Debates on immigration and assimilation certainly won’t be fading any time soon. But while politicians fight it out the fact remains that the growing Hispanic populations have increasing buying power. And companies are making sure to reach out to these markets. The question is: What’s the best strategy? The answer: Keep it real—as in authentic.

It takes more than just speaking the language to make a connection. Companies are tapping into consumers’ passions by creating events that engage people on their own turf.

Choosing the right crowd to hang out with is as crucial in marketing as it was in high school. Co-marketing is making more and more sense to a lot of companies with pinched budgets and a desire to reach a wider audience.

What’s behind all this kumbaya? It could be the dragging economy that is making combined budgets more appealing to marketers. Or it could be that multiple p.r. departments spread the word to more people and create more media impressions. And let’s not forget the increased audience.

The best event programs take one sponsorship event or message and activate it on multiple platforms in a variety of ways. The approach is used for a number of reasons: to create additional buzz off a one-off sweeps or contest for example or to leverage a sponsorship investment to the hilt. But more than anything else it’s done because so much more is expected from event marketing these days. ROI is key and to get that return programs have to fire on all cylinders. Here three examples of brands who have taken recent event programs and made the most of ’em.

To drive viewership for its new film “Recount ” the behind-the-scenes story of the 2000 presidential election and the controversial Florida recount HBO on Tuesday staged live voting events in two major cities. Visitors to Union Square in New York City and shopping center The Grove in Los Angeles had a chance to jump into one of 12 actual Votomatic voting booths used in the 2000 election in Florida and punch out the butterfly ballot’s now infamous chads to see if their vote got counted or compromised by the paper-based system.