermittencies in connectivity, and higher speed
data transmission.
This can only be achieved with cutting-edge technology and greater broadband-service coverage; for that, fiber optics offer indispensable advantages.
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Since its onset, Totalplay has innovated
by offering the first telecommunications
services package with the advantages of
fiber optics directly to the home.
Today, the company is seeking to increase
its coverage to Mexico’s 22 largest cities;
to do that, it will substantially increase its
investment in broadening its fiber optic
network while the competition grows by
acquiring small regional firms with less
advanced technology.
The Grupo Salinas company was recently recognized as the firm that offers the
fastest Internet service in all of the Americas. The distinction encourages us to
continue to bet on innovation, a quality
that is the trademark of our businesses.
CONTENt
In an
emotionallycharged event at
La Constancia
Mexicana,
the national
headquarters
for the
Esperanza
Azteca
Symphony
Orchestras...
Continue > PáG. 6
Continue > PáG. 13
El Trece presented
its new production,
Así en el Barrio
Como en el Cielo...
Continue > PáG. 7
Grupo Elektra’s e-commerce portal was recently revamped to
offer a more attractive, functional...
The premiere of the game
show Todo o Nada was a hit
and marked the return of
Mauricio Barcelata
to El Trece as a host....
Continue > PAG. 12
Ricardo Salinas Inaugurates La Casa de la Música de Viena ....................6
elektra.com.mx Gets a New Look ..................................................................... 7
Advance America Strengthens Customer Service .......................................8
Grupo Salinas, a Point of Reference for Energy Management ................9
Date Set for the Seventh Limpiemos Nuestro México! .................................... 10
Teamwork, a Challenge for the 2015 FIRST Robotics Contest ................ 11
Todo o Nada Chalks Up Big Success ............................................................. 12
Premiere of Así en el Barrio Como en el cielo ............................................ 13
Sophie Supports Female Entrepreneurs ....................................................... 14
The Best of Social Networks ............................................................................ 15
The Best of the Blog ........................................................................................... 16
Contacts...................................................................................................................17
4
(continued)
Totalplay, Fastest Gun in the West
After these results, the Grupo Salinas announcement that it was going to strengthen Totalplay and broaden its services to
more cities in Mexico opens up favorable
expectations for thousands of consumers.
5
home, allowing for very high-speed data
transmission,” said Eduardo Kuri, the Totalplay CEO.
“Totalplay’s commercial offering includes high-capacity Internet packages that
“All this is the result of creating the lar- range from 10 to 300 mbps, facilitating
gest network of advanced infrastructu- the use of any application with better rere based on fiber optics directly to the sults,” said Totalplay CEO Eduardo Kuri.
Music as a Vehicle for Transformation
Ricardo Salinas Inaugurates
La Casa de la
Música de Viena
Ricardo Salinas, Rafael
Moreno Valle, and Mexico’s
Foreign Relations Minister
José Antonio Meade
Ricardo
Salinas with
Puebla Governor Rafael Moreno Valle and
his wife, Martha Érika Alonso
Rafael Tovar y de Teresa,
president of Conaculta
“We are convinced that music will play
a preponderant role in the reconstruction
of the social fabric of our country.”
Ricardo Salinas
www.ricardosalinas.com/blog
In an emotionally-charged event at La Constancia Mexicana, the national headquarters
for the Esperanza Azteca Symphony Orchestras, Ricardo Salinas inaugurated La Casa
de la Música de Viena in Puebla, in the company of state Governor Rafael Moreno Valle
and other distinguished guests.
“This space will be emblematic and a paradigm for the process of inducing musical
culture as a fundamental tool for forging new citizens and better human beings,” said
Ricardo Salinas. “At Grupo Salinas, we’re convinced that music transforms lives.”
He recognized that bringing such an important project to Mexico is a true privilege and
that it was only possible thanks to a team of visionaries from private business, government, and society. He also emphasized that creating shared social value is fundamental
for generating a virtuous circle that can help us achieve the cultural change Mexico
needs.
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Buy Safely On Line
elektra.com.mx
Gets a New Look
Grupo Elektra’s e-commerce portal was recently revamped to offer a more attractive,
functional, user-friendly site with a broader offering of products and forms of payment.
In addition to merchandise that can be found in stores, the Internet site offers some
exclusively online products like larger and curved screens, washer-dryers, and baby
products, among others.
elektra.com.mx offers a catalogue of more than 1,000 products classified in 15 categories. By December 2014, the site had registered seven million hits from more than 1,000
locations throughout Mexico.
The site is secure and user-friendly. Payments can be made using safe-guard credit or
debit cards, electronic transfer, in-person deposits at Banco Azteca branches, or in supermarkets. In addition, goods can be sent to the closest Elektra store or the customer’s
home.
The site is protected by Accertify, Trustwave, and Norton Secured, companies that safeguard information against viruses, online threats, identity theft, and fraud, and have
the seal of approval of the Mexican Internet Association (Amipci).
elektra.com.mx is growing dynamically and plans to offer even more exclusive products
and important features to customers who buy online.
Visit:
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www.elektra.com.mx
www.elektraonline.com
www.tiendaelektra.com
Advance America
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Strengthens Customer Service
Infrastructure Growing
Convenience and accessibility are important factors for consumers when they choose a
financial service provider, and easy communication with a company is key. In that vein,
in autumn 2013, Advance America opened up a new national call center to communicate
better with its customers.
“Advance America is committed to offering excellent service to its customers. The call center expands our clientele’s possibilities of getting the
service they want, when they want it.”
Patrick O’Shaughnessy,
Advance America CEO
The center began as an automatic response system in South Carolina to deal with customer calls after working hours at some points of sale. Since then, the automated system has broadened out to respond to calls for more than 1,000 locations. Many of these
calls are from customers who want more information about a product, are looking for
the closest Advance America office, or who have a question about payments. In 2014
alone, more than 1.3 million inquiries were dealt with.
Advance America recently increased the center’s capabilities to better serve consumers
seeking loans. Operators can answer callers who get busy signals at outlets, follow-up
online requests, and send customer loan applications to points of sale. The company
also launched a pilot collections program that allows call center agents to collect overdue loans, letting store personnel focus on customers.
The call center’s growth has contributed to broadening out the services offered to habitual clients at the same time that the company is now reaching a new user base of
people who prefer to be waited on online or by mobile units.
Nationally and Internationally
Grupo Salinas,
a Point of Reference
for Energy Management
Adriana Salazar, Director
of the Grupo Salinas
Energy Treasury, explains
the steps forward made
by our companies
Grupo Salinas is a collection of dynamic, innovative, constantly growing companies that
are now a point of reference for responsible use of resources.
We demonstrated this in 2014 when we actively participated in energy efficiency forums
held in Mexico City. We were also invited to a conference for National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) students to share the challenges and results of appropriate
use of energy.
Public institutions like the National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy (CONUEE), the National Committee for Productivity and Technological Innovation (Compite), and the Ministry of Energy (Sener), among others, recognize our energy efficiency
system as a success story due to its results and implementation in the business world.
Inauguration of the event
supported by the German
Cooperation Agency
We have also worked jointly with the Germany Cooperation Agency in Mexico with the
aim of training and empowering society in matters of efficient energy use with a gender
perspective. This initiative has been internationally recognized by the German press.
This and other achievements are the result of the commitment of all of us working at
Grupo Salinas to use natural resources efficiently, showing that our companies have a
high sense of environmental responsibility.
We are one of the first companies in Mexico to sign an agreement with the
Association for the Normalization and Certification of the Electricity
Sector (ANCE) to guarantee the efficiency of our energy installations.
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in Mexico
Join In and Participate
Date Set for the Seventh
Limpiemos Nuestro México!
Javier Medrano, Bimbo corporate marketing director; Esteban Moctezuma, executive president of Fundación Azteca;
Cuauhtémoc Ochoa, vice-minister of the environment and natural resources; Decio de María, general manager of the Liga
MX; and Froylán Gracia, coordinator of the Pemex board
S
u
n
d
ay
September 20
Committed to fostering a culture of appropriately handling
trash, Grupo Salinas, through Fundación Azteca, called for participation in the seventh Limpiemos Nuestro México, the country’s biggest clean-up campaign, on Sunday, September 20.
This initiative was conceived by Ricardo Salinas. Its aim is to
create awareness about the need to solve the trash problem. It
promotes the participation of companies, organizations, government, and civil society to work as a team for this cause.
From the first day of clean-up in 2009, Limpiemos Nuestro
México has involved millions of people every year in improving the environment by cleaning streets, schools, parks, lakes,
beaches, oceans, rivers, ravines, forests, etc., not only in our
country, but also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, and China.
The contests Environmental Leaders in the Community, Recycle, Mexico’s Cleanest Cities, and Proudly Clean Cities are all
part of the campaign.
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Find out guidelines for participating at
www.limpiemosnuestromexico.com
Youth Robotics Competition
What is the FIRST Robotics Competition all about?
Designing accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and
abilities at the same time that it motivates young people to seek opportunities in science,
technology, and engineering. go to: www.usfirst.org.
Teamwork, Challenge for the 2015
FIRST Robotic
Contest
The challenge to overcome in building robots is the recycle rush, a game about recycling
that will emphasize teamwork at the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition, said the contest’s creator, Dean Kamen, about the event launched in more than 100 cities worldwide
in January.
Betting on science and technology is key for developing any nation. That is why Ricardo Salinas is promoting the project for the third year in a row through Grupo Salinas’
Fundación Azteca as a founding sponsor of FIRST activities. This year, 40 teams are
participating in the regional tournament in our country; worldwide, more than 3,000
teams and 75,000 students are involved.
This year’s challenge,
Recycle Rush
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Recycle Rush is a
recycling-themed
game designed for
FIRST Robotics
Competition 2015.
It is played by two
alliances of three
teams each, competing
simultaneously to
score points by
stacking totes, capping
those stacks with
recycling containers,
and properly
disposing of litter. All
the materials used in
this competition are
reusable or recyclable.
Participants have six weeks to design, build, and program a robot capable of fulfilling
the challenge this year. Then, they take their creations to the regional championship,
held in Mexico at the Arena Ciudad de México. Regional winners advance to the FIRST
Robotics Competition World Championship along with the other 590 world finalists, in
St. Louis, Missouri.
Game Show
The premiere of the game
show Todo o Nada was a
hit and marked the return
of Mauricio Barcelata to El
Trece as a host.
Contestants have a single
chance to win prizes such
as tablets, TVs, bicycles,
home appliances, or even a
car.
Lively and audience-friendly, Todo o Nada revives the
traditional game format
that brings the family together for good, healthy fun.
“Todo
nada
”
Chalks Up Big
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Success
Todo o Nada airs
Monday through
Friday at 7 p.m.
on El Trece
New Novela
Premiere of
“Así en
el barrio
como en el
cielo”
El Trece presented its new production, Así en el Barrio
Como en el Cielo, a novela that combines melodrama and
comedy in an entertaining story about two completely different families, the López Lópezes and the Ferraras.
The López Lópezes own a poultry store and the Ferraras
preside over an international fashion emporium. The two
families’ paths cross and mix together: some will lose their
fortunes and others will become wealthy.
Leading actors Marcela
Guiraldo and Luciano
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Zacharski
The talented cast includes José Alonso, Patricia Bernal,
Fernando Luján, Juan Manuel Bernal, Verónica Merchant,
Marcela Guirado, and Luciano Zacharski, among others.
Innovating Products and Services
Sophie Supports
Female Entrepreneurs
Banco Azteca launched Sophie, a multi-level direct-sales program that supports women
to create small businesses with minimal capital outlays, thanks to credit lines from the
bank itself. In addition, it provides training in make-up, finance, business administration,
personal development, and leadership.
Sophie’s aim is to help women increase their well-being by selling different products
and forming their own business network. This first stage consists of offering beauty
products: Sophie Cosmétiques, for mature women, and Fou, targeting young women.
Women who sign up with the program get support from the start: they receive a case
of materials, information about how to manage their businesses, business products and
accessories, and a catalogue of more than 200 high-quality articles from environmentally-friendly suppliers whose products have been certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Appreciating members’ efforts is very important at Sophie; as each member’s business
grows, she is given different incentives: trips, the chance to go to international events,
and honors. The training needed for the business is provided by Université Sophie and is
a tool to help each member grow professionally and develop her business successfully.
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Sophie is a company that seeks the
well-being of the communities
where it operates and participates
in different social action
campaigns sponsored by Grupo
Salinas. It also has its own social
initiatives. It recently supported
the renewal of the “A Fast Read
in the Subway” program, a massive
project to foster reading,
together with the Mexico City
Subway System and the CSO Para
Leer en Libertad.
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The Best of
Social Networks
The Best of
the Blog
A Young Voice Against Populism
I often comment on the dangers that democracy faces
from frequent bouts of populism, encouraged by the recurring failures of the existing political systems. Amid
hardships, many people are easily seduced by the empty promises of prosperity offered by some political leaders. These unscrupulous leaders are only repeating the
dangerous recipe of boosting public spending and borrowing, without thinking about the future consequences. That’s why I find it encouraging to find voices with
courage, eloquence, and the energy of youth that warn
us of the risk of falling into the trap of populism.
GLORIA ÁLVAREZ speaking
BLOG
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CONTACTS
Editorial
Committee
Bruno Rangel
Jesús Velázquez
Daniel McCosh
Arturo Longares
Linda Garcidueñas
Alejandro Vázquez
Carlos Casillas
Rolando Villarreal
Mitzi Ramírez
Investor Relations, Grupo Salinas Investor Relations, Grupo Sali
Bruno Rangel • (5255) 1720-9167 • [email protected]
Public Relations, Grupo Salinas USA
Nathalie Rayes • (818) 683-4178 • [email protected]
International Press Relations, Grupo Salinas
Daniel McCosh • (5255) 1720-0059 • [email protected]
Information GS Hoy
Jesús Velázquez • (5255) 1720-5777 • [email protected]
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