WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell highlighted several times the importance of Latin American markets during his keynote speech titled “2010-What’s coming down the line” at the ad:tech New York Conference and Expo. "There's a shift in power, which I still don't think we fully understand here standing in New York, from the West to the East -- and modify that to the South," said Sorrell, referring to China and India in the East and Latin America in the South. "Every single client we deal with is focusing on these parts of the world for growth."
During the first six months of 2009, 35.8 percent of WPP's revenue came from North America, 38.1 percent from the U.K. and Western Europe, and 26.1 percent from the rest of the world, according to the company's earnings report.
Still a low percentage of Advertising Budgets
Sorrell said he also expects online marketing budgets to catch up with consumer use of new media. Currently, clients spend about 12 percent of their marketing budgets online, he said. Yet consumers spend 20 to 28 percent of their time online. In both Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market that proportion is well below 10%.of overall advertising market expenditures.
Hispanic and Latino Digital Media Panel
One session during the Conference was titled “Reaching the U.S. Hispanic and Latino Digital Consumer”. Liz Saracheck Blacker , SVP Digital Sales at Impremedia, participated in the panel together with Peter Blacker, Executive VP, Digital Media & Emerging Businesses, NBC Universal / Telemundo, Mark Lopez, COO, Terra Networks USA, Rafael Urbina Quintero, Chairman and CEO, Batanga and Patircia Romero, National Manager, Multicultural Marketing, Hyundai. The panel was moderated by Rick Marroquin, fomer CMO of Batanga and now Executive VP, Managing Director, Mediabrands. The panel analyzed the impact of the next census likely result that U.S. Hispanics and Latinos will represent more than 20% of the US population. Attendees, agreed that it is now critical for almost all marketers to proactively reach out to and develop a dedicated marketing communications strategy for the US Hispanic and Latino market and it is equally important for digital to be at the heart of this strategy.
Impremedia’s Blacker added that some industries are “getting” the Hispanic digital market and others are not yet. Among the ones that are not yet, she included finance, while telecommunications and entertainment companies are already using digital media to reach the Hispanic population. She added that its key to use a culturally relevant environment (including in-language) to address the Hispanics and Latin Americans in an effective way.