Ad Age Agency Issue

As a digital media organization we are always keeping an eye on which clients are reaching out to the Hispanic or Latin American markets.  Working with major media agencies as well as local full-service agencies, we are able to tailor our services to meet their needs.  While we have been aware of the efforts of major agencies to incorporate multicultural into their offerings as well as Hispanic agencies looking to enhance their total market business, I found the recent Ad Age Article about PR agencies increasing their media buying efforts to be very interesting.

At the end of the day, everyone is looking for new business opportunities and looking to fulfill their clients’ needs.  The article “PR Agency Media Buys Rising to New Heights” points out the recent example of Gatorade running a series of webisodes as well as online ads, not through its media or digital agency but through its PR agency.  According to the article, it is a growing trend in public relations, where the key “storytelling” prowess is not just translating to earned media, but also to paid media.

While the media billings are small in comparison to major agencies, you can be sure that there are many small/mid size agencies who would be very interested in these opportunities.  On the other hand, in order to continue growing, the PR agencies will need to invest in expanding their teams to service these new opportunities.  For media planners who have been made available in the frequent contraction of agencies when they lose a large client, this may offer another avenue to continue with their career.   And for media providers, this is a new area that warrants watching.

Colombia Online

IAB Colombia and PriceWaterhouseCoopers recently published a study showing that online advertising in Colombia continues to grow. A total of 126,366 million Colombian pesos were invested in digital marketing in 2011 (the equivalent of $72 million U.S. dollars). This figure also represents a growth of 33.46% in comparison to 2010, although growth from 2009 to 2010 was more dramatic, at 89%.

Colombia is home to media properties such as Colombia.com, El Colombiano, and Caracol TV, among others. The study used the reporting of figures from 28 media companies and 21 agencies, which included both investment in digital media and SEM. Looking at both 2011 and 2010, display continued to take the lion’s share of ad dollars, with 79% in 2011, followed by search, and then social media campaigns.  Mobile and video continue to make up less than 3% of the pie.