KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City talent agency is working to increase representation in the things you watch.
Segura Talent Agency is located in the Stockyard district in Kansas City and believes more brands are turning to their agency because of the diverse line-up of models and actors they represent.
"Brands are recognizing that marketing to the diverse community the United States is becoming is very important to them, so they need to have diverse faces to reflect the audience that the community is becoming," said Nicholas Segura, owner of Segura Talent Agency. "That's honestly where the marketing side of the agency comes as well, because we also work with clients to develop their marketing campaigns and we utilize our talent to be in those campaigns."
Segura has worked with brands like Google, Price Chopper and Wendy’s, and says they are wanting to appeal to minority consumers and are turning to his agency — which represents ethnic talent of all ages for commercial, print and voice-over work.
"Diverse audiences are more sensitive to seeing their faces in brands, so when African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Asian Americans see their faces in commercials, they see that the brand really understands them and really wants to market to them," Segura explained.
One of the fastest growing minority groups are Hispanic and Latinos, according to a 2021 Nielsen report, Latino buying power is projected to be $2.6 trillion in just about three years. According to Segura, this translates to a bigger push in demand for minority models.
“Kids are the future and so the more that we can represent in big ways, the more impact that it will be for the future to be more accepting of diversity," said Chelsea Gonzalez, model for Segura Talent Agency.
Each job varies pay, but Gonzalez says from experience that some models can start making $100 an hour for one commercial shoot — but the impact representation has on them and consumers is priceless.
For example, Shiona Deliozar is a Fijian model with Segura and says her roles help shine a light on her Southeast Pacific roots.
"It's like the best thing ever that agencies like this exists, to give us a platform to put ourselves out there, our faces out there and sometimes even our voices," Deliozar said.
The future is also looking bright for Kansas City. Segura says with the Chiefs Super Bowl win and the upcoming World Cup, Kansas City is a city brands are wanting to develop marketing campaigns in.
