Online Ad in Latin America: Argentina Getting Back on Top

An interesting article written by Patricio Cavalli shows how Internet is growing in Latin America and how ad agencies are considering this medium as a perfect one to overcome the ‘budget crisis’ that many brands are suffering. Patricio writes: “According to the Argentine branch of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, online ad investment in 2008 totaled $71 million. In its survey, IAB projects that online ad spending will grow up to 25% this year – a wishful-thinking scenario, some say. With most of its creative talent applied to TV and print, Argentina still has to prove its capacity to translate its ideas into digital or, better yet, to create fully digital, through-the-line ideas. Advertisers and digital agencies said there are three main reasons for these delays: culture and knowledge issues among companies’ top managers and even between marketing managers; excessive connectivity prices for web and for mobile access to digital media; and the lack of convenient, easy-to-read, manageable metrics for the digital platform. According to Marina Méndez, regional CEO in Zed Digital, “What I propose is that we go past the divorce lines between online and offline, understanding that everything is online because we all are digital natives, we all are human beings who have a cell phone, a computer and an e-mail inbox. When we understand that, this process will be more logical, and a lot more natural.”

The complete article can be found in this month’s edition of Ad Age.

By Lara Bersano