Posted on: Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Zumba tours the nation for Kellogg's

By Christina Hoag
Knight Ridder News Service

Zumba king Alberto "Beto" Perez of southern Florida is taking his sexy Latin aerobic routines on a national tour next month and launching a six-city talent search for a pint-size Zumba prince or princess to help kids catch the fitness craze.

The events are part of a marketing partnership with Kellogg's to promote its products, particularly its health-oriented line of cereals and cereal bars, to Hispanics.

"We recognize the seriousness of the obesity epidemic, and we're interested in providing solutions," said Jenny Enochson, director of marketing communications for the Michigan-based cereal giant. "This is promoting fitness in the Latino community, but we really believe it will have a broader reach."

A native of Cali, Colombia, Perez landed in Miami three years ago with little more than a suitcase of clothes and his choreographed aerobic routines, set to Latin music, which he'd dubbed Zumba. The routines quickly took off in gyms and led to $20 million in video sales via TV infomercials.

Now Zumba clothing, franchises and books are in the works, and Zumba Productions says it expects the Kellogg's deal to serve as a branding platform that will boost Zumba to household-name stature nationwide. Under the slogan "Zumbando con Kellogg's," the seven-week tour is to stop in 80 cities that have large Hispanic populations.