Digital marketing agency Critical Mass is opening a new unit in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The new unit will create, plan and support marketing strategies for Critical Mass’s global clients. Initially most of the new unit´s work will be done for client Hewlett Packard.
Dianne Wilkins, CEO of Critical Mass, made the announcement today at Portada’s LatAm Summit. Critcal Mass, owned by Omnicom, is planning to open additional offices in key Latin American cities. Critical Mass had already established a digital production facility in Costa Rica five years ago.
In Latin America, consumers’ media consumption and shopping habits are evolving at an unprecedented rate. Today, there are more active social network users in the region than North America[1] and mobile phone penetration is nearing 70% of the population[2]. Digital advertising is still only a fraction of the media dollars spent, but that is quickly changing with 20% growth over the next four years[3]. In e-commerce, over 30% of internet users now shop online, a population that continues grow in the double digits each year[4]. And there’s no sign of this shift changing in the near future.
Dianne Wilkins, CEO of Critical Mass commented: “As global digital agency of record to world-class brands such as HP, Critical Mass creates extraordinary experiences that customers want to use. As consumers habits in Latin America are changing, brands need to strongly consider how they create a cumulative customer experience – across channels, devices, borders and time – and Critical Mass is strongly positioned to be the global and regional partner to provide universal programs and local experiences.”
Staff
Leading Critical Mass Latin America is Jaime Escobar, General Manager, who will report into COO John McLaughlin. Working with Jaime are Enrique Ottone, Creative Director and Miguel Alvarez, Technology Director. Before moving to San Jose, Jaime and Enrique both worked at Critical Mass in the agency’s offices in Toronto and Calgary, respectively.
Miguel Alvarez joined Critical Mass as Technology Director from Possible Worldwide in Costa Rica, where he managed development and QA across multiple accounts and geographically distributed teams. Jaime will oversee the agency’s growth and operations, supporting global clients such as HP. Miguel will manage the strategy and development for clients’ technology needs across numerous time zones.
In addition to the leadership team, Critical Mass is developing and recruiting for regional talent in the areas of creative, strategic planning, account management and marketing science. The agency will also relocate talent from its global network to the region.