Latin American Currencies

Prior to becoming President of Chile in 2010, Sebastian Piñera was a businessman with major holdings in such companies as the Chilevision TV station,  Colo-Colo (one of the top soccer teams in Chile) and LAN Airlines.  Recently he was featured in articles in The Economist and CNN looking to the future of Latin America.

“We, the bicentennials” refers to Chile and other Latin American countries that have recently celebrated 200 years of independence. While much of the news that the world sees coming out of Latin America may be negative- from Venezuela’s chaos to violence in Mexico and Central America, it is refreshing to see a positive viewpoint of the region.

While citing issues of poverty among others, there are some decidedly positive comments that describe a strong base for the region.

- “a vast and fertile territory, abundant natural resources, two sister languages and a shared culture, increasingly strong democracies”
- “have not had to endure wars such as those that devastated Europe, nor racial conflicts like those that still divide the African continent, nor religious strife such as that afflicting the Middle East.”

Having not only lived in Chile, but worked with businesses throughout Latin America, I have to agree that there is an increasingly positive business climate both inside and outside the region. I can also say that our company, Alcance Media Group is not alone in its increasing focus on marketing to Latin America and are seeing increasing competition from both national and international companies.

It is possible to cite studies by the likes of Goldman Sachs forecasting that by 2050 Brazil and Mexico will be permanent fixtures within the world’s six largest economies, as well as some recent examples such as:

- Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico: The richest man alive
- Chile’s LAN Airline merger with TAM to create the second largest global airline.
- Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican company, started purchasing U.S. based companies in 1994 and today incorporates many historic American brands into Bimbo Bakeries USA.

While most would agree with the sentiment that much of the risk facing Latin America is political, overall, companies outside the region are investing in it, and there is increasing investment globally coming from the region.  Investors and marketers alike should definitely be open to these opportunities.

For any company looking to market to Mexico, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Mexico is a fantastic resource.  With the limited downside of only being in Spanish, the organization’s website offers details into the digital market in Mexico through the numerous research activities that it supports.

While the majority of the research as well as the conferences put on by IAB Mexico do require strong Spanish language skills, at the very least the numbers will give a good picture of this rapidly growing digital market.

IAB Mexico, with the assistance of Millward Brown, put together the 2011 Digital Media consumption by Mexican Internet User study, which cites some key points that will transcend the language, such as:

•    62% increase in Laptop Ownership over 2010
•    33% increase in Smartphone ownership over 2010
•    87% are connecting to the internet from home
•    40% of users spend 2-5 hours surfing the internet, while 33% spend 5 or more hours surfing.
•    More than 80% of users look for information about products/brands online and 50% have made online payments or purchases online.

The bottom line is that the Mexican digital space is full of digital options.  Along with a population that is internet savvy and open to being reached through digital media, Mexico should be a key to any Latin American marketing strategy.

Businessmen and women from all over the world have always focused on emerging markets with high possibilities for profit, and it seems that Central America has captured the attention of many of them. The investigators and specialists of the Economic Commission of Latin America (CEPAL) has also been observing this wave of investment in Central America with interest.

Businessmen and women have shown interest in diverse economic sectors in Central America, especially electricity, cement, the financial sector, the pharmaceutical industry, food, manufacturing, and medical services. These are some of the successful niches that generate high dividends. From just 2007 to 2011 the investments in Central America have been at least 3 billion dollars in procurement of companies of the whole region. Colombian, Spanish, Mexican, American, and Brazilian investors are those who have made the biggest bet on the region.

Central America is a region which offers big opportunities for investors. High quality, hand-made products at a low cost, high quality services and manufacturing make investing in Central America a very attractive idea for those who have the money to invest.

Google

Every year Google reveals a list of the most popular terms searched for over the course of the year. The list of 2011 is broken up into a number of categories and contains some interesting results.

So what have Chileans been searching for this year? Among some the most popular Chilean searches are the Copa Ámerica, Los Wachiturros, and the increasingly popular game, Angry Birds. While Cancún, Aruba, Riviera Maya, Punta Cana, Barbados, and Santo Domingo are this year’s vacation destinations for Chileans, Emma Watson, Kim Kardashian, and Scarlett Johansson seem to be the favorites in terms of celebrities.

On a sadder note, the searches for the two plane crashes in early September as well as for Felipe Camiroaga, Roberto Bruce, and Amy Winehouse also are at the top of the list of Chilean searches after their deaths this year.

This year’s “most searched term award” of the ENTIRE WORLD goes to the 14-year-old singer, Rebecca Black. Although she has received an overwhelming amount of online attention, I doubt the majority of the searches were made in order to enjoy her “invigorating” composition, Friday.

"We achieved the impossible"

The Benetton campaign UNHATE  has provoked a controversy throughout entire Chile, as the advertising agency La Firma claims authorship of the idea showing public personalities who stand in conflict with each other kissing.

Actually, the original campaign of La Firma with the slogan “Logramos lo impossible” (“We achieved the impossible”), showing the ex-president of the United States George Bush kissing with the president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, is quite similar to the Benetton campaign, however, sometimes the same idea occurs to people at the same time and it’s not necessarily plagiarism.

Nevertheless, the manager of the Chilean company, who won this year two “Effie” awards – prizes of the advertising industry – announced that they are currently checking to take legal action against Benetton.

We for sure know that The Clinic, an alternative bimonthly publication that shows the social and political problems of Chile, takes advantage of the Benetton campaign to make fun of public personalities of Chile in a very sarcastic way and to make Chileans laugh.

Of course, the The Clinic campaign is designed for people who know the personalities and their disputes, however, we leave you the link so you can at least see the terrible (and intentional) graphic work.