COVID-19 crumbled the ad investment of the second quarter of the year, both in the number of clients and in billing. The third quarter, however, is seeing a rebound, thanks to certain improvements in the economies and to the return of original programming to channels.
Pablo Massi, CEO of América TV in Peru, commented that the ad investment in the open channel dropped almost 70% since Q2, but today is 15% below pre-COVID levels. The channel already put back two hours of primetime programming and expects to continue recovering.
Santiago Perincioli, Commercial VP for the South Cone at ViacomCBS, also observed a recovery of the advertising industry. The company managed to defend and grow the tune-in to their screens and with the possibility to go back to producing fiction and realities (they will soon launch MasterChef Celebrity) they will improve the proposal for audiences and in consequence for advertisers.
Jaime Guerra, SVP Advertising Sales, and New Business Development at A+E Networks Mexico, said that the reactivation of some economic sectors plus the commercial strategies developed by the company allowed them to reach July-August with pre-pandemic numbers and even exceed them a bit. “However, 2021 will be a year with many challenges”.
Panelists explained that during these months they have remained empathic with advertisers, offering promotions and other conveniences. However, “every promotion has to have an end. There are moments to attend advertisers´ situation and there are moments to go back to normal,” said Massi.
Watch PRODU Webinar: Commercial Strategies in the New Normality