Latin America Ad Spending 2018

As economies in the region begin to recover—coupled with presidential elections and the FIFA World Cup—total media ad spending will grow 8.7% this year to $38.04 billion.

• New streaming options for TV and mobile during the World Cup in Russia will make this Latin America’s first “digital cup.” Streaming on Facebook and Instagram, as well as 360-degree video and live streaming from DirecTV, will change how fans view the game.
• Out-of-home (OOH) advertising will be one of the fastest-growing media formats in Brazil this year. The country is easing its outdoor ad laws and investing more in infrastructure and digital OOH. As a result, OOH ad outlays will grow by 10.0% in 2018, totaling $1.12 billion and representing 6.6% of total media ad spending.
• Colombia is the only country in the region where traditional media will contract in both ad spending share and ad dollars throughout the forecast. Traditional advertising in Colombia will fall from $915.6 million in 2018 to $900.2 million in 2022.
• Despite having the region’s highest percentage of mobile users—74.6% of the population—Chile ranks second to last in terms of mobile ad spending. Only 35.7% of digital ad spend will flow to mobile this year, vs. the regional average of 52.9%.
• TV ad spending in Mexico saw negative growth in 2017 but bounced back slightly in 2018 due to the World Cup and presidential election. But digital will continue to climb at a faster rate. Digital will overtake TV expenditures in 2020, accounting for 41.9% of total media ad spending vs. 39.2% for television.
• Peru will have the region’s highest percentage of ad spending allocated to traditional media in 2018, at 85.4%. Even as digital advertising begins to grow within the country, traditional media will continue to keep its majority share and slip to just 82.1% in 2022.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report provides a deep-dive analysis for total media, traditional media, digital and mobile ad spending in six markets in Latin America—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru—as well as implications of the World Cup on consumer behavior and regional ad spending. The projections, which run through 2022, include breakouts by country and format. The full data set for this forecast can be found in this report’s accompanying spreadsheet.