8 Hot Trends in Latin America
By Stan Bruckheim
Since the birth of direct response advertising in Latin America some 15 years ago, most would agree that there has been a surprising consistency to the industry's performance in the region. In a region known for change and volatility, the region's DRTV industry has had a rather stable and constant development. Many of the key Latin distributors have led their markets in DRTV for 10-plus years; the same product categories of exercise, health and beauty, and housewares have remained the big winners and successful media buying remains a mix of strong pan-regional cable and local broadcast TV.
TOP 8 TRENDS
Understanding the new trends in electronic retailing in the region will help global product suppliers and Latin distributors alike to maximize revenues from Latin America. What's different now, as we head into 2007? Here a list of eight trends that are changing the market:
Product. More local manufacturing is helping distributors keep product costs, and therefore on-screen prices, down. International suppliers are increasingly recognizing the benefit of allowing distributors to manufacture locally, where inexpensive labor and raw materials can bring down retail prices for the right products.
Production. The number of winning locally produced shows has grown by an estimated 300 percent in the past 24 months. Many distributors are investing in in-house editing facilities, allowing them the ability to create Latin shows and adapt international shows to the Latin market.
Radio. A number of Latin distributors have invested a lot of man-power in 2006 in learning how to make radio work in their market. With significant time and effort, radio can become a profitable medium.
Retail. In 2006, we saw a significant increase in retail distribution by the traditional DRTV distributors, including the creation of wholly owned retail kiosks and self-branded stores, joint ventures with mid-level retailers for shelf-space, and a more successful entry in mid- to high-end department stores.
Local TV media. While buying local broadcast media is still only viable for DR in certain markets (e.g., Mexico and Argentina), marketers are increasingly using local broadcast to drive their new retail distribution.
Product quality. With the increase in importance of retail, marketers are being held to a higher standard of product quality.
Internet. Latin marketers are learning to maximizing web hits and conversions to sales, with more sophisticated creative and analytical approaches.
Self-regulation. With government agencies becoming increasingly watchful of DR products and shows throughout the world, marketers are recognizing the need for self-regulation of the industry to be a driving force of change in 2007. Look for the industry to develop a formalized means of self-regulation, so that when (not if) government agencies come after the bad players, the industry can point to the self-regulation policies in place and the bad players are not amongst us.
Stan Bruckheim is co-director and president of PanLatinoTV in Laguna Hills, Calif. He can be reached via e-mail at stan@panlatinotv.com.
