Alex López Negrete

Since co-founding Lopez Negrete Communications, Inc. in 1985, Alex López Negrete has steered the firm with a passion and vision for Hispanic marketing that has led it to become one of the country’s most influential Hispanic marketing agencies. Lopez Negrete Communications is now the largest independently owned and operated Hispanic advertising and communications firm in the country.

Alex co-founded the Houston-based ad agency with his wife and partner, Cathy, by his side, with the conviction that the Hispanic market is a viable and powerful consumer segment and that thoughtful, relevant, fully integrated, in-language and in-culture communications are the best way to reach this important market. In his role as company president and CEO, Alex is intricately involved in providing invaluable strategic counsel and creative direction to agency clients.

This innovative approach to Hispanic marketing has proven to be effective, engaging, and most importantly, results-producing. The agency continues to grow, with nearly 100 employees located at its Houston headquarters. Alex credits the agency’s success to the fact that it comprises a team of multicultural, multinational, bilingual, and bicultural communications professionals who possess rare and complementing talents and expertise.

In 2012, following 27 years and countless awards, Alex stepped down as the chief creative officer of the company to focus on his role as president and CEO, which he is intricately involved in, providing strategic counsel and creative direction to all the agency’s clients. The agency has represented clients across all industries, including retail, financial, telecom, packaged foods, spirits, arts, automotive, sports, government, healthcare, real estate, energy, and insurance industries.

The Lopez Negrete Communications team has won literally hundreds of awards for creative, strategy, digital, and public relations at the local, regional, national, and international levels, placing it firmly among the most respected Hispanic agencies in the nation.

The Lopez Negrete client roster includes Bank of America, McDonald’s, Sam’s Club, Phillips 66 Company, Motiva Enterprises, Mattress Firm, Hyundai Motor America, Baylor College of Medicine and Total Wine & More. During its three-plus-decades-long history, the agency has represented and worked for a veritable “Who’s Who” of American industry and commerce, including Walmart, Microsoft, Verizon Communications, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Kraft Foods, MillerCoors, Tyson Foods, NBC Universal Motion Pictures Group, Sonic Drive-Ins, Feld Entertainment, Riviana Foods, Southern California Edison, Samsung Telecommunications America, Community Coffee Company, DanoneWave, Realtor.com, Charter Communications, Lone Star College Systems, the Houston Dynamo, the Houston Rockets, the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, Goya Foods, Unilever and Fiesta Mart.

In addition to his professional endeavors, Alex has remained active and fully committed to the broader community. Alex is currently on the Board of Directors of the Latino Donor Collaborative, the Hispanic Marketing Council, the Greater Houston Partnership and Houston Landing, and is a founding member of the ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM). Alex’s former volunteer endeavors include being chairman of the board of the American Advertising Federation-Houston, the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Board of Trustees of the American Institute for Public Service, the Ad Council Leadership Committee, chairman emeritus of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, past chairman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA), and ex-chair of AHAA’s not-for-profit entity, the Hispanic Advertising Association Foundation (HAAF).

Over the agency’s nearly 39 years in the business, Alex has been honored with numerous industry awards. Beginning in 2001, Alex received the prestigious Honorary Chairman’s Award from the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, followed by the Entrepreneur Award from the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. HISPANIC Magazine honored him with their Hispanic Achievement Award in 2002. That same year, Alex was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 2003 brought his first Lifetime Achievement Award, as bestowed upon him by the Association of Women in Radio and Television (AWRT), Houston Chapter; 2005 brought him the highest honor given by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Silver Medal for his lifetime commitment to the industry. Three more prestigious recognitions came to him in 2006: Latin Business magazine’s Latin Business Spirit Award, the Hispanic Marketing Midwest Achievement Award, and the Houston Minority Business Council’s Emerging-10 Award. 2007 was also a particularly successful year for Alex, as he was honored with the Leadership Award from the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies and was established as a “Living Legend” by the American Advertising Federation-Houston, alongside his second Lifetime Achievement Award as given by the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals (HAHMP). In 2008, Alex and Cathy established the Lopez Negrete Hispanic Marketing Education Fund Scholarship.

By 2009, the agency received the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s (NMSDC) Leadership Award for leadership and commitment to minority business development. Alex was inducted into the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame Class of 2010 by the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation. That same year, Lopez Negrete Communications was named the largest independent Hispanic-owned and -operated agency in America. Under Alex’s stewardship, the agency won the coveted Mosaic Award in the “Multiethnic Ad Campaign” category for its “Vida 23: Sabor a Otro Nivel” campaign, launched in 2011 for Dr Pepper Snapple Group. In 2012, he received the coveted “Agency Executive of the Year” from HispanicAd.com, the first to win the honor for a second time at the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies’ semiannual conference in Miami, Florida. In 2014, Alex received the NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award in recognition of his contributions to the city of Houston. After being named HBE Chair for the 2015 United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Convention, Alex was honored by the government of Mexico with the Ohtli Award, the highest honor bestowed upon civilians of Mexican or Latino descent living abroad for his commitment to, and support of, the Mexican American and Latino community in the United States. In 2016, Alex received the Governor’s Award from the AAF Tenth District’s Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame 2016. The Houston Minority Supplier Development Council honored both Alex and Cathy in 2018 with the President’s Award for their significant support during and after Hurricane Harvey in Houston. In 2019, Alex was inducted into the Culture Marketing Council Hall of Fame.

In 2020, Alex was awarded the Mosaic Champion Award from the AAF Tenth District, and in 2021, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from his beloved University of Houston. This year, Alex was presented with ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) Trailblazer Award for fearlessly pushing boundaries and revolutionizing the world of multicultural marketing.

Under Cathy and Alex’s leadership, the agency has always been at the forefront of the advertising industry to foster diversity, participation, and representation. As such, in 2021, The Houston Business Journal recognized the duo as “Outstanding Diversity Champions” and they also received the “Mosaic Champion Award” from the American Advertising Federation for making a positive difference in others’ lives through social justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion.

To carry on their legacy, Alex and Cathy established the Lopez Negrete Hispanic Marketing Education Fund in collaboration with the Advertising Education Foundation of Houston, the charitable foundation of the American Advertising Federation. The scholarship benefits students interested specifically in Hispanic marketing or advertising.

Born in Houston and raised in Mexico City, Alex resides in Houston with his wife, Cathy. They have two children, Michelle and Patrick, and three grandchildren, Mia Marie, Catherine Josephine, and Oliver Charles.