Mobile Marketing in Latin America: Be Patient

The state of Latin American mobile marketing is incredibly complex, with brands clamoring to use a marketing medium that few truly understand and mobile experts such as yesterday’s panelists struggling to find the best ways to deliver content, integrate the media, and monetize the platform across a geographic territory that is anything but hegemonous.

The session on Latin American mobile also revealed many of the key differences between mobile marketing and technology in that territory and North American markets.

First, the sheer number of carriers in most South and Central American countries far outstrips what one would see in other areas; Eugenio Velasco , mobile services director at Grupo Televisa, mentioned that the number of carriers in Mexico had recently dropped from 90 to 40. Raul Aristud of Ansible Mobile speculated that this factor is the reason single-carrier countries such as Japan are so relatively advanced; the on-deck software becomes universal and allows for universal adoption of technologies such as 2D codes, mobile ticketing and commerce, etc.

And the carriers in Latin America operate very differently from North American or European companies. All of the panelists mentioned the difference of carriers’ attitudes in these markets, stating a need for diplomacy and patience when trying to acheive mobile marketing initiatives.

Rene Rodriguez, senior director of business development for WWE, noted the operational challenges of scaling and adapting mobile marketing across a wide range of Latin American cultures with different languages, idioms, celebrities, brands, etc. “Just be very, very patient,” he said.

Rodriguez was also the first panelist to mention the WAP issue. “The reality,” he said, “is that the technology is not there yet.” For the present, in Latin America, WAP sites do not work for mobile marketing. Rodriguez stated that because WAP site traffic is low, brands will not put money into advertising in that space. He sees standard SMS as the best way to reach consumers with a message. The other panelists all voiced similar assesments with varying degrees of condemnation, the most optimistic being “Maybe WAP will happen next year.”

Overall, there’s incredible growth in content consumption for music, video, and promotions. Mobile Is being used to foster interaction and create communities around brands that are well-established in traditional media. Javier Mary, head of online products for Yell Argentina, showcased some exciting, forward-looking offerings in local marketing/search, such as previews of shows, photos of restaurant interiors, mobile ticketing, proximity marketing using Bluetooth technology, and some really innovative ideas for using 2D codes to retrieve records and other information.

Ultimately, said Aristud, the big global brands and agencies want to create rich, “juicy” mobile content; the main challenge for marketers in Latin Amercia is working with mobile carriers, which takes a lot of time and which may involve a lot of refusals and rejections before a new technology or strategy is adopted.