Its been a little more than a year since Prisa Radio launched its panregional unit based in Miami. Portada interviewed Ileana Cruz, Pan Regional Sales Manager at Prisa Radio about its Panregional strategy. Ileana Cruz talked about the challenges in the panregional world, their major clients and the future of PRISA Radio.
Portada: Its now one year after the introduction of your pan-regional effort. What do you think PRISA Radio did well from the outset?
Ileana Cruz: “We did very well from the outset; we introduced pan-regional radio advertisement for the first time giving clients and agencies new opportunities to reach large audiences in Latin America with just one buy. This along with our wide portfolio of product offerings allowed us to experience tremendous success in 2010 and further more boost our expectations for 2011. We have been in close contact with top pan regional agencies which have allowed us to perfect our programming to include a portfolio that is ideally tailored to our clients’ needs. We offer the opportunity to effectively reach a broad spectrum of target audiences with a portfolio of products to suit all clients target objectives in radio and web.
With over 26 million listeners and 13 million unique internet users our goal is to customize our offerings to fulfill our customer’s requests.”
Portada: How easy/difficult has it been to convince pan regional advertisers of the benefits of pan regional radio advertising?
Ileana Cruz: “Our challenge was to convince pan regional advertisers of the benefits of pan regional radio because of the fact that it was a new category in the market place. We were able to enter into this new category with ease because of the strength of our company in terms of: the high reach of our audience, distinctive talent abroad, cost efficiency and ability to allow advertisers to change their ad campaigns and adapt them to a local message. This along with the ability to integrate multiplatforms such as internet, social media, marketing/pr and grassroots events truly allowed us to step ahead.”
Portada: Where do you see Pan Regional radio in the future?
Ileana Cruz: “Pan Regional advertising in radio will continue to grow. Pan Regional clients are experiencing and wreaking the benefits of this new category and as word of success gets around we will see remarkable growth. We continue to work with our clients from 2010 and have already began to expand our portfolio of new clients in 2011.”
Portada: Where are your main international – pan regional advertisers based geographically? (e.g. Southern Florida, rest of US, Europe, Japan etc…)?
Ileana Cruz: “We have a broad spectrum of clients around the world, including clients from the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. PRISA Radio has no limitations; no matter where you are located globally we are able to offer outstanding service. We have offices in 10 countries and are able to assist our customer’s needs wherever they may be.”
Portada: What advantages does PRISA Radio have in selling radio pan regionally in terms of formats? Are formats standardized in terms of ad insertions across the region?
Ileana Cruz: “PRISA Radio is not only radio, we offer an array of multiplatform solutions for our clients including radio, internet, local /pan regional/ international events. Although we do offer standardized formats we have found that our ability to adapt to each of our client needs is a key component in our success. One of our main advantages is in our capability to offer our clients customized packages that allow us to add local components to global formats in radio and online.
Portada: Do you also sell advertising just into one country? E.g. from outside of Mexico into Mexico, or outside of Argentina – Argentina.
Ileana Cruz: “Yes, we provide our customers with immediate assistance whether it be advertising into one country or multiple, we are always able to aid to their needs. With offices in 10 countries, PRISA Radio has extensive global support. Our concept is to think global and act local. We are a global company that adapts to each country’s local customs to give our clients the best of both worlds.”
Related article: Analysis: Radio, A New Panregional Media Category
