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- Feature 06/03/2021

How El Nuevo Dia Caters to the Puerto Rican Diaspora in the U.S.

Cultural relevance is of prime importance for media to engage its target audience. El Nuevo Dia Puerto Rico is an example of a culturally relevant media property, particularly for the more than 5 million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. mainland. Portada talked to several executives at El Nuevo Dia to understand how it serves as a bridge between the local community in Puerto Rican and the diaspora in the U.S.

This Thought Leadership article is presented by Digo Hispanic Media.

An estimated 5.6 million Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin lived in the United States mainland in 2017, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. An additional 3.4 million people live in Puerto Rico. After Mexicans, Puerto Ricans are the second-largest population of Hispanic origin living in the United States, accounting for about 10% of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2017.

The Puerto Rican population is concentrated in Florida (20% of Puerto Ricans in the U.S and 5,4% of the Floridian population ), New York (20%, 5.7%), New Jersey (8%, 5.3%) and Pennsylvania (8%, 3.7%). There are also sizable Puerto Rican populations of at least 200,000 in Connecticut (8.2%, of the overall population), Massachusetts (4.9%), Illinois and California. Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. tend to have a higher income than the rest of Hispanics, with the median annual personal earnings for Hispanics ages 16 and older at US $25,000, compared with $28,600 for Puerto Ricans.

An estimated 5.6 million Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin live in the U.S. mainland.

Cultural Relevance: A Bridge Between the Local Community and the Diaspora

Maria Eugenia Ferre Rangel — María Eugenia Ferré Rangel, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, GFR Media

El Nuevo Dia is the digital media property with the largest reach in Puerto Rico. In 2020 it had 7 million unique users on average on a monthly basis, from which 38% were from Puerto Rico and 34% from mainland United States. What role does cultural relevance play in the way El Nuevo Dia caters to the Puerto Rican diaspora in the U.S?
María Eugenia Ferré Rangel, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, GFR Media & Chief Communications Officer, Grupo Ferré Rangel, tells Portada that her team is “ strongly committed to offer a journalism that informs, educates and gives a voice to those that are not heard. Being part of the history, on events such as the hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemic and the elections, comes also with a great responsibility of being a credible and reliable source of information for Puerto Ricans on the Island and around the globe.” Rafael Lama, Managing Editor of El Nuevo Dia Puerto Rico, adds that his publication tries to work as a bridge between the local community and the diaspora. “Anything that is geared towards nostalgia or products or brands that Puerto Ricans do not get in the U.S. has a very strong impact on our audience.” As an example he cites that when they published news related to the expansion of Puerto Rican beer Medalla into the U.S. he saw that that content works very well for El Nuevo Dia Puerto Rico’s audience in the United States. “We clearly see a hunger for content that deals specifically with sports heroes of Puerto Rican origin like Puerto Rican baseball players or entertainment stars like Jennifer Lopez,” Lama claims.

We clearly see a hunger for content that deals specifically with sports heroes of Puerto Rican origin like Puerto Rican baseball players or entertainment stars like Jennifer Lopez.

As another example Lama cites that recently, after the passing of Mexican clown Cepillín, his team put out a story about his last appearance in Puerto Rico back in 2010, and his impact on the kids that grew up in the 80’s. The content was one of the top performing stories of the day.

How Brands can Best Leverage Media with Cultural Relevance

Joseph Kiwanuka, ‎VP, Partner, Cultural Connections & Strategy, UM Worldwide, where he plans and buys media for Fortune 100 brands, asserts that “a culturally relevant brand is one that aligns well with cultural identity and values, supports social issues, integrates seamlessly with cultural events, and promotes trends that shape today’s culture.”

Chairwoman Ferré Rangel recommends that brands leverage editorial content in their marketing strategies. “We’re interested in being a trusted partner that will add value through synergies and strategic alliances, maximizing technology to reach their audiences in a more efficient and effective way. For example, we’ve been very successful with content marketing and audience segmentation efforts that have increased campaign performance and optimization to local brands, ” Ferré Rangel claims.

A culturally relevant brand is one that aligns well with cultural identity and values, supports social issues, integrates seamlessly with cultural events.

How the Biden Campaign Targeted Puerto Ricans

President Biden and Vice President Harris gave exclusive interviews to El Nuevo Dia before the presidential election. El Nuevo Dia was the only local media that had access to them reflecting its cultural relevance when it comes to engage Puerto Ricans. Managing Editor Rafael Lama says that he knew that the Biden campaign wanted to target Puerto Ricans in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania as 35% of the traffic of ElNuevodia.com comes from the United States, particularly those regions. According to Lama, while Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico can not vote for president of the U.S., they have an important role in conveying to the U.S. based diaspora that they should vote for an administration that cares for the problems of the island. “Without going into politics, we know that there was a lot of friction between the Trump administration and Puerto Rico about the hurricane relief. In our exclusive interview we asked Biden and Harris what their plans for Puerto Rico are,” says Lama.

During the 2020 Elections season, while El Nuevo Día was producing specific content for its audience around the topic, there was a substantial spike in audience engagement, asserts Janette Robles, Audience Intelligence Manager at GFR Media: “There was an increase of users in the island of +2.82% when comparing average traffic from previous months. We also saw an increase in the average session duration of +2.40% during the same period of comparison, so we can say people were more engaged with the content and were visiting our site to get more information regarding the elections, that was developed and published in a relevant way and in context for Puerto Ricans.” Robles emphasizes that if the same exercise is done for Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. she saw an increase in page views of almost 2% during that period vs previous months. “But what is just outstanding was the increase we saw in the average session duration of the diaspora. It increased by 5.6% during that period vs previous months,” Robles concludes.

Election specific content increased average session duration of the diaspora by 5.6%.

- Feature 05/25/2021

What is CTV Advertising? 6 Key Questions and Their Answers

As CTV advertising is clearly on the rise there is still a lot of confusion in the brand marketing and media buying community about what CTV really means and what its key features are. What are its advantages? Is it interactive? How do you buy it? 6 key questions and their answer according to executives from Mastercard, Innovid and Portada’s editorial team.

1. What is CTV Advertising?

Connected TV advertising (CTV) is advertising placed on any TV that can be connected to the internet. These TVs, also called Smart TVs, either directly access the Internet or do it via devices like Roku, Amazon Fire, or Google Chrome. The key for the definition of CTV is the large TV screen, which allows advertisers to engage audiences in a linear TV-like environment, a one-to-many relationship enabled by co-viewing and higher engagement due to the large screen, compared to other types of digital advertising that tends to be based on a one-on-one relationship between content and user.

Advertisers are taking notice: “CTV allowed us to reach audiences with a high technology adoption rate, interest and consumption time compared to other media we used in our campaign,” Jose Vicente Luque, Head of Media & Agency Relations Latin America & the Caribbean, Mastercard tells Portada. Another advantage, Luque says, is that it is a less saturated channel and, therefore, brands will have a better exposure.

CTV allowed us to reach audiences with a high technology adoption rate, interest and consumption time compared to other media we used.

And What CTV Advertising is Not

CTV advertising is not OTT Advertising. OTT (Over the top) advertising is a more inclusive term which includes CTV advertising and advertising over laptops, desktops, smartphones, ipads and other non TV-screen devices. In other words, CTV advertising is a subset of the larger OTT advertising sector.

DOWNLOAD: White Paper on CTV Opportunities in Latin America (presented by Entravision Interactive in Spanish)

2. Is CTV Advertising Interactive?….

Let’s say it depends. CTV by and large does not yet allow for bidirectional interactivity between consumers and advertisers (although check out question 3 for a new initiative that makes it really bidirectional). Brands can, however, use a myriad of data triggers and provide customized ads – by making a reference to the closest retail store, provide messaging according to the weather were the audience is based etc. – in order to make the ad experience much less standard than it usually is on linear TV. For instance Kellogg’s Pringles Super Bowl 2019 campaign greeted consumers with a “Hey Chicago” or “Hey New York,” depending on the user’s location.

….with help from other media (multichannel marketing).

A way to make CTV advertising bidirectional is to have consumers use another media in addition to Smart TV. In fact in the above referenced Pringles Super Bowl campaign the ad featured an overlay promoting a QR code which, once scanned with a mobile phone, directed viewers to an e-commerce site. According to Verizon Media, a whopping 71% of CTV viewers use their mobile devices to look up related content while watching TV, providing advertisers the ideal setup to make meaningful connections with audiences.

71% of CTV viewers use their mobile devices to look up related content while watching TV.

Other options include to use omnichannel marketing based on the users response to the CTV ad. For instance, a national lawn care company, recently ran a four-week, nationwide CTV campaign originally designed to build upper sales funnel awareness. By adding the ability to know who watched the OTT/CTV ad to completion and then serve them retargeted ads on their other digital devices, they were able to generate over 20,000 visits to the client’s site. This ultimately was attributed down the funnel to US $2.1 million in sales, and with offline conversion attribution, they were able to deliver an astounding 3,000 : 1 return on investment.

3. What needs to happen so that CTV is really interactive?

For CTV to be really interactive, or bidirectional, a SDK (software development kit or a collection of software development tools in one installable package) needs to be embedded on hardware solutions (e.g. Roku devices) as well as in dozens of publishers,“ Stephanie Geno, Chief Marketing Officer, at Innovid tells Portada.
Geno adds that “a really interactive industry first execution piloted on the Apple TV App of the above cited Pringles 2019 Super Bowl ad featured an interactive overlay that allowed viewers to swipe through an engagement carousel featuring various flavor stacking combinations. The carousel played in ad only.” (Viewers who watched the game through other apps/providers were served standard pre-roll ads.)

To make CTV 100% interactive Innovid, DSP The Trade Desk and SSP Magnite came together and looked at all places where interactive SDK’s are present in the U.S. The three companies partnered to create a unified marketplace to power advanced creative buying programmatically across the connected TV ecosystem.
Innovid’s proprietary software development kit (SDK) powers personalized and interactive experiences in CTV through direct integrations across over 50 publisher apps. The SDK is central to Innovid’s offering, enabling brands to take advantage of a 360 approach to connecting with consumers across channels.

DOWNLOAD: White Paper on CTV Opportunities in Latin America (presented by Entravision Interactive in Spanish)

4. How CTV Can Earn Additional Time with the Target Customer

What else is CTV Advertising? Innovid’s Geno also notes that real interactive CTV allows advertisers the opportunity to earn additional time with their target customer. In its global omni-channel benchmark report Innovid analyzed over 200 billion display and advertising impressions served on its platform during 2020. A key result is that while compared to standard video pre-roll advanced creative video formats overall generated an average of 34 additional seconds earned, interactive CTV generated an additional 63 seconds earned.

Compared to standard video pre-roll interactive CTV generated an additional 63 seconds earned with the consumer.

5. Why On-Demand TV is better suited than Live TV for the user Experience with CTV Advertising

On demand TV, as opposed to live TV, is particularly well suited to extend the interactive CTV experience. According to Innovid’s Geno, this typically happens by having an interactive overlay popping up out of the pre-roll video through which the consumer is taken out of the ad and taken into a 1:1 experience. For Live TV, like the Super Bowl, continuing the interaction on the Smart TV would have disrupted the experience as users likely would have wanted to continue to watch the football game. That is why, for live TV, it is better for the user experience to extend the interaction through an additional media vehicle, like the mobile phone, instead of over the Smart TV.

6. How do you buy CTV?

What is CTV Advertising’s purchase process? Historically, CTV has been mostly bought through the upfront process. And then activated programmatically. However, over the last six months growth in CTV Advertising has been spurred by programmatic real time bidding (RTB). CPMs (Cost per thousands) for CTV advertising will tend to be between 2 and 3 times higher than traditional linear TV ads, but overall budgets will be significantly lower as CTV allows advertisers to move away from a blanket approach to much more customized media buy and, thereby, eliminate waste.

CPMs for CTV advertising are between 2 and 3 times higher than traditional linear TV ads, but the needed CTV campaign budget will be substantially lower.

- 6 things to know 05/20/2021

CNN en Español’s Podcast Roster Adds GloboEconomia

CNN en Español and CNN Audio announced the addition of the new podcast GloboEconomía, thus expanding the news network’s multiplatform content offering.

In this new audio product as in his does in his show GloboEconomia every Saturday, from 8-9 pm (Hora Miami) on CNN en Español, José Antonio Montenegro and his guests will analyze every week the current issues and trends that shape the economic, political and social news.

Among CNN en Español and CNN Audio’s original podcasts are “Coronavirus: Reality vs. Fiction with Dr. Elmer Huerta”, “Desafíos Globales with José Levy”, “Zona Pop CNN” and “CNN 5 cosas”. Audiences can also listen to the audios of the network’s programs such as “Aristegui”, “Conclusiones” and “Oppenheimer”, among others.

In the first episode of GloboEconomy, “Inclusive Globalization”, José Antonio Montenegro spoke with Professor Álvaro Santos, from Georgetown University, about the need to find global economic policies that provide a more generalized benefit to the entire population.

Montenegro, a lawyer, economist and communications expert, has directed and hosted the weekly program GloboEconomía on CNN en Español since October 2004. For 17 years he has been an executive in different financial institutions in Europe and the United States, before dedicating himself full time to the world of economic information from New York, where he has lived since 1990. Montenegro is also editor-in-chief of DesdeWallStreet.com.

GloboEconomía podcast will be available every Saturday starting this week at cnn.com/globoeconomia and on all podcast platforms. A new 30-minute episode will be released every Saturday.

- Feature 05/11/2021

Why Brands Should Invest in Premium Content and Brand Safe Media According to AAM and El Nuevo Dia Puerto Rico

Premium content and brand safe media are key for brand advertising ROI, Kevin Rehberg, VP, Client Development, Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) and Rafael Lama, Deputy Director at El Nuevo Día Puerto Rico, tell Portada.

This Thought Leadership article is presented by Digo Hispanic Media.

In all too recent U.S. history we have seen the harmful role social media can play by spreading entirely fabricated content. The brand marketing community can play a crucial role by advertising in media properties practicing professional journalism and thereby supporting a repluralization of media and a commitment to facts as a public good. While investing in premium content and truth based media is very important for corporate social responsibility reasons, it is also crucial in order for brands to avoid ad fraud, achieve ROI and brand safety.

In fact, the costs of not investing in professional media properties are huge. Digital ad fraud, according to different industry estimates, costs marketers anywhere between U $6 billion and US $42 US billion annually. So on average there are US $24 billion a year stolen from marketers. Yet, there only have been a handful of global arrests because of digital ad fraud; so ad fraud is a very low risk high reward way to steal money and unfortunately that money is coming from brand marketers and quality publishers.

On average there are US $24 billion a year stolen from marketers. That money is coming from brand marketers and quality publishers.

What is Premium Content?

Kevin Rehberg, VP, Client Development,Alliance for Audited Media (AAM).

“From a verification standpoint, premium content comes from publishers who invest the most resources into their content – and who go above and beyond regarding transparency and verification of their audience. This allows the marketing partners of premium publishers to invest in their advertising inventory with confidence,” says Kevin Rehberg, Vice President, Client Development at the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM). AAM is a media industry non-for profit organization. Our mission is to connect marketers with quality publishers. That is more important now than it has ever been.

As a way to work with quality publishers, Rehberg recommends brands to check out the list of AMM clients “which gives buyers an excellent indication of who the quality publishers are.” Another useful resource for buyers are Digital Publisher Audits, “ where marketers can find publishers that can be added to their inclusion lists with confidence,” Rehberg adds.

Premium content comes from publishers who invest the most resources into their content – and who go above and beyond regarding transparency and verification of their audience..

All platforms and all quality publishers should subject themselves to transparency for the benefit of the marketer. It’s up to the marketer to demand what gets audited. Ultimately the pressure to be audited should come from brand marketers. There are 4 cornerstones to use an audit to get ROI, Rehberg notes:

Support best practices for digital advertising from (TAG Trustworthy Accountability Group)
Build your inclusion list with AAM audited publishers
Buy from authorized resellers via ad.txt
Use MRC (Media Rating Council) accredited technology.”

To Rafael Lama, Deputy Director at El Nuevo Día Puerto Rico, premium content means “content that you cannot get anywhere else. Whether it comes from in-depth reporting, investigative pieces, analysis or fact checking, we at El Nuevo Día consider premium all content that requires going further to tell a story, to uncover facts, to give multiple perspectives on a single subject.”

We consider premium all content that requires going further to tell a story, to uncover facts, to give multiple perspectives on a single subject.

“Production quality, duration and relevance of the story are certainly part of the equation,” Lama notes. But he adds that premium content can also be based on quick response: “We also produce quick response premium content. As an example, Lama notes that during last year’s local election for the governor of Puerto Rico and the last debate, “we did a live fact checking for all six candidates. That was produced on the spot and quite quickly, but it was premium content, as we dedicated seven journalists to the project during the two-hour debate, and we planned and prepared about three weeks ahead.”

Joseph Kiwanuka, VP, Partner, Cultural Connections & Strategy, UM Worldwide, an agency that buys media for clients including Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, Fitbit, GoPro and Spotify, notes that from “an advertiser perspective, premium content has a significant role in catalyzing a brand’s marketing success. Today, brands need customized and bespoke messaging and placements that deliver value and quality to engaged audiences across many of the mass and niche online destinations. Brand safety is vital as brands must deliver trusted placements to the right authenticated audiences and be able to report on accurate engagement activity on trusted platforms.”

How El Nuevo Dia Puerto Rico Works with Advertisers

Rafael Lama, Deputy Director at El Nuevo Día Puerto Rico

How can brands and publishers best work together to allow brands to reach their target audience and objectives without crossing the editorial line and/or impacting the user’s experience? According to AAM’s Rehberg, when it comes to multicultural and Hispanic specific marketing “what you want to do as an advertiser is to buy as directly as possible to the quality publishers who deliver high percentages of Hispanic audiences. The more you go into quantity and further away from quality, you run a much higher risk of not serving impressions to the audience you want to deliver those impressions to and not reach your business outcomes,” notes Rehberg.

El Nuevo Dia Puerto Rico’s Lama says that a lot of planning and a lot of communication between editorial and commercial teams is needed. “As an example with the pandemic we have worked on projects that have proven to be great journalistically speaking but also have proven to be a great venue for advertisers. For instance, in September and October we worked on a documentary about COVID deaths and about families not being able to say goodbye to their loved ones. Surprisingly, we got great feedback also from our sales team. We got a lot of health insurance companies and hospitals who wanted to be part of the content and who ended up designing copy and creatives that were very proactive in terms of telling the audience to take care of themselves and be healthy. In the end, the project had both great journalistic and commercial results.”

With the pandemic we have worked on projects that have proven to be great journalistically speaking but also have proven to be a great venue for advertisers.

About Digo Hispanic Media

- Feature 04/28/2021

Numatec Launches Data-Driven Omni-Channel Media Company EKN

NUMATEC, a holding company focused on media and Martech ventures across the globe, announced the launch of EKN, a data-driven omni-channel buy-side media company that provides access to digital advertising inventory for display, video, social, mobile, native, and more.

NUMATEC established EKN by acquiring selected assets from Eikon Digital that are focused on providing trading and technology services to agencies and clients as well as premium media representation for both the U.S. and Pan-regional markets.

EKN is an answer to challenges market participants have. We are technology agnostic, more of a consultant than a technology provider.

EKN uses a number of leading platforms (such as DSPs, SSPs, and DMPs) to help clients achieve their goals through the EKN trading desk. EKN delivers effective results through its omni-channel buying capabilities, partnerships with the largest data providers, and best-in-class reporting, with solutions including:

Data—Data enrichment, Mapping, and Privacy
Media—Programmatic display, Connected TV and OTT, Mobile and desktop video, Search and Social
Reporting—Data integration, Custom dashboards, and Insights Analysis

Regarding the place EKN will be taking in the MarTech and Ad-Tech ecosystem, Alejandro Leon, CEO Caribe – Centro America – Peru at EKN. tells Portada that EKN “is not a DSP, rather we are an answer to challenges market participants have. We are technology agnostic, more of a consultant than a technology provider. We work with different DSPs, DMPs, SSPs and ad-serving technologies to optimize our clients media buys and campaigns.”

“Our new and existing clients are able to run campaigns in every online media channel, while executing
on multiple strategies to influence consumer behavior. We use the marketing cloud through display, e-mail, SMS in a real omnichannel way. Best of all, our insightful reporting means continuous optimization and unmatched insights,” Leon notes.

Adding Value to the Media Buy

According to Leon, EKN has invested in a strategic team that adds value to the media buy and recommends strategies and provides insights for campaign optimization. “We are partners for agencies, we do not sell any products, we sell a strategy and results for brands. In the U.S. we work with brands and in Latin America more with agencies,” Leon adds.

EKN’s Approach to Trading Desks

Leon notes that EKN uses a traditional trading desk but adds data insights and graphs to provide a very professional reporting . “For reporting we use Datorama, which was acquired by Salesforce a few years ago. Datorama also includes historical data and other references and provides richer data.”

Alejandro Leon, CEO Caribe – Centro America – Peru at EKN Solutions

Regarding the up-coming cookieless world, Leon notes that
“cookies are not disappearing but being transformed into something that is not 100% clear. Brands are more and more able to get their own data . At EKN we help brands create and enrich data and use that primary data to make more intelligent and efficient buys.”

At EKN we help brands create and enrich data and use that primary data to make more intelligent and efficient buys.

EKN Clients

Leon notes that EKN works with U.S. Hispanic clients but also has a specialized practice for Travel and Tourism in the U.S. which includes train lines, car rentals and airlines. “In Latin America we work with the top 500 global brands including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Pizza Hut and many others.”

Recently created NUMATEC, of which EKN is a holding company, comprehends more than 300 employees in 22 countries, in Europe and U.S. and Latin America, and is led by a team of entrepreneurs who have successfully founded and exited multiple ventures, and now pool their resources and companies under one umbrella. Check out our recent interview with NUMATEC’s CEO Giuliano Stiglitz!

Hispanic Marketing 04/16/2021

Últimas noticias de CNN en Español is now CNN 5 Cosas

CNN 5 Cosas brings listeners the day’s top headlines. The news brief is CNN en Español‘s most popular audio product to date, with more than  1.5 million monthly downloads  on average, and strong listener populations in Latin America, the USA, and Spain,  amongst others.

The show is released hourly Monday through Friday, from 6am to 6pm (ET), and once on Saturday and Sunday.

The podcast and the newsletter will work collaboratively to bring users the news they need, however, and whenever they need it.

“Our news briefing has a long history and it will continue to serve our CNN en Español Radio affiliates in the U.S Hispanic markets as well as in Latin America. This year, we will bring it into closer alignment with CNN’s much-loved 5 Cosas brand. The podcast and the newsletter will work collaboratively to bring users the news they need, however, and whenever they need it”, explained Juan Muñoz, CNN en Español’s Digital and Social Media Director.

You can find the show at cnn.com/5cosaspodcast or in your favorite podcast app.

The CNN en Español business unit is responsible for several multi-media platforms geared towards Spanish-speaking audiences around the world reaching 62 million households. These platforms include CNN en Español, a 24-hour cable news network for Latin America, Mexico and the U.S., as well as CNNEspanol.com and CNN en Español Radio, and CNN en Español on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The CNN en Español brand offers multiple platforms to Spanish-speaking audiences of the Americas.

- Hot Topics 02/28/2021

Global Search Ad Revenues to Hit US $171.6 Billion in 2021

According to data presented by Finaria, global search advertising revenues, the largest segment of the digital ads industry, rose by 6.7% year-over-year to US $152.6bn in 2020. The trend is set to continue in 2021, with the entire market reaching US $171.6bn value, US $19bn more than a year ago.

The year 2020 was a challenging year for the entire digital advertising industry, with even the largest players like Google witnessing significant revenue drops amid the COVID-19 crisis.

However, as millions of consumers shifted from brick-and-mortar stores to webshops, the entire market bounced back by the end of the year showing strong growth across all regions.

Mobile Search Ad Revenues to Jump by 16% YoY to US $86B

Thousands of companies, especially the big ones, have been hit hard by supply chain disruptions and customer challenges caused by the pandemic. To cope, many of them stopped their digital ad campaigns and reduced search advertising bids in the first half of 2020. As a result, cost per acquisition (CPA) and cost per click (CPC) were down across verticals and markets.

The shutdown in the travel industry, which spent most of its advertising budget on search ads before the COVID-19, caused another major hit.

In 2019, brands and media buyers spent US $142.9bn on search engine advertising worldwide, more than social media, video, and banner ads combined, revealed Statista Digital Market Outlook. In 2020, this figure jumped by almost US $10bn, despite the sharp fall in ad spending in the first two quarters of the year.

Brands and media buyers spent US $142.9bn on search advertising worldwide, more than social media, video, and banner ads combined.

Statistics show the global search advertising revenues are expected to jump by 12.4% in 2021. The increasing trend is set to continue in the next few years, with search ad revenues reaching US $211.4bn by 2025.

Mobile search engine advertising revenues are forecast to jump by 16% and hit US $86bn this year. By 2025, this segment of the search advertising market is expected to hit a US $120.2bn value.

Ad spending in the desktop search advertising segment is forecast to witness modest growth in the next few years, with the figure rising from US $85.5bn in 2021 to US $91.1bn in 2025.

Search Engine Advertising: The United States to Generate 40% of Global Revenues

Analyzed by geography, the United States represents the world’s leading search advertising market, expected to hit US $67.74bn value in 2021, or almost 40% of total spending this year. Statistics show the US search ad revenues jumped by nearly 20% amid the COVID-19 crisis. By 2025, the entire market is expected to hit US $82.2bn value.

As the second-largest market globally, search ad spending in China is expected to grow by 11.3% YoY to US $37.4bn in 2020. The United Kingdom follows with a 14% year-over-year growth and US $12.3bn in ad spending.

Japan and Germany ranked as the fourth and fifth-largest markets globally, with US $6.7bn and US $5.1bn in search ad revenues, respectively.

Statistics show the combined ad spending in the five largest markets is expected to jump by 22% YoY and hit US $157.2bn value by 2025.

- Hot Topics 02/22/2021

How D2C Weighs Into Coca-Cola Latin America’s Marketing Strategy

Javier Meza, SVP Marketing for Latin America, the Coca-Cola Company tells Portada how the beverage giant is pivoting to a more direct-to-consumer oriented strategy through owned media platforms, digital retail partnerships and more…

Javier Meza, SVP Marketing for Latin America, the Coca-Cola Company, is an Ecuadorean executive, who recently took over the reigns of Latin American marketing at Coca Cola out of Atlanta, Georgia, although, as he says, “he lives on the plane.”

These are times of change, also for the Coca Cola Company as the company recently announced a reorganization in nine operating units, Latin America being one of them, in order to streamline the organization and better enable the Coca-Cola system to pursue its “Beverages for Life” strategy. These newly created operating units focus on regional and local execution that will work closely with five marketing category leadership teams that span the globe to rapidly scale ideas. According to Meza, this is a new way of working “with more emphasis on global coordination.”

Coca-Cola Marketing in Latin America: Direct-to-Consumer

Javier Meza, SVP Marketing for Latin America, the Coca-Cola Company

Direct-to-consumer relationships have become crucial for The Coca-Cola Company in order to ensure its brands are “within a click’s reach of desire” as online shopping continues to surge due to COVID-19. “We are doing a lot in that realm,” Meza notes. “Covid-19 has accelerated our conviction in direct-to-consumer investments,” he adds. As one example, he mentions CocaCola en tu Hogar, a direct-to-consumer platform that lets consumers order beverages and groceries for home delivery available in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Central America and other parts of Spanish-speaking Latin America. A launch of the platform in the Brazilian market is also planned.

Covid-19 has accelerated our conviction in direct-to-consumer investments.

Another element of Coca Cola’s e-commerce strategy is Wabi, in the words of James Quincey, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of The Coca Cola Company, “a multi-platform venture available in 23 cities across five continentsthat connects Coca Cola’s system and other consumer-products companies to store owners and end consumers through an ecosystem of digital apps.”

The Coca-Cola Company is also partnering with multi-vertical company Rappi as well as with other Latin American e-commerce players like native third party marketplaces Amazon and Mercado Libre as well as working with brick and mortar retailers who have a substantial e-commerce presence.

Coca Cola is pivoting its marketing and advertising from a more traditional approach to one that incorporates e-commerce marketing elements. “We are shifting toward a more performance/transaction oriented marketing approach with click to purchase as a key objective,” Meza notes.

Social Selling and Expansion in Owned Media

Overall, the number of CPG and beverage companies, selling directly on Instagram and other social media properties has increased substantially over the last year. According to Meza, Instagram selling is particularly interesting when it comes to offering new products and product innovations. “Generally, Instagram can help to drive awareness and click-trough rates tend to be higher for innovative products,” he claims.

The increase in Direct-to-consumer efforts and the need to acquire first-party data is also guiding The Coca-Cola Company’s expansion into owned and operated media platforms. “The need to obtain more first party data is definitely one key aspects of our marketing going forward. Our answer to that is to create our owned media platforms like Coke Studio globally and “Coca Cola en tu Hogar” in Latin America. This priority is also guiding Coca-Cola’s Marketing Technologies investments. “Owned media platforms will help us achieve scale and more efficiency,” Meza says. “Owned Media Platforms and Customer development platforms (CDPs) will help us capture, maintain and leverage data”, he concludes.

Read about Coca Cola Latin America’s recent advertising campaign in today’s Sales Leads Latam.

- Feature 01/04/2021

Advertising: The Answers to 12 Questions Brands are Asking for 2021 and Beyond

What form will the advertising mix take once COVID-19 is over? How and where should brands advertise to boost E-Commerce? Should they trust Live Sports to come back in a major way? How can brand marketers best approach Data Privacy Regulations, First Party Data and Personalization?…. Advertisers have many questions as they go into 2021 and beyond. Check out the answers provided by brand executives in the Portada network and our editorial team. A Q&A reflecting the Advertising and Marketing Zeitgeist.

MY FIRST QUESTION is WTF I can’t plan much in this environment. When will COVID-19 finally be over?

ANSWER: Don’t expect live to resemble anything close to what we had in 2019 until the second half of 2021.
Good to know: Customers are the lifeblood of business and advertising is the main tool to attract new customers and an important way to retain them. In 2020 business conditions changed dramatically due to COVID-19. This substantially impacted advertising with an expected decrease of U.S. advertising revenue of 17% for 2020 (excluding political advertising, Magna Global);a miserable advertising year.

OK, but EVEN WHEN COVID IS OVER, how will the new normal impact my advertising and marketing?

ANSWER: Whether you are a company that is not directly facing the consumer or a Direct to Consumer firm, E-Commerce marketing and advertising will be much more important for you compared to pre-Covid-19 levels.(e.g. check out how automotive marketer Cadillac has worked proactively to adapt its advertising and marketing.)
Good to know: COVID has brought enormous changes in the way consumers inform themselves and buy products and has accelerated digital transformation and e-commerce. In January 2020, eMarketer forecast total U.S. ecommerce sales would reach US $674.88 billion in 2020, but a revised estimate puts that figure at US $794.50 billion or 17.7% more than expected! E-commerce skyrocketed from 12% to 16% of retail sales in only one year. Note that there is still a lot of room for e-commerce growth!

On the Relentless Ascent of E-Commerce Focused Advertising

I can see that it makes sense to put more money to work to grow E-COMMERCE, BUT WHERE EXACTLY SHOULD I DO THIS? Should I invest in advertising to attract buyers to my own website, to a third party marketplace or to direct them to social selling?

ANSWER: Most brand marketers in the Portada knowledge-sharing network see sales channels as complementary and not competing. “The key is to be omnichannel in order to be where customers need us to be,” one brand marketer says. Another thing to take into account in your advertising is that third party marketplaces (e.g. Amazon, but also Target or Walmart) are impacting brand messaging. It is crucial for brands to be in control of messaging. As social media becomes even more connected with e-commerce, Influencer marketing is becoming more sales driven. (According to Statista, global Instagram influencer marketing amounted to US $ $8,08 billion in 2020.)
Good to know: Amazon (37% sales growth in the third quarter of 2020 (Q3), vs Q3 2019) and other online retailers including Best Buy (23% Q3 2020 vs. Q3 2019 ) and Target (21.3% growth) have gained an enormous power as third party marketplaces who provide data and marketing services to brands. So have delivery and pick-up services like Instacart (grocery), Grubhub (restaurants) and others. All these intermediaries offer marketers opportunities to advertise their products on their apps and websites. In addition, social media properties are playing a crucial role in sending shoppers to company websites and also offer direct sales integrations (e.g. Instagram has just debuted shopping capabilities within its recently launched Reels feature).
Magna estimates that driven by ecommerce and advertisers looking for “lower funnel” attribution, U.S. digital media revenue grew by 10% in 2020, reaching US $140 billion.

WHAT ABOUT THE TOP OF THE FUNNEL. Is there no place for branding and awareness anymore?

ANSWER: “While digital media and e-commerce have changed and shortened the customer’s path to purchase, brand awareness continues to be the basis for consideration and purchase. Broadcast TV and other traditional media forms, including Out of Home Advertising, continue to have major reach and appeal for advertisers.

Good to know: Magna forecasts that in 2021, with a COVID vaccine and the postponed Olympics, global advertising will rebound. The agency forecasts the global ad spend to increase by 7.6% to US $612 billion. Linear media, which is mostly awareness-top of the funnel oriented, will grow by 3.5%.

Where is Experiential Marketing Going?

Advertising in 2021 — Michael Goldstein, Mastercard

Corporate America used to utilize in-person Live Sports events to obtain high reach and engagement. Will that again be the case once COVID is over or will VIRTUAL EVENTS, INCLUDING E-SPORTS, STILL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE?

ANSWER: “You will definitely see more of a mix as the world returns to normal of virtual vs. in-person events relative to how things worked prior to Covid,” Michael Goldstein, VP and Head of sponsorships North America at Mastercard recently told Portada.

Good to know: The pandemic produced a huge drop in live sports ratings (e.g. a decline of 49% in NBA finals and 61% in NHL finals) as the absence or scarcity of fans in the stands may have dulled the excitement around watching events. Approximately US $ 1 billion in advertising expenditures were lost.

Advertising: How can Ad-Tech and MarTech Help?

DATA PRIVACY REGULATIONS are making it more difficult to target consumers. How can I solve this in 2021 and beyond?

ANSWER: Contextual targeting technology provides a data privacy-friendly alternative to behavioral targeting, It can help a brand understand what a consumer might like without needing personally identifiable information. Contextual targeting uses linguistic elements and the advertisements themselves are selected and served by automated systems based on the context of what a user is looking at (e.g. check out Tecate’s new campaign). Contextual targeting can also be useful for performance marketing efforts.
Good to know: Data privacy regulations and third party cookie phase-outs have digital advertisers scrambling for solutions to maintain campaign efficiency and scale without the regulation compromising behavioral targeting technology.

Nice to know…but I think my company should also obtain FIRST PARTY DATA as a major way to get customer insights. Don’t you think so?

ANSWER: Brands can gain a lot by unifying first-party data sources into a single customer view in a Customer Data Platform, CDP, although the platforms may not necessarily do everything a marketer expects them to do.
Good to know: Marketers will need to shift from reliance on third-party data for audience targeting and campaign measurement to a new model improving the way they collect, manage, and activate their first-party data. Ogilvy head of experience technology, Jason Davey, sees digital marketing strategies shifting to prioritize first-party data as the looming cookie crisis gets real. Due to technological advances, multi-channel data collection, attribution, curation, enrichment and decisioning has become more accessible and affordable.

How does this all connect with my increased need to PERSONALIZE CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS?

ANSWER:The appropiate use of CDPs will continue to drive the hyper-personalisation trend, with more interest in Artificial Intelligence including predictive data analysis.

Good to know: Recent Salesforce research found customers increasingly anticipate personalized interactions at every stage of their buyer’s journey, from brand awareness through purchase and potentially on to retention and brand advocacy.

Sounds interesting. Another question I have is if I should invest more in CONNECTED TV (CTV). While the audience watching CTV is huge why are CTV advertising investment volumes so small?

Darcy Bowe, SVP, Media Director, Starcom USA

ANSWER: CTV is clearly on the rise, as are other forms of video advertising, yet more sophisticated CTV measurement options “are key – and that will allow us to measure viewership and frequency across screens more easily,” Darcy Bowe, SVP, Media Director at Starcom USA tells Portada.

Good to know: CTV household penetration lies at 80% and Pay-TV’s at 62%, yet CTV advertising is expected in 2021 to amount to only 15% of total US TV ad spending.

How can Segment and Purpose Driven Advertising Really Work?

How should I approach marketing toward ETHNIC POPULATION GROUPS in 2021 and beyond?

ANSWER: “The change that I would like to see for 2021 and beyond is to move away from total market strategies that try to find places of commonalities and a move towards diverse segment lead strategies, that are intentional and focused on the most authentic and relevant messages to build brand affinity and product usage with diverse segments as the designed target”, says Larissa Acosta, Integrated Marketing Consumer + Diverse Segments Team Leader at Wells Fargo.

Good to know: Over the last decade Corporate Americas has used the Total Market approach (TMA). This approach integrates diverse segment considerations and mostly leads to a full cross-cultural approach and campaigns. Critics note that the TMA is not effective for multicultural marketing and that the real reason companies use TMA is that they realize savings in their advertising expense and marketing organizations.

OK. I do want to TARGET THE HISPANIC POPULATION specifically and support media properties that cater to those communities. How can I advertise toward the Hispanic segment in a cost effective way. I mean Facebook and other platforms tend to be cheaper and have a lot of reach?

ANSWER: “We have found creative ways to nurture our multicultural media partners to ensure they serve us in various different ways vs just ROI. Media partnerships like Hispanicize and Revolt are great examples of how partners have been able to work with us to meet those goals. We have increased our spend to support diverse communities and partnerships.”, says Alexis Kerr, Head of Multicultural Marketing | Strategy, Content and Execution, at Cadillac.

Good to Know: Brands are often asked to invest in media properties that serve diverse communities. Yet, these media properties may not have enough reach to justify a media spend on ROI terms. (It also has to be said that while the cost of advertising in social media is lower, it not always guarantees brand safety.)

RACISM AND INEQUITY are major factors behind civic unrest. How should I be mindful of this in my brand’s advertising?

ANSWER: “It is counterproductive for a company to advertise if it does not commit to social and economic change by incorporating diversity, racial justice and social equity mandates and their execution. This should include executive leadership and personnel selection, an ecologically sound production process as well as diversity in vendors.
Good to know: Covid-19 exposed a historic cycle of systematic racism and oppression as civil unrest hit many U.S. cities in 2020. More than 35% of young consumers (aged 19-26) have stopped shopping from a brand who has not spoken out against racism (Oberland Survey, August 2020).

- Hot Topics 10/19/2020

(UPDATED) Insider: Entravision’s Purchase of Cisneros Interactive – 6 Things to Know

The news that Entravision is purchasing Cisneros Interactive marks another chapter in the consolidation of the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American digital media space. Six questions and answers: Acquisition price? The rationale for the transaction? How Entravision is substituting off-line revenue losses with digital gains and more…(This article has been updated on December 17, 2020 with new insights from industry sources).

Entravision and Cisneros just announced that Entravision has acquired a majority stake in Cisneros Interactive. 6 things to take into account about the transaction and what it says about the multicultural and Latin American digital marketing sector.

1. Entravision purchases Cisneros Interactive: What is the price of the transaction?

Entravision Cisneros Interactive Acquisition Neither the price of the transaction nor the size of the stake of Entravision in Cisneros Interactive was disclosed (other than it is larger than 50%) UPDATE: According to our sources, the transaction did reflect a full cash-upfront payment with remaining strong incentives to deliver stronger results over time. Moving forward both Grupo Cisneros and Entravision will run the business based on agreed operational and financial standards within the compliance required as a public entity.

A full cash-upfront payment with remaining strong incentives to deliver stronger results over time.

2. What is Entravision buying?

Currently, Cisneros Interactive’s portfolio consists of six initiatives:

– Representations: Facebook’s Authorized Sales Partner in Latin America: Cisneros Interactive is Facebook’s strategic partner in Latin America, at this moment with presence in 9 countries (Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico). Cisneros Interactive in these markets offers advertisers and ad agencies local selling efforts support, agency training and local credit and payment. Cisneros Interactive also has sales partnerships in some Latin American markets with Linkedin and Spotify with which it reaches 17 markets.

– UPDATED: Digital Audio: Cisneros Interactive fully owns Audio.Ad, perhaps the largest digital Advertising network and the only Audio DSP in Latin America (Audio.trade). It additionally has the exclusive representation in Latin America of large audio publishers such as Tunein, PRISA’s programmatic inventory, Deezer, and podcast-giant Wondery. This unit has direct and strong synergies with AudioEngage, which is Entravision´s own digital audio network.
– Mobile Video. Cisneros Interactive has a mobile video platform spearheaded by its JustMob business unit which also holds a strong alliance with Unity, the global mobile platform provider and with presence throughout 16 countries in Latin America.
All Cisneros Interactive employees will remain with the company, with Victor Kong continuing as Chief Executive Officer, based out of Miami. Carlos Córdova will serve as COO of the company and head of all digital audio units.

3. What is the rationale for the transaction in the U.S.?

Major drivers are to obtain critical mass, more marketing muscle and economies of scale. Portada estimates, that digital advertising in English-language media targeting Hispanics (predominantly the LatinX market) rose to US $1.07 billion in 2019 (check out our recent Insights Report How brands engage U.S. Hispanics: New segmentation approaches). At least 80% of that amount is sold by Google and Facebook, leaving approximately US $210 million for other companies. Portada also estimates that advertising in Spanish-language digital media targeting Hispanics in the U.S. lied at US $350 million in 2019, with approximately US$ 70 million for non-Google/Facebook players. In the U.S. Hispanic market the main second tier players are Univision Interactive, NBC Interactive, Pandora and Spotify. Entravision digital revenues in the second quarter of 2020, were US $11.4 million. With the Cisneros Interactive acquisition and other acquisitions Entravision is attempting to step up and become a major player in the fifth of the market that is not dominated by Google and Facebook.

With the Cisneros Interactive acquisition Entravision is attempting to step up and become a major player in the fifth of the digital ad market that is not dominated by Google and Facebook.

If you add the fact that despite all the “diversity marketing” talk during COVID-19 there have been stronger declines in digital ad volume in the U.S. Hispanic advertising market than in the general U.S. market (e.g. CEO Walter Ulloa mentioned during the second quarter conference call that digital revenues were $11.4 million, which represents a decrease of 32% versus the same period last year), the need for consolidation through an Entravision Cisneros Interactive acquisition is imperative.

and Latin America?

The expanding Latin American digital media market is dominated by Google and Facebook who get at least 80% of the sales volume. The remaining sizable players are ad rep company IMS and video marketer Teads, and perhaps Spotify. Beyond these players, and some strong national market media, it can be said that there is no more “middle class” in the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets. Hence, the need of medium size players like Entravision and Cisneros Interactive to integrate.

There is no more ‘middle class’ among digital media properties targeting Latin Americans. Google and Facebook origin more than 80% of the market volume.

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4. Entravision Cisneros Interactive acquisition: Are both companies complementary?

By and large they are, as Cisneros Interactive has a strong footprint and client base in Latin America, it serves over 4,700 brands and agencies each month, and Entravision Digital in the U.S. There are some overlaps like Cisneros Interactive Audio Advertising company Audio Ad and Entravision’s Audio Engage. Although, the press release states there will not be personnel changes, some cost saving rationalization in some units going forward may make sense.

5. How is Entravision expanding its digital business?

For a number of years Entravision has worked on a digital strategy to meet market demand. In 2017, Esteban Lopez Blanco, at the time Chief Strategy Officer at Entravision told Portada that he “expected a growth rate of the digital business of more than 40% for many years to come.” At the time he estimated the share of digital revenues in Entravision’s overall revenues to climb from 20% to 30% by 2019 or 2020. UPDATED: For 2021, Entravision expects the ratio to be above 50% of revenues.

Earlier this year, Entravision announced the launch of Entravision Digital , which consolidates its business units in the US and abroad and marketing technology businesses under the Entravision brand. The company has worked over the past several years to build a portfolio of digital assets that possess digital reach, data insights and creative and programmatic capabilities. Entravision made its first foray into ad-tech when it bought Pulpo Media for US$ 15 million in 2014. In 2017 it bought Argentinean Martech company Headway , for a price insiders claim to lie between US $30 million and US $40 million, Headway includes AudioEngage, a digital audio advertising platform; ScrollerAds, an optimized video advertising marketplace; DataXpand, an international data management platform and audience marketplace with consumer insights.
Entravision later bought Smadex, a programmatic, mobile-first, DSP services provider.

6. Does digital growth at Entravision compensate for off-line declines?

In the short term the answer is no, because right now all revenue types are declining at least in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The share of digital revenues on overall revenues was of 25.3% according to Entravision’s second quarter 2020 financial results. By far the largest part of Entravision’s revenue base is broadcast advertising (TV and Radio) which even before COVID-19 was having year on year revenue declines of at least 10%. In the words of CEO Walter Ulloa, those declines got bigger with the advent of COVID-19: “Television revenues in the second quarter were down 29% to US $27 million, compared to the prior year period due to the pandemic. National television advertising revenue was down 25%, while local advertising revenue was down 43%. Audio revenues were down 53% during the second quarter, compared to the prior year. Local revenues were down 52%, while national revenues were down 54% in the quarter.” For Q3 2020 In early August, Entravision’s Q3 television advertising business is pacing minus 8%, our radio business is pacing minus 34%, and our digital businesses are pacing minus 18% versus the third quarter of 2019.

For 2021, Entravision expects digital revenues to lie above 50% of overall company revenues.

Walter Ulloa, CEO Entravision, mentioned during the second quarter 2020 financial results conference call on August 4 that Entravision’s overall revenues decreased 35% to $45.1 million in the second quarter. Consolidated operating expenses were down 24%, and consolidated adjusted EBITDA was down 86% to $1.7 million, compared to $12.6 million last year.

The jury is still out on whether in the long term digital growth will compensate for the secular decline in off-line revenues, but inverstors are not betting on it: If You Had Bought Entravision Communications’ Shares Five Years Ago You Would Be Down 79%, financial analysts at Simply Wall Street recently wrote. But then stocks also turn-around.

Check out previous Insider columns

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Insider: Snackable Content, Multicultural as Something Organic, Amazon Ad Sales and More…

Insider: What is the size of Latido Music’s Stake in Revolver Podcast?

Latin America 09/14/2020

Latam E-Commerce Propelled by Pandemic: Brands Weigh Into the Whys and Hows

E-Commerce is skyrocketing in Latin America as the current pandemic has accelerated digital transformation. This makes the benefits to be reaped from e-commerce investments and e-commerce marketing extremely tantalizing to corporations active in Latin America. To understand why and how the pandemic has catapulted e-commerce in the region, Portada talked to four Latin American brand marketers from Best Buy, Nestlé, Colgate Palmolive, and New York Life who will be participating at our May 19, Portada Live Americas virtual event.

The current pandemic has accelerated the adoption of e-commerce in Latin America, although in many sectors and countries, the development is still in the early innings. Penetration of e-commerce in Latin America lies at 5% of retail sales, about a quarter of China’s and a third of the U.S.’s. This makes the benefits to be reaped from e-commerce investments and successful e-commerce marketing very attractive to corporations active in Latin America. Actionable insights and intelligence on E-Commerce in Latin America and E-Commerce Marketing and Advertising will play a key role at our upcoming Portada Live Latin America November 19 virtual event. We talked to four Latin American brand marketers of the consumer electronics, CPG and financial sectors who will be participating in this virtual event, to learn how the pandemic has catapulted e-commerce in the region and what’s next.

José Camargo Samperio, Ecommerce SubDirector, Best Buy Mexico

To José Camargo Samperio, Ecommerce SubDirector, at Best Buy Mexico, the Covid-19 pandemic has substantially changed consumer behavior. Traffic on Best Buy Mexico’s website increased by 50% as consumption of consoles, musical instruments and even domestic articles multiplied by four. Consumers opted for more entertainment alternatives due to the increase of time they spend at home.

E-Commerce purchases of consoles, musical instruments and even domestic articles multiplied by four.

Latin America E-Commerce Growth Propelled by Increase of Visits in Retail Sites

ComScore reports that during the time period January – May 2020 time spent by consumers on retail sites increased by 38.7% in Argentina and 18.8% in Mexico compared to the same period in 2019. Home Furnishings, Apparel y Flowers/Gifts/Greetings were the retail categories that most grew in Argentina and Brazil. While for Mexico the categories with most growth were in Health Care, Department Stores and Food/Supermarket/Grocery.

According to Best Buy’s Camargo, as many businesses and companies have had to limit the amount of employees they have working in their office, home office and telecommuting became the norm. Thus the availability of smartphones and computers became something indispensable to have to accomplish work objectives. We have seen that servicing clients in everything related to the home office, has brought in sales as a result.” Camargo adds that “customer needs have changed almost totally: health and well-being are the main factors to take into account when it comes to offer a service.”

German Villegas, Digital & E-Commerce Manager, Colgate Palmolive Mexico

German Villegas, Digital & E-Commerce Manager at Colgate Palmolive in Mexico notes that the main lesson of the pandemic has been to not to leave the implementation of platforms and of strategies around high growth (social) media properties until later. Additionally, he adds that the current environment has confirmed that in e-commerce there is no space for rigidity; flexibility and nimbleness are always required.

Villegas commends the rapid reaction of Mexican brick and mortar retailers by adopting and increasing Latin America e-commerce initiatives. “They also have quickly adopted delivery and pick-up. This has also substantially improved the effectiveness of omnichannel marketing as well as the ability of brand marketers to execute segmented campaigns.”

The Link between Social Media and E-Commerce

According to Best Buy Mexico’s Camargo, the pandemic has also increased the importance of social media platforms. “Websites and user profiles have been connected at a high speed, which has allowed users and brands to develop strong tools to exchange content, and even more importantly, convert to bilateral relationships through which consumers can in a very direct way issue opinions and reviews about their consumer experiences and distribute them to millions of consumers.” “Therefore its crucial for brands to get a clear understanding of where they are in the open internet and on social media.”

Websites and user profiles have been connected at a high speed, which has allowed users and brands to develop strong tools to exchange content, and even more importantly, convert to bilateral relationships.

Gerald Fuchs Torrescano, Content & Digital Marketing Director, Seguros Monterrey/New York Life

To Gerald Fuchs Torrescano, Content & Digital Marketing Director, Seguros Monterrey/New York Life, what his company does in social is targeted to the primary point in the digital journey of his company’s prospects. “We have granulated and segmented our content in such a way that the lead ends up filling up an online form. The number of completions has increased by 43% since the pandemic started. This is due to a substantial increase in content marketing which is optimized via social listening tools. In other words we ask what do you need, rather than talk about what we offer.” Fuchs Torrescano also stresses that the pandemic has put forward the “need for top notch sites with relevant content and that are adaptable to all target market segments. It’s crucial to obtain high conversion rates.”

Carlos Leal, Marketing Director, Ambient Dairy, Nestlé,

To Carlos Leal, Marketing Director, Ambient Dairy at Nestlé, based in Bogota (Colombia) the best strategy to convert social media users into Latin America e-commerce buyers is to generate “content that is part of the trend.” He adds that “Its not so much about having a link to the purchase site, but about making your offering a routine that is part of the daily live of the consumer. Good content marketing and word of mouth have played a very important role in generating trends. With that base, Influencers then can bring about a behavioral change in the end audiences.”

LatAm E-Commerce: Third Party Marketplaces Grow

Latin American third party marketplaces (e.g. Mercado Libre, Amazon), have played an important role in the survival of small and midsized online vendors, says Best Buy’s Camargo says that his company also helped these vendors to provide an excellent customer experience which was reflected in positive consumer reviews.

Nestlé’s Leal stresses the role of deep-linking: “Deep-linking is more important than ever for strategies that send consumers right to the purchase basket, particularly in the case of marketplaces. “They can be a credible reference that generates traffic and it is likely that this traffic ends up with a purchase, generating not only a lead but a sales conversion”, Leal concludes.

Deep-linking is more important than ever for strategies that send consumers right to the purchase basket, particularly in the case of marketplaces.

- Hot Topics 07/24/2020

COVID-19 shows us that marketers can’t rely on first-party data alone

By Sebastian Yoffe, Managing Director – Latin America, Lotame

COVID-19 changed it all. As marketers, and as people, we know that the way consumers live has been altered at a fundamental level by the virus and the resulting economic upheaval and social distancing practices.

Before COVID-19

In the pre-COVID-19 environment, it was easy for marketers to rely on a familiar set of personas.

Of course, creating those personas took work. Using first-party data as a foundation, marketers learned the basic habits and preferences of their audience, but they still needed third-party data to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. That meant breaking down data silos, scrubbing all the data, and deriving insights to build a working model. And once that work was done, you still had to test the results to see if they worked, or fail and start all over again. Still, the process had its rewards.

People aren’t eating, shopping or exercising the way they did just a few months ago.

Before the global pandemic changed our lives in profound ways, we could make some safe assumptions about how people lived based on available first-party data. We could guess, within reason, how the preferences of a 30-something male with a suburban ZIP code might differ from those of a woman in her twenties living in the heart of a major city. But COVID-19 changed all that. As marketers, and as people, we know that the way consumers live has been altered at a fundamental level by the virus and the resulting economic upheaval and social distancing practices. People aren’t eating, shopping or exercising the way they did just a few months ago. They’re still doing all of those things, but daily habits have changed in ways that simply aren’t going to be captured by first-party data alone.

Since COVID-19

Consider this simple example:

Imagine a male consumer in his mid-twenties visiting an automotive site in late 2019. He lives in a major city and his visit involves looking at a few two-door models and browsing the features. It’s behavior that would suggest he’s single, maybe in the market for a new car. When that same user logs on in June of 2020, his online behavior hasn’t changed that much. He might visit more frequently and spend more time customizing a car. He might even still be browsing two-door models but has expanded his search to SUVs and jeeps with more storage capacity. Yet his life has changed dramatically.

[…] using only first-party data there’s no way to tell that he’s probably a better target for ads […]

There’s not enough detail in the auto site’s view of this consumer to tell you that he’s now working from home, or that instead of looking to buy his first car for weekend trips, he’s now more interested in moving to the suburbs and replacing airline travel with road trips. He won’t be going overseas for a long time, but using only first-party data there’s no way to tell that he’s probably a better target for ads about a crossover model’s great gas mileage or its ability to tackle tough terrain for his trips to the mountains. Instead of the speed of a sportscar he might need in-car WiFi, roadside assistance, and the best sound system on the market.

All these changes are invisible to the OEM and its dealerships. From their perspective, he’s still a man, still the same age and living in the same location, and he’s interested in their cars.

Advertisers looking to connect with in-market car shoppers are missing out on closing this potential customer by speaking to his needs right now, rather than months ago. With the intel they have from first-party data alone, their ads are likely to fall flat, creating the kind of wasted spend that no one needs during a global recession.

Understanding a New Consumer

To understand what consumers’ lives really look like now, marketers will need to rely on third-party data. Without it, there’s no way for any digital marketer using a connected channel, to make the connection between distinct behaviors.

Third-party data segments can reveal valuable insight for marketers. Consider the data available from third-party sources around discretionary spending. Before the pandemic, you could expect that a consumer who shopped regularly at a high-end retailer was probably in the market for work attire. Today, in a world where pajamas qualify as work clothes, someone visiting that high-end retailer might be better served with ads for outdoor wear, sleepwear, or casual clothes better suited to social distancing in the park than making a statement at the office.

These changes aren’t easily captured unless you have the data to build a complete picture of the customer.

Likewise, someone searching for a minivan might be planning a road trip for a COVID-safe summer vacation rather than to take the kids to futbol practice. These changes aren’t easily captured unless you have the data to build a complete picture of the customer. Reaching these audiences in ways that are relevant and respectful of how their lives have changed can have a big impact. But in all these cases, third-party data is the key to unlocking the right insights.

Surviving in a Changing World

COVID-19 marketers — Sebastian Yoffe, Managing Director – Latin America, Lotame

We’re in a critical moment. Many businesses are fighting not just for relevance but for survival. In this fiercely competitive new world, having a clear view of who your customers are and how they’ve changed in the last few months can mean the difference between surviving and thriving. To succeed in the rapidly changing environment, marketers need to make connections between data points and signals that first-party data alone can’t provide. For advertisers and publishers alike, third-party data closes the loop.

To succeed in the rapidly changing environment, marketers need to make connections between data points and signals that first-party data alone can’t provide.

Personally, I never could have anticipated the ways that my personal and professional life has changed in the last few months. While there’s definitely been disruption, it’s also been an opportunity to learn. Right now we’re focused on making changes that will help us cope with the new environment, but for us to connect with customers now and in the future, the digital ecosystem needs to improve. For advertisers, publishers, and consumers alike that represents a huge opportunity.

Are you using data to get a clear view of your customers? I would love to learn about your data strategy; please send me a note directly: syoffe@lotame.com

- Hot Topics 07/15/2020

Lotame: “It’s Imperative to Embrace other Forms of Data to Get to Know Customers and Meet Them Where They Are”.

We spoke to Sebastian Yoffe, Managing Director, Latin America at Lotame on how his company’s data enrichment solutions can help brands and publishers deepen their connections to prospects, particularly in the current COVID-19 environment.

The new Background…and Why First Party Data is not Enough

According to Yoffe, “the world is changing and so are consumers. The last few months have accelerated the shift to digital as consumers rely more on delivery or contact-free pickup of goods and services. All of our habits and routines have changed as well. First-party data while valuable to understanding customers was never enough for marketers. That has been made even clearer now. It’s imperative that the industry embrace other forms of data to get to know customers and meet them where they are — in tone, message, and modality. That comes from truly understanding how they work their worlds and what’s important to them now versus a few months ago. In addition, we have always championed a connected ecosystem and only by bringing all industry players together will we grow and deliver meaningful experiences to customers. ”

Check out: A connected digital advertising ecosystem benefits everyone. (By Adam Solomon, Chief Growth Officer, Lotame)

Third Party Cookies Not Turned Off Yet by Google

Yoffe, photo left, who is at the helm of Lotame in Latin America, notes that it is important to understand that Google with its 78% Chrome market share globally has not turned third -party cookies off yet. “This is the world we live in today. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being transacted in an ecosystem where Chrome is the dominant player. If you’re not working within the current ecosystem’s parameters, how are you even advancing advertiser needs and interests on more than half of the Internet? Third-party cookies won’t be going away until 2022 so until that time, the company’s new suite of data enrichment solutions known as Lotame Panorama will use third-party cookies when they are available but they aren’t required. We’re also heavily involved in Google’s work to remove cookies but again, until then, we are fully functional in today’s environment.”

If you’re not working within the current ecosystem’s parameters, how are you even advancing advertiser needs and interests on more than three-quarters of the Internet?

Data Enrichment Solutions Company: Ready for a Future Without Third-Party Cookies

Consumers’ digital lives have only grown more complex. With billions of data points from diverse sources, brands and publishers need a long-term cure to intelligently find and connect these resources rather than a series of band-aids. Lotame‘s ID Graph technology known as Cartographer plays a crucial role in helping marketers and pu8blishers find and connect with their audiences in meaningful and respectful ways, with or without cookies.

Lotame Cartographer‘s graph technology connecting web IDs across first-party cookies and local storage. “We use local storage because Safari expires first-party cookies after a single day whereas local storage lasts for 7 days. In addition, our graph connects web IDs to mobile ad IDs and OTT IDs,” Yoffe asserts.

Cartographer connects web IDs, browsers and devices at the people-level, giving global brands and publishers access to every visitor to their site, regardless of browser, as well as through mobile app, TV and offline. It creates a master graph of graphs, mapping connections between, among and within people, the places they visit and their interests, with the thread of consumer consent. Cartographer plots, clusters and shares diverse data connections across 90+ platform partners to find more of a brand or publisher’s audience than anyone could find alone, creating increased or “true” scale. In doing so, the universe of people it can see and cluster reaches 1.4 billion unique consumers across 4 billion active IDs globally.

Yoffe explains that Lotame Cartographer makes secure and trusted connections at three key levels – ID, individual and household – using machine learning and deterministic and probabilistic techniques.

Creating Addressable Audiences

A key benefit of the appropiate use of marketing technologies is that they should be able to draw actionable conclusions that support better decision-making, optimize campaigns, and reveal opportunities and gaps. Lotame Panorama provides the rich data, tools and technology for marketers and agencies to create addressable audiences.

Yoffe shared that marketers do a tremendous amount of research and gathering of data across siloed resources in order to develop audience targets for granola bars, for example. They might want women between 18-25 who are interested in health and shop at these specific stores. They may even have multiple personas to sell that one candy bar. The challenge in digital advertising is finding that carefully crafted audience and engaging them with your marketing message. Yoffe notes that he “first helps marketers create these audiences by consolidating the world’s largest resource of high quality second- and third-party data. We make this data accessible via Lotame Panorama to marketers and agencies to look at overlaps and indices, to interpret the data, to understand more dimensions of a customer than ever before. Marketers and agencies then create audience segments from these assembled qualities, behaviors, and interests. And, because Lotame is powered by the Cartographer ID Graph, technology, marketers gain even more knowledge about relevant attributes and behaviours tied to the individual.

These segments can then be pushed via Lotame Panorama technology to a marketer’s DSP so that they can buy against that audience. We also enable publishers to create these rich audience segments that can be bought across their properties either via direct deals or programmatically. Lotame Panorama has ready-made pre-packaged addressable audiences that marketers can buy now from 50 DSPs. Or as we said, you can create your own.”

Beyond a DMP, A Data Enrichment Solutions Company

Historically, Lotame was known as a DMP. “We believe the landscape and Lotame have evolved beyond the definition of a DMP”, Yoffe notes. “Lotame positions itself as a data enrichment solutions company. These solutions help marketers, agencies and publishers in Latin America understand customers and create addressable audiences to engage consumers everywhere they are. Unlike a traditional tech stack, Lotame’s solutions are flexible, scalable and cost-effective alternative to the walled-off options. We empower marketers and agencies to buy the solutions they need, and only those that they need as opposed to the weighty and bloated martech stacks. We see marketers eager to tap deeper into their data strategies in the region, and include within their core business strategy data.”

We empower marketers and agencies to buy the solutions they need, and only those that they need as opposed to the weighty and bloated martech stacks.

“It’s worth noting that the need for data enrichment is more critical than ever. Due to the global pandemic, the world has changed — and consumer passions, interests and habits have changed as well. Relying on first-party data alone, marketers are missing out on those important changes in their customers’ lives and the understanding that comes with it to impact messaging, product development and more,” Yoffe asserts.

More about Lotame

Lotame is the leading provider of data enrichment solutions for global enterprises. Our connected and patented data technologies, curated second- and third-party data exchanges, and high-touch customer service makes Lotame a trusted choice for marketers, agencies and media companies that want to build a panoramic view of their customers and activate across the cookieless web, mobile app and OTT environments. Lotame serves its global clients with offices in New York City, Columbia MD, Argentina, London, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney. Learn more at www.lotame.com

- Hot Topics 03/12/2020

Teads Unveils “inRead Social”, for Advertisers to Reach Over 100 Million Unique Users

Teads, The Global Media Platform, unveils inRead Social, a new product enabling advertisers to extend social media campaigns to Teads’ platform, which has more than 500 reputable publishers in Latin America. inRead Social is designed to be a powerful complement to the brand’s social media activations.

By leveraging inRead Social as an extension to existing social media campaigns, brands can now benefit from Teads’ significant deduplicated reach versus social platforms. This format also makes it possible for professionally-produced web content to get funding that until now had only been used for social media.

In this regard, Eric Tourtel, SVP of Teads Latin America, noted, “Teads was created to connect brands and publishers with the purpose of developing a sustainable media ecosystem. Today, Teads has partnered with 93% of the 200 leading Comscore publishers in Latin America, this benefits publishers, brand,s and consumers, since it helps fund quality journalism in a world where digitalization has forced the media to face a profound transformation in an industry where monetization has been and continues to be a great challenge.”

It helps fund quality journalism in a world where digitalization has forced the media to face a profound transformation in an industry where monetization has been and continues to be a great challenge

Teads provides 21.2 million incremental unique users beyond Facebook and 91.2 million incremental unique users beyond Instagram in Latin America. In the first 100 days of launch, Teads ran more than 100 video campaigns with this product from leading brands across the globe. On average, Teads in-view time for inRead social campaigns was 7.6 seconds (as verified by MOAT) and delivered approximately 5x higher attention than Facebook or Instagram while driving superior results like reduced Cost per Completed View (up to 25x observed in some instances).

Greater Connexions

The quality of the attention is higher in premium environments than in social networks. One of the reasons Teads outperforms social platforms is because users scroll too fast in social feeds as opposed to premium publisher environments where they are actively engaged with the content being consumed. Due to the strong in-view times compared to social feeds, Teads also guarantees higher video completion rates (VCR). In one study, for a global sportswear brand, Teads inRead Social format outperformed social VCR benchmarks by 16 percent. Teads inRead social is also cost-efficient, as it can now outperform cost-per-completed view (CPCV) and cost-per-click (CPC) by more than 3x on average.

We often test new formats to reach our audiences.

Elisabetta Corazza, Head of Digital at Danone said: “Innovation is a core value for all of Danone’s products and digital advertising strategies so we often test new formats to reach our audiences. We leveraged Teads inRead social in campaigns for Actimel and HiPro, and saw great success. The product allowed us to reach new audiences faster and extend our digital media strategy by complementing what we already do on social platforms. It really surprised me how seamless it was to extend and expand the user base with a few clicks while maintaining the quality of our creative. Our results achieved more than 66 percent CTR above benchmarks for Actimel’s campaign and over 137 percent for Hipro’s campaign.”

A New Alternative

“Social giants like Facebook and Instagram make it easy for advertisers to spend the lion’s share of budgets on campaigns within their platform because their vast data sets and global reach are an attractive offering. It’s time for brands to have a new alternative in the marketplace where they can reach net new audiences while achieving better in-view time and greater cost efficiency. We’re incredibly excited to bring inRead Social to Latin America so that advertisers can reap the benefits of reaching highly engaged users in premium and brand safe publisher environments,” added Tourtel.

It’s time for brands to have a new alternative in the marketplace where they can reach net new audiences while achieving better in-view time and greater cost efficiency.

Esteban Renaud, Head of Cadreon for Latin America.

Esteban Renaud, Head of Cadreon for Latin America, added: “Through our programmatic product ‘Social Creative Extension,’ inRead Social has allowed us to extend the reach of social media ads; getting to audiences of higher value, maximizing performance as well as improving in-view time and campaign reach in a brand safe environment”

The format is already available through Managed Service and Teads Ad Manager, the exclusive Teads platform for purchasing inventory, a one-stop-shop for monitoring campaigns.

- Feature 02/26/2020

Differentiation Opportunities, Digital Marketing, and How to Maximize Results on Mobile: Portada Miami 2020 Topics Announced

Portada Council System members have voted for the topics to be discussed at the three main speaking slots at Portada Miami on June 4, 2020. The topics have to do with organizing companies around digital marketing efforts, identifying brand differentiation opportunities in digital, and maximizing results on mobile.

Last month, Portada announced the new structure of the four Portada events in 2020. Council System units oriented to United States markets chose the three main topics to be discussed at Portada Los Angeles on April 2. Now, we are pleased to announce that the brand marketers in Latin America-oriented Portada’s Council System have voted for the topics to be discussed at the three main speaking slots during Portada Miami on June 4, 2020.

“The brand marketers in our Council System play a crucial part in determining the topics of our events. By having these leading practitioners suggest and vote for the themes of the three main speaking slots, we make sure that brand marketing, tech and media executives get the most relevant content available in the marketplace,” says Marcos Baer, president of Portada.

Below are the three winning topics as well as comments from Portada Council System members as to why these reflect their interests.

Portada Miami Keynote: To “win” in digital: how best to organize companies and marketing organizations

I’d like to have a better understanding about the way companies should be organized to face digital dynamics upon consumer evolution.

Digital is very wide and companies need to focus their investment in order to have a positive ROI and win in digital.

The role of CRM’s: It’s critical to understand how CRM programs / smart data can help to bring and maintain more users for the brands.

Consumer Insight Highlight Speaking Slot: Which digital efforts can truly add value and differentiation opportunities for your product/brand?

I believe to find differentiation opportunities we have a strong need to accelerate our knowledge about what is gaining relevance (in the digital era) from a consumer standpoint and the way the brands need to connect within this new ecosystem.

What and how to invest means everything regarding investment in digital media.

Digital media is overwhelming: How can we identify correct use on the channels where customers appreciate it?

MarTech Solution Spotlight: Maximizing marketing efforts and results on mobile

Mobile is/will be the most important digital media asset and we have to make sure we optimize best practices.

Partnerships and alliances to maximize marketing efforts. Cross companies marketing trends customization, value of loyalty for CPG.

Mobile is 70% of user traffic today. Users are growing the mobile market and companies are not adapting as fast. How can we identify, implement and foresee solutions.

Portada Events in 2020 will be a unique experience. First, the three different Council System bespoke workshops will take place in the morning. Also, brand marketers and best-of-breed marketing services suppliers will have 1:1 meetings and attend VIP networking functions. In addition, attendees will learn at four exclusive and highly-curated speaking slots on the themes outlined above, which were voted by the over 100 brand marketers in the Portada Council System.

More information about the structure of speaking slots at Portada events:

Keynote: 45-minute session. An overarching topic of paramount importance to the brand marketing community to be addressed by subject matter experts who provide innovative solutions.
Consumer Insight Highlight: 25-minute session. Consumer Engagement and sales conversion are the ultimate objectives for brand marketers. This session will provide key and fresh consumer insights that foster the understanding of consumers and provide actionable tips for marketers.
MarTech Solution Spotlight: 25-minute session. Technology plays a crucial role both for consumers as well as an enabler for marketers. During this session, a major brand marketing thought leader will reveal the latest trends on the use of technology by consumers and brands.
Partner Thought Leadership Presentation. An opportunity for a Portada partner to gain major exposure in front of a listening audience of major brand marketing executives.

For more information about getting involved with Portada Miami on June 4, 2020 please contact Sales Coordinator Leslie Zambrano, or click on the banner below.

Passion Point Marketing 02/11/2020

Destination Marketing in Latin America, How Hilton’s Isaias Araiza Plays the Game

At the 2019 Portada Event in Mexico City, we had an insightful Q&A session with Isaias Araiza, Manager, Destination Marketing LATAM at Hilton. He shares his know-how about destination marketing in Latin America, media mix, hotel sites vs. OTAs and more.

Interview conducted by Alejandra Velazquez

Destination Marketing: Tailoring the Message

In what ways are the Hilton advertising campaigns different for Latin America and for the rest of the world?

Isaías Araiza

For Mexico and Colombia, it’s important not just to translate, but to adapt the message. You have to be very aware of the kind of words and ideas you are conveying, otherwise, your audience won’t feel connected. They are often very nationalistic and proud of their identity, and the communication needs to be respectful of that. We always cast talent that looks and feels Latin for local executions. Anna Kendrick is our global image, but if we featured her on Hispanic campaigns, people wouldn’t relate. You can’t just take it for granted. You need to speak their local language.

It’s important not just to translate, but to adapt the message.

How about between Mexico and Colombia? Can the same message work for both?

The message and creativity can be the same. However, you have to pay attention to specific local language nuances. We’ve had issues with punctuation throughout Latin America. For example, many countries separate decimals with a comma, not a dot. So if we separate thousands with a dot, instead of three thousand pesos, it would end up looking like just three. We had to be meticulous with that. I always tell customers in the U.S. that they have to take into account the actual day-to-day grammar usage, not just what Google or the [Real Academia Española] says. We might even have legal problems if there’s a mix-up.

Hilton’s Media Strategy for Destination Marketing

What does your media mix look like in Mexico?

To promote destinations, we have an upper-funnel, massive media strategy. We’re trying to create brand awareness. Hilton is unequivocally recognized as a global hotel chain, however, its specialized portfolio brands are still not top-of-mind for audiences. For example, we want to make clear that Doubletree by Hilton is a part of our family. We still conduct a great deal of offline traditional marketing: printed magazines, in-flight reading material, billboards, OOH at airports, digital and offline radio, and Spotify. Absolutely no television. A bit lower on the funnel, we have digital performance, targeting, training desk…, all things reach-media related. We target customers depending on the kind of hotel we try to promote.

How about your video content strategy?

We’re basing our contents around “Rediscover Mexico”, based on promoting the uniqueness of the destination. As of today, we have very little video content, but for this year we’ll be implementing a much stronger strategy. We need to capture customers during the “dreaming phase” and help them develop their journey through special offers. We’ll be offering two proposals: one focused on the destination and favorite places, and another with local stories and characters, influencers, experiences, and random tourist video tell-alls. Like, “tell me how everything was, what you did, where you stayed”, etc.

We target customers depending on the kind of hotel we try to promote.

The Online Travel Agencies Controversy

Do you have a strategy to strengthen purchases on the hotel website vs. using OTAs as intermediaries? How do you fight the generalized idea that OTAs are much cheaper than buying directly at the hotel?

OTAs have spread the idea that their rates are cheaper, but that’s not true. Hilton has a strict parity policy, which means they offer the same rate on their website than anywhere else. This means a single rate anywhere online. There’s no way an OTA can offer a better rate. Expedia and other OTAs take a very significant cut out of the deal, but the price is the same for the general public. Of course, Hilton would prefer selling D2C.

A few years ago we launched a campaign called “Stop Clicking Around” and the motto was “don’t even look for a better rate, here’s the best offer you’ll find”. Same with the loyalty program. The only people who may get better rates than anyone else are the members of our Honor Program. Also, Hilton offers discounts and rewards for customers who purchase in advance. We have strong campaigns to fight OTA preference.

Is there a way to cut away from OTAs?

Maybe in the long run, but definitely not right now. Since they used to be the only online booking platform, the industry let them grow without limits and now they’re a necessary evil. They became a monster and we’re doing everything we can to control it, but the truth is… it does generate great volume. The problem is, a company should never earn much greater revenue from outside channels than from direct channels. The goal right now is not renouncing OTAs, but rather pairing the revenue mix to a much fairer amount. We’ll implement the strategy to get more flow into our home by generating content, launching informative campaigns, and fostering organic traffic to our sites.

Business VS Leisure

Could you give us cold hard numbers of the business vs. leisure categories for online purchases?

It’s hard to get precise data because Mexico is a very dynamic destination in terms of the business and leisure mix. For example, Hilton Reforma is for both sectors because of its privileged location. On weekdays it’s all about business, and during weekends it’s a leader of the plaza. Some hotels in Querétaro are really close to industrial parks and are purely for business, but we also offer benefits if you prolong your stay until the weekend. For example, all users may accumulate loyalty points by using hotel amenities, so they’ll end up redeeming them on future family trips. It’s almost impossible to get an average.

Marriott has a very strong minority inclusion program. Do you also have a competitive strategy?

We have an entire marketing section called Diversity and Inclusion, which covers all the spectrum: from commercial strategies to pricing, marketing, special offers, etc. We definitely offer special programs and rewards for our diverse program. Not doing it would be a mistake.

Learning From Mistakes

What was the mistake you learned from the most during your career?

I used to be a marketing director at one of our downtown Mexico City properties. We had a major issue with public protests and demonstrations. It was impossible not to address the issue. So we released campaign after campaign with alternative routes and all kinds of warnings. But instead of helping, it would highlight the problem. We spent too much time trying to solve it until we realized there was nothing we could do to soften the blow of traffic and blockades. We suffered several cancellations due to expecting an imminent protest, and in the end it wasn’t even as serious as it seemed. We’d live in fear and uncertainty.

Until we just accepted the issue instead of trying to cover it and we implemented a strike insurance: if your event had been in any way affected due to the circumstances, you got a discount. So instead of apologizing, we offered post-care. It’s all about the small details. For example, the Santa Fe DoubleTree offers a warm chocolate cookie upon check-in. We have customers married to the brand who come in just for that cookie. Every and any small thing you do for your customers counts.

Isaias Araiza, Manager Destination Marketing LATAM, Hilton will be one of the dozens of brand marketing innovators present at Portada Miami on June 4, 2020. If you are interested in participating in Portada Miami and/or in Portada’s networking and knowledge-sharing platform with brand marketers please contact us here.

- Feature 02/05/2020

How Scotiabank Pursues Global Audiences According to Sponsorships VP Mike Tasevski

Scotiabank’s sponsorships in Canada and Latin America are focused on sports passion points like hockey and soccer, as well as arts & culture. How do we know this? We talked to Mike Tasevski, VP Global Sponsorships at Scotiabank, and a Portada Council System Member.

sports passion points expert — Mike Tasevski

Until a few months ago, Mike Tasevski held the position of VP, Market Development at Mastercard. We asked him in what way his current job at Scotiabank is different from the one he had at Mastercard. “At Scotiabank, I have a global role in which I oversee a very different portfolio that is heavily focused on sports passion points hockey and fútbol with a very unique flavor of arts & culture. In comparison to my previous role, where there was a focus on multiple partners, my role at Scotiabank is to establish unique partnerships that will assist in delivering ROI on all channels for our bank objectives including personal banking, wealth and clients…

My role at Scotiabank is to establish unique partnerships that will assist in delivering ROI on all channels for our bank objectives.

Mike Tasevski, VP Global Sponsorships at Scotiabank, will be one of the dozens of brand marketing innovators participating in Portada Miami on June 4, 2020. If you are interested in participating in Portada Miami and/or in Portada’s networking and knowledge-sharing platform with brand marketers please contact us here.

Canada’s Sports Passion Point: Hockey

Scotiabank has billed itself as “Canada’s most international bank” due to its acquisitions primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean, but also in Europe and parts of Asia. We asked Tasevski how Scotiabank’s marketing investment approach to sports passion points differs in all these regions. “The key focus in Canada is hockey due to the popularity of the sport in this nation,” he answered. “People widely consider us Canada’s Hockey Bank due to all our partnerships. Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) (20-year sponsorship agreement valued at C$800 million, many Canadian hockey teams, the NHL, Hockey Canada) In the South America market, we are investing heavily in soccer (A major partner of Concacaf, Fútbol Club Barcelona (FCB), Costa Rica Fútbol, etc.)”

The Way to Mexico’s Heart: Fútbol

In 2000, Scotiabank increased its stake in Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inverlat to 55%. Scotiabank later acquired the Inverlat banking house in 2003, taking over all of its branches and establishing a strong presence in the country. The Mexican bank’s name subsequently changed to Grupo Financiero Scotiabank Inverlat.

“Soccer/Fútbol will play an important role in the Latin American market. For example, there are over 25 million FCB fans in the Mexican market,” said Tasevsi. “Our association with FCB allows us to jointly communicate with the passionate fútbol fan and to educate them on the Scotiabank brand and how we can assist with all their financial needs. Fútbol is key in the Latin Market and we will continue to invest and support the growth of this sport passion point in this market.”

Our association with FCB allows us to jointly communicate with the passionate fútbol fan and to educate them on the Scotiabank brand.

Future Plans to Tap into Sports Passion Points

Spanish soccer champions FC Barcelona have unveiled a new regional partnership with financial group Scotiabank, the first deal struck from the club’s recently opened New York office.

The multi-year agreement will see Scotiabank become the La Liga side’s official partner in Latin America and the Caribbean, and it will work alongside the club to sponsor a number of soccer programs in the regions aimed at underprivileged youth.

Scotiabank will also set up soccer festivals and will support local teams in attending training events in Barcelona. On top of this, customers will receive exclusive ticket deals and competitions.

Latin America 01/28/2020

Segmentation Strategies and Future Plans at Colgate Palmolive Mexico According to E-Commerce Manager Germán Villegas

At the 2019 Portada Event in Mexico City, we had an insightful Q&A session with Germán Villegas, Digital & E-Commerce Manager at Colgate Palmolive Mexico. He shares his know-how for driving growth at the consolidated mega-company, their E-Commerce numbers and investment plans, the future of segmentation strategies, and shares the name of online retailers with innovative tools for marketers.

Interview conducted by Alejandra Velazquez

There’s Always Room for Growth

Nowadays, consumers look for relatable stories, not product descriptions. Keeping this in mind, we asked Germán Villegas how Colgate Palmolive drives growth for such basic necessities like toothpaste and soap.

Germán Villegas

“We are touching real, daily consumers by leaving aside the old concepts of “perfect smile” with perfect-looking models. At the Portada Brand Star Committee session (one of the three units of the Portada Council System that met in Mexico City during Portada Mexico), we talked about the importance of reaching diverse audiences, cultures, and minorities to make them feel supported and listened. For example, we’re currently running a campaign that no longer talks about 12 hours of protection, fresh breath, or white teeth. It speaks about positivity. In the ad, a plus-sized woman says “when people say my curves are not attractive, I smile”. We want to transcend Coca-Cola-type messages like “you have to be happy”. We’re focusing on giving visibility to the most effaced members of society. That way, we are much more than just toothpaste. We are an optimistic story.”

Germán Villegas, Digital & E-Commerce Manager at Colgate Palmolive Mexico, will be one of the dozens of brand marketing innovators present at Portada Miami on June 4, 2020. If you are interested in participating in Portada Miami and/or in Portada’s networking and knowledge-sharing platform with brand marketers please contact us here.

We’re focusing on giving visibility to the most effaced members of society. That way, we are mucho more than just toothpaste. We are an optimistic story.

“Growth will happen organically and naturally in time. But beyond expecting things to fall into place, we are experimenting with micro trials now that we can. We are developing segmentation strategies with our clients, learning together about the industry’s ROI, and investing micro amounts. That way, we can learn where to invest more precisely. In other words, we pour money into trials little by little instead of betting millions blindly in the wrong place.”

TV vs. Digital Media: Time to Jump Ship?

Colgate has always used traditional TV as its strongest media. What are your offline vs. online investment numbers, and has digital won over television?

“We’re closing 2019 with 30% on digital media and the rest is all offline. I believe television is still pretty strong, above 50%. However, we’re trying to invest a little less on TV in 2020. We’re not going straight to digital all the way, but we’re applying our trial and error strategies to see how far we can go, and perform a lot of focus groups to make drastic but informed decisions.

TV already lost investment this year. I believe the past few years it used to close at 80%, and I think this year it went down to 60%. Next year it might close at 50%. In a few years, there will be very little content produced for TV. The U.S. is already making digital television, which will surely be very attractive to invest in because marketers can program different content for each spectator using digital technology. It might or might not contribute to our television portfolio, but it’s definitely a tendency. “

How do you choose what goes on TV?

“Right now, we’re looking for video production agencies. We’re trying to think digital before TV because we could produce custom-made pieces based on segments. We’ll make many digital pieces for specific targets, and from there we’ll cut a more generic TV ad. We used to make the TV ad and then upload it to the web, but it doesn’t work that way. It’s the other way around. You build a digital strategy based on segmentation. Those measurements help us choose what to show on the much more expensive TV airtime. “

Segmentation Strategies: The Right Message for the Right Ears

Tell us more about CP’s segmentation/targeting strategies. Is there room for evolution?

“Massive service providers like Facebook and Google sell us advanced ‘audiences’. These audiences aim to stop segmenting per demographics and switch to consumer attitudes. For instance, no longer targeting “men 30-45 y.o.” and such, but profiles based on passion points. We can segment per sports fans and athletes, music buffs, art followers, etc, and pinpoint a campaign for each.

We pour money into trials little by little instead of betting millions blindly in the wrong place.

Facebook offers a very interesting product in its portfolio that lets you edit the text of your ad. That way we can sell the same toothbrush by talking about this weekend’s soccer highlights or the newest song from a popular artist. We can write copy as necessary to make it more clickable to the individual seeing it. That’s a great tool.

A good challenge for future evolution is doing regional segmentation. Since marketing is too separated from the media department, it’s an opportunity for the industry. The brand manager could tell us if sales are decreasing in the south, so we could do our research and see why. That way we could develop specific solutions for localized issues. But right now, we still make advertising for the entire country. “

Feature Technology 01/23/2020

Teads Latam’s SVP Eric Tourtel Discusses Publicis Partnership and New Reach on Target Solution

We talked to Eric Tourtel, SVP of Teads Latam about the story behind the recently-announced strategic partnership with Precision, the programmatic division of Publicis Media. We also discussed the key buzzwords and trends of the near future, and why Teads is ready to tackle them head-on with a revolutionary new tool.

Last year, Teads closed a deal with Oracle Moat that allows buyers to select any custom billing point of viewability and transact on any viewability requirement. Portada also announced the new partnership with Precision, the programmatic area of Publicis Media, in Latam. Teads is the fast-growing platform that invented outsream video marketing. Now, they are changing the game again on their way lower into the funnel. To find out more, we caught up with Eric Tourtel, SVP of Teads Latam. Here’s all you need to know about the special nature of this partnership. Plus, learn how the company gets the ball rolling when it comes to data and AI.

The Importance of Having Allies: The Teads + Precision Partnership

Teads works with all the agencies. However, the partnership with Publicis’ programmatic area is unusual because it has a more significant qualitative component. “We’re going deeper, sharing more information. We have enormous amounts of first-party data and a very strong insights team,” said Eric Tourtel to introduce Portada to the story. As he explained, Teads started at the top of the funnel with good branding results after the launch of the innovative InRead video ad format. then moved to engagement and consideration, but the company has just recently started to focus more on performance.

Not only do we see who the users are, but we also see what they’re reading.

Now, Teads is able to fully audit the consumer journey. In Latam, the company has grown so much that it now reaches 90% of Mexican internet users, for example (source). “We find them within our network from 15 to 20 times per month. Imagine the gargantuan proportions of information we get,” shared Tourtel. “Not only do we see who the users are, but we also see what they’re reading. More than noting which URLs they’re visiting, we’re paying attention to the content they look for in those websites.” Consequently, sharing such information with Publicis will make for a very strategic partnership. According to Tourtel, most of the other partnerships are about price, volume, and discount.

Sharing the Teads Potential

“What makes this partnership special,” remarked Tourtel, “is the openness with which Teads will share its platform which most agencies aren’t aware of.” Thus, he had to organize intensive training in Miami with the directors of Precision offices all over Latin America. “We had to make sure they understood our platform’s potential,” told Eric. “We’ll have at least one training session per quarter in order to hear their feedback and adapt to their needs. This doesn’t happen at any other Demand-Side Platform.”

As Tourtel mentioned during our conversation, Teads might not be a very complex company but it is a very complete provider. It used to focus solely on video, but it has now evolved lower into the funnel to offer performance solutions. “Teads’ platform is different from DSPs in that it’s exclusively designed exclusively for Teads’ transactions,” informed Tourtel. “It’s all connected at a data level, as well as at a reach level. We are full-stack: an ad-server, SSP, exchange, buying interface…” In short, partnering up with Teads sounds like a very good idea.

We’ve grown together, that’s why collaboration flows more easily than with other players.

The other special aspect of the partnership was the story behind it. There’s a bond with Publicis that goes way back. “We have a lot of history together,” shared Eric. “I started Teads Latam six years ago and the first agency that took a leap of faith and talked big numbers with their clients for us was Starcom Miami. We’ve grown together, that’s why collaboration flows more easily than with other players,” added Tourtel.

Guaranteeing Viewability is no Longer Impossible

The main problem video marketers face is that nobody wants to watch video ads. They’re invasive, annoying, and get in the way between consumers and content. This is a real problem for Facebook and YouTube, but Teads got rid of the invasion factor. And so innovation played an important part in Teads’ process of coming up with a new format that was entirely different from a pre-roll.

The result was outstream video advertising, and it revolutionized video marketing. More consumers are now voluntarily watching ads. “We invented the InRead format,” said Tourtel. “It started with a video between two paragraphs. It’s not covering any content, so it’s not an intrusion, you can skip it if you don’t want to watch.”

“Marc Pritchard, CEO of P&G has recently declared that his company’s ads have an average exposure time of 1.6 seconds on Facebook, compared to 13 seconds on Teads,” pointed out Tourtel. ”That’s because we display ads exclusively in profesional articles. We’re not relying on people who scroll down their feed quickly to see if something grabs their interest.”

How Teads Does It

We’re not relying on people who scroll down their feed quickly to see if something grabs their interest.

If you have the right format and you display it in the right place, it has to work. However, if you add to that an artificial intelligence that gathers precise data and continually learns how to classify it, that’s a winning combo. “Five years ago we built a team that created our AI,” told Tourtel. “We gave it one single question. ‘Knowing what we know about this user, what are the chances that this impression will turn into a full view?’.

In fact, technology at this point is a must. “When we started we did all of this manually, but as we grew into the third biggest digital company in Latin America this became impossible, so we created our AI.” Every time there’s a full view, Teads’ AI team looked at their whole file and then looked for similar profiles. Then, the AI gets better after each completion and is able to predict conversions more accurately.

Brand Safety Can Also Be Guaranteed

Teads is proud to say that, apart from offering very high viewability rates, the company has never faced any brand safety-related issues. Teads uses Grapeshot, a well-known software that scans pages to avoid placing ads next to unwanted content that could harm the brand. “But we know Grapeshot isn’t perfect, so we added our own technology on top of that,” told Tourtel. “Our AI helps us read and classify articles. We also avoid breaking news pages because that’s where they show the horrible stuff.” Furthermore, Teads’ ads only appear on reputable publishing media, where journalists submit articles to an editorial manager for approval before they’re released. “It’s not like we’re a social network with 400 hundred people posting every minute,” he added.

Facebook owns social. Google owns search. LinkedIn owns professional relations. We intend to own media and press.

Nonetheless, explained Tourtel, the tricky part is knowing where to stop, as the definition of brand safety is a very subjective matter. “Brand safety means something different to each brand,” he mentioned. “Sometimes a brand will choose not to appear near the word death, let’s say. So you block any instances where the Word death appears, even if it’s something positive that doesn’t harm the brand at all. Imagine a story about an airplane accident with zero deaths, that’s very good news, but you have blocked the word death and thus you have reduced your reach and increased the cost.”

What’s Next for Teads?

Where is the company going and how will it use this potential? “Last year, we decided to regroup a bit,” answered Tourtel. “We were diversifying too much, so we went back to our core: media and newspapers. “Facebook owns social. Google owns search. LinkedIn owns professional relations. We intend to own media and press.”

While Teads has relied on acquisitions in the past, it’s now focusing more on building a strong platform that places them closer to the bottom line. “We own all our inventory and all our data,” explained Tourtel. “This gives us enormous freedom and a great ability to adapt because we’re not depending on any other companies with other priorities that could slow us down.”

AI and Reach on Target

The buzzwords going around are AI and data. Analysts and researchers are preparing for how the future of the industry is resting on those two vast words. Therefore, Teads has a new deal in the works with Nielsen that will allow them to take their innovative offering a step further. “Right now, when you sell the segment of 18-42 year-old women, you’re charging for 30-50% of reach on target,” he explained. “Everybody strives for 100%, but that’s like the holy grail. But soon we’ll be able to charge only for those 18 to 42 year-old women Nielsen confirms we’ve impacted on.”

This product will solve most of the problems we’re facing in digital every day.

Just like the InRead format solved viewability issues, Teads’ will boost performance via look-alike modeling, machine learning and massive amounts of first-party data. “We noticed that CTRs of O.01% are normal in the market while our CTRs range from 1% to 3%. We said, ‘We should sell clicks!’ and we came up with this product that will solve most of the problems we’re facing in digital every day.”

See a Trend? Own It

The trends are clear: according to Eric Tourtel, clients want transparency, brand safety, and social responsibility. “Brands are pressuring social media to take responsibility for the content they show, to avoid fake news and hate speech,” he pointed out. “We already have these priorities under control. Now, data will help us offer a more precise product. You’ll no longer buy what you don’t need and you won’t lose anything.” This way, the company will offer a full-funnel view of users’ purchase journeys.

- Feature 01/16/2020

Wearables for Consumer Metrics, Nestlé’s Luis Macin Weighs In

One of the greatest challenges of consumer data collection is the issue of privacy and consent. Today’s consumers are becoming more and more aware of how their information is collected, sold and used for marketing purposes. How can companies overcome privacy issues and harness this information to deepen consumer relationships? Luis Macin, Nestlé Mexico’s VP E-Commerce, talks about Nestlé’s plans to develop wearables for consumer metrics during Portada México 2019.

Luis Macin, Nestle Mexico, Portada — Luis Macin, Nestlé Mexico’s VP E-Commerce

Interview conducted by Alejandra Velazquez

Problem Meet Solution

Data collection continues to dive deeper into the private lives of consumers and it is only natural that they feel their privacy is being invaded. Audiences find it unnerving when they mention something in conversation only to be offered that specific product online moments later. However, the great thing about wearables is the voluntary data collecting process. When users are nicely requested to share their data, it tackles the issue of consent and privacy. The consumer willingly welcomes a metrics device into the intimacy of their own home and even onto their own body and this is where the true power of wearables for consumer metrics comes into play.

Who Wears Wearables?

The implementation of these devices in Mexico will take off immediately

According to emarketer.com, roughly a quarter of U.S. adults, 56.7 million, will use a wearable device at least once a month in 2019. Just over half of those will use a smartwatch. Furthermore, 3.8 million U.S. children and teens will have a wearable device. The e-health market is booming in Europe and North America, and it won’t take long for the wave to hit Mexico. “The implementation of these devices in Mexico will take off immediately because in Mexico we implement new technologies insanely fast, much faster than in other countries”, says Luis Macin, Nestlé Mexico’s VP E-Commerce. In 2020, the wearables market will consist mostly of smartwatches, with a strong emphasis on e-health.

Offer Relevant Content for Consumer Engagement

But once they’re wearing the device, how can brands collect specific data so they know how to target consumers?

The challenge is generating enough engagement so they’ll willingly share their information with you.

“There’s a driver behind every behavior, and each consumer has a different driver” says Macin. “You just have to identify their motivations and categorize them. For example, if your goal is physical performance, we’ll offer you the tools to have more endurance. If you’re concerned about your health, we can measure your BPM to protect your heart. The challenge is generating enough engagement so they’ll willingly share their information with you. You have to put the right cards upon the table, and the decision is theirs.”

Luis Macin, VP E-Commerce at Nestlé Mexico, will be one of the dozens of brand marketing innovators present at Portada Miami on June 4, 2020. If you are interested in participating in Portada Miami and/or in Portada’s networking and knowledge-sharing platform with brand marketers please contact us here.

Nestlé’s Safe Bet on E-Health Products

Nestlé’s R&D is hard at work on e-health initiatives in Brazil, Latin America’s unofficial innovation hub. Monica Meale, Head of Nestlé Health Science LATAM told NutrIngredients “NHSc has strongly invested in digital innovation. In the last three years, the area increased its investments fivefold”. The company’s research focuses on developing market trends including e-commerce driven products and services, digital innovations (VR nutritional education videos as an example), virtual sign language assistants on websites and contests for Nestlé to collaborate with health startups in creating and designing health programs and activations.

Is Wearable Technology Expected To Drive E-Commerce?

Absolutely. As consumers receive custom-made specific information about their care, they will also receive specific recommendations and tailor-made nutrition plans that will drive e-commerce simply because it’s convenient. According to Luis Macin, Nestlé plans to offer users a holistic experience by incorporating themselves into the consumer’s lifestyle through wearable devices. And once they’re engaged in improving their health through the right diet and lifestyle suggestions – Nestlé’s product recommendations are only one click away. Ordering products will be as easy and embedded into their routine as their morning coffee. While we’re not quite at that level of e-commerce maturity yet but the focus on wearables for consumer metric collection and blending this with e-commerce opportunities is projected to be the next big frontier.

Once they’re engaged in improving their health through the right diet and lifestyle suggestions – Nestlé’s product recommendations are only one click away

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