Programmatic in Latin America: José Luis Valdivielso of Havas’ Affiperf -- The Jay Sears Interview

This is the third in a series of interviews with leading buyers titled “Programmatic in Latin America.” The conversation with continue at The Festival of Media Latin America in Miami, Florida on Thursday, October 2, 2014. For more information, please go here.

Your Name: José Luis Valdivielso

Your Company: Affiperf

Your Title: COO Affiperf Spain and Latin America

SEARS: Where do you read your daily news?

VALDIVIELSO: Both digital media and social media. I hardly read the newspaper on paper now.

SEARS: Today on average across Latin America -- out of each $1.00 spent on media (all media, not just digital) by one of your advertisers -- how much today is spent on automated or programmatic channels?

VALDIVIELSO: Total media spend depends a lot on the countries and the industries the clients [are a part of]. If we talk about percentage in regards to digital media I would say it goes between 15 to 20 per cent. The important thing is that the trend is very promising and I believe in the next two years total spend on programmatic will increase significantly.

SEARS: What was this number in 2012?

VALDIVIELSO: Almost zero.

SEARS: What will this number be in 2016?

VALDIVIELSO: I would say between $0.10 to $0.15.

SEARS: What is the mission statement of Affiperf?

VALDIVIELSO: Affiperf is a global trading desk; allowing advertisers to take advantage of the unique opportunity that programmatic media buying creates. We offer a global reach, local resourced solution. At Affiperf, we create meaningful connections between brands and consumers by leveraging the power of programmatic buying. We place the consumer at the center of the media experience, advertising at the right time, in the right place and with the right message at the best possible price for our clients.

SEARS: Please tell us:

SEARS: Overall managed budget (media spend) for your trading desk [or automated advertising activities] across Latin America expected in 2014:

VALDIVIELSO:We are expecting to achieve more than 30 million US dollars

SEARS: Percentage increase, managed budget (media spend) 2013 vs. expected 2014] across Latin America:

VALDIVIELSO:We are growing [by] double digits in the whole region.

SEARS: How many employees are there in your Latin American organization?

VALDIVIELSO: Total across Latin America: More than 25 people

SEARS: What are Affiperf’s three biggest Latin American initiatives in 2014?

VALDIVIELSO:

1. Growth of the DSP with MediaMath.
2. Roll out of DMP with companies like Weborama or DataXpand.
3. New data providers like Adara.

SEARS: Across Latin America, what markets are leaders? What markets are laggards?

VALDIVIELSO:

Brazil -- A very dynamic market and well developed, especially on the ecommerce field. Programmatic should have a big portion of the total investment in the short term.
Mexico -- Programmatic is growing significantly particularly in the branding arena. It´s key that the local publishers and particularly newspapers and TV broadcasters really understand the model and start selling through the exchanges.
Argentina -- A very interesting market particularly with so many start-ups growing for data content.
Chile -- Very focused on CPC campaigns, advertisers need to understand that CPC is not always the best metric to look at and above all get a clear KPI.
Columbia -- Same thing as before.
Peru -- Advertisers are very eager to provide programmatic although they don´t always know what [it] exactly means.

SEARS: What percentage of your agency or advertiser’s site direct budget (direct orders) has been automated?

a) Less than 10% (of site direct dollars)
b) 11-20%
c) 21-50%
d) Over 50%

VALDIVIELSO: It depends a lot on the country but I would say we believe on the beauty of the PMP with premium publishers as long as we can combine this with pure RTB activities in a plan.

SEARS: Tell us a bit more about you.

SEARS: Who was one of your first mentors as a child?

VALDIVIELSO: I didn´t have a mentor as such but I did have several people who during all these years advised me at some point.

SEARS: Money is not a concern. You no longer work in advertising or technology. What would you choose to do for work?

VALDIVIELSO: I would continue working and helping young people who want to create new start-ups and projects.

SEARS: What is your favorite restaurant in the entire world?

VALDIVIELSO: Hard to say just one but probably I would say Azurmendi in the north of Spain.

Thanks, José Luis!

Jay Sears is Senior Vice President, Marketplace Development for the Rubicon Project. Sears workswith leadership and business unit heads across the company to expand Rubicon Project’s potential market. Sears has also served as General Manager, REVV Buyer, where he was responsible for global relations with the buy side including ad holding companies, ad agencies, agency trading desks and demand side platforms headquartered in North America. Jay can be reached at jsears@rubiconproject.com.

Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggers.com
Follow our Twitter updates at @MediaBizBlogger

The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggers.com management or associated bloggers. MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries.