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| Demand for communications support has increased in Brazil and other Latin American countries |
| Latin America: a Fast Growing PR Market |
Latin America is a staggeringly large market, with a population of 560 million, 374 million of whom speak Spanish. This means you can travel from El Paso in Mexico to Patagonia in Argentina or the southern lakes in Chile, speaking the same language all the way. There are also no major time changes: Bogota, in the centre, is in the same timezone as New York, and Mexico City is just one hour behind.
It's one of the fastest growing markets for public relations in the world, and the influence of Spanish Latin America - or Iberoamerica as the Spanish like to call it - now extends well into the United States. With close to 30 million Hispanics in the US, it's the country's largest minority.
Add Brazil to the equation and the potential opportunity of the market becomes even clearer: the country is almost as large as the US, with 186 million Portuguese speakers. Apart from its sheer size, the market is far from simple to deal with in communications terms, however. Although the only languages spoken are Spanish and Portuguese, local markets have very different communications needs, and the media, opinion leaders and stakeholders change from country to country.
Public relations is still evolving to meet the challenges of communicating across this vast market. The industry is no longer in a state of infancy, but it is true that until recently in many Latin American countries, PR was closely associated with events and lobbying, neither of which is seen as an interesting field for young professionals.
 | Public relations is still evolving to meet the challenges of communicating across this vast market. |  |
The development of a strong, independent media in most Latin American countries, and the ensuing need for well designed strategic communications, have also had a very important role in shaping today's Latin American PR industry. Good media relations is now based on great newsworthy ideas rather than personal connections.
Many of the best and brightest PR professionals in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela have backgrounds in politics and the media, rather than marketing or advertising. Unlike many Western PR firms, who see politics as a specialised area of communications, most Latin American consultancies are directly involved in political campaigning, public affairs and government strategy. Crisis communications is a significant part of PR agencies' daily activities, while consumer PR only recently started to be an interesting revenue stream for PR companies in the region.
Ten years ago PR companies in the region were small operations, founded by former journalists or campaign communications directors, mainly dedicated to political strategy and crisis communications. They went in at the deep end, in Western PR terms, helping oil giants such as BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Oxy to understand the region, and the importance of building true corporate social responsibility programmes. Agencies in the region have worked with large financial institutions such as Citibank, BBVA, Banco Santander and many others to deal with communications issues related to financial crises in many Latin American countries. They have also managed communications challenges for privatisation throughout Latin America, for public utilities, airlines, and telecoms operators.
There are also many opportunities to work for regional brands, domestically and globally. Big Latin American brands - including Café de Colombia, Wines of Chile, Petrobras, Costa Rican tourism board, Panama, Felaban, PromPeru and Embratur - have built sophisticated PR operations in the region, as well as in the US and Europe.
| As well as growth from global consumer brands building their presence in the region, demand for communications support will come from state-owned companies, continued privatisation and public affairs. | |
At the same time, the Latin American PR needs of global clients such as Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Unilever, Kraft, McDonald's and Honda are increasing. The ways they cover Latin America might vary - some companies base their VP for the entire region in Miami; Mexico might manage Central and South America; Brazil is sometimes treated as an island that manages itself; and yet other corporations are directed entirely from Bogota or Caracas in the centre of the region - these multinationals are all looking for PR consultants with local expertise who can operate across the region.
Interesting opportunities are also emerging between those who manage business and communications in Latin America, and those who are experienced in the US Hispanic market. A Latin American crisis communications expert would come in very handy if an American bank, for example, were to have a crisis among its US Hispanic clients in, say, Washington D.C. And PR tactics that have worked well in Argentina or Colombia would be interesting to consider in a campaign in Miami.
In response to this burgeoning market, all the major global PR players have started to build networks in Latin America, based in the major countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia. As well as growth from global consumer brands building their presence in the region, demand for communications support will come from state-owned companies, continued privatisation, and public affairs. As the market matures, Latin American PR is also likely to start becoming more specialised in specific areas such as tourism, crisis management, consumer, and financial PR. It is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the Latin American PR industry.
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| Miguel Silva, counsellor for Latin America to Weber Shandwick and founding partner of Gravitas, a member of the Weber Shandwick affiliate network.
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