Digital advertising and marketing in the Argentine way

Argentina is rich in natural resources, has an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Most relevantly, Argentina is known for its highly literate and educated population. However, over the last ten years, the country has suffered from economic problems that (particularly in the year 2000) lead investors to become sceptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain its goal of keeping the peso on par with the U.S. dollar. The economic situation worsened in 2001, causing massive bank withdrawals reminiscent of the Great Depression. Unfortunately, this promoted even further decline in consumer and investor confidence. In January of 2002, the peso's peg to the dollar was lifted and the currency was floated by the Argentine government. The exchange rate plunged, but by mid-year, the economy had finally stabilized. From that point on, growth has been steady, supported by a revival in domestic demand, solid exports, and favourable external conditions.

Currently Argentina is considered an emerging market by the FTSE Global Equity Index, and is one of the G-20 major economies.

Online opportunities

Argentina is the world’s eighth largest country in terms of land covering more than 2.7 million square kilometers or 1.67 million square miles and its economy is the third largest in Latin America. Internet usage in Argentina is comparatively high for South America considering its population of just over 40 million and stands at 69.4 percent of the total population. Neighboring Brazil, with a population of over 190 million people, is reported to have an internet usage rate of just 39.8 percent. This suggests a huge potential for internet marketing strategies in Argentina such as lead generation and those wishing to break into the online market in Argentina should increase their knowledge of the internet landscape and various popular media channels that are available.

Mobile

A recent survey of the top 300 advertising agencies in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, which was undertaken by Nielsen on behalf of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in Latin America, underlined the tremendous growth potential of mobile media in the region.

• 65 percent of agencies in Argentina believe that mobile marketing is a channel that can be better exploited.
• 43 percent of Argentinean agencies developed mobile marketing campaigns in 2011 aimed at iPhone users
• The most used content within mobile campaigns: Product information and alerts, sales and offers (30%), games (26%) and music and video downloads (21%).

Digital Examples

2009 - BBDO Argentina Changes Pepsi to Pecsi 

This is a pretty cool case study that you won’t see every day! Pepsi let BBDO Argentina change their name in an experimental campaign because it was too hard for the locals to pronounce! They set out to re-brand almost everything, bottles, websites, signage… the lot. And the result? Pecsi took off and people started asking for a Pecsi all over Argentina and abroad! Watch a video here.

2010 - Nike 10k: Who Follows Who? 

I thought this was a pretty interesting way to integrate social with a 10k race. The guys over at BBDO Argentina have taken Twitter into the real world as part of the We Run Buenos Aires 10k Run, where you won’t just have followers or be following people from now on, you’ll get the chance to challenge them in the real world as part of the 10k race and see who really follows who. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes. The last Nike 10k race campaign from these guys was a seriously cool digital/social hookup from inside the race!  Watch the video here.

2011 - ‘Singles Finders’

Ogilvy Argentina have created this ‘Singles Finders’ app for Zonacitas.com. Developed in Buenos Aires under the tagline “Love is out there. If we get organised, there’s plenty for all”, Ogilvy Interactive launched “Singles Finder”, an app to assist single people with finding the perfect date.
“Singles Finder” is a free Smartphone App accessible from the iTunes Store that tells users the exact amount of single people in each location. Aimed at giving single people the chance to find out where the most single people are before they enter the club or bar.

2012 -  Coca-Cola: Papertweetos 

Coca-Cola brought tweets to life to celebrate the Argentinean national soccer team playing in Copa América last year. Every time the team play people cheer for them, anytime and everywhere, by tweeting and throwing bits of paper into the air at the stadium during the game.
To boost encouragement for the team, Coca-Cola combined the paper throwing with fan messages posted on Twitter. Through a designated hashtag fans tweeted their support, each tweet was printed. These “Papertweeetos”, 2 million of them, were then launched at the game as the players walked onto the field, filling the stadium with fan-generated encouragement.

 
I might also later explore traditional advertising and marketing in Argentina - like outdoot or tv commercials... Who knows? :)