Garcia/LKS Wins Orbis Online Account

Hispanic ad agency GarciaLKS has signed an agreement to handle general marketing and Spanish-language advertising for Internet auction start-up Orbis Online.

The estimated $3 million to $5 million dollar account adds to the agency’s roster that already includes bilingual tech-oriented clients such as Quepasa!com and The Health Network.

When it launches in November, privately funded Orbis Online (Latin for world) will be a fully Spanish-English bilingual Web site for buyers and sellers in North and Central America. General market and Hispanic-oriented TV spots will break in Texas and California in the first quarter of 2000.

The agency is acting as a full marketing partner, handling all advertising and developing strategies for opening NAFTA markets, vendors and technology partners.

The initial focus will be on bilingual or Spanish-dominant business owners and consumers from NAFTA treaty countries (U.S., Mexico and Canada) who want to shop online.

“Now a New Yorker can get a great deal buying folk art directly from its Mexican creator, and a wrought iron business in L.A. will be able to market their products to Hispanics throughout the hemisphere,” said James Strader, chief executive officer and chairman of Orbis Online.