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‘A multi-screen future’ discussion at LatAm

‘Advertising is on the road to becoming invisible’, ‘a multi-screen future is coming’ and ‘content is king’ were just a few sound-bites coming from speakers on the first day of The Festival of Media LatAm in Miami, on September 24.

In a session titled 'Converging technologies', Comscore executive chairman and co-founder Gian Fulgoni shared insights on the rise of online video in Latin America. “The US is no longer the centre of the online universe,” he said. Online ad spend in Latin America is growing twice as fast as the US at +42%.

Next to the stage was Televisa’s vice-president for digital and new media, Manuel Gilardi, who spoke about the future of second screening. "A multi-screen future is coming," he said. "It's the future of digital - consumers want to be connected in more simultaneous ways.”

In the same session, Yahoo vice-president for global B2B marketing Patrizio Spagnoletto echoed comments made by PepsiCo executive vice-president and chief marketing officer Salman Amin at The Festival of Media Global in Montreux earlier this year, declaring that TV is not dead, but is “the next best thing”. He also spoke about the need to create engaging content: “Quality content is the future of TV.”

Rounding-out the session, Rodrigo Figueroa Reyes, chief executive of FiRe Advertainment, a company that blends advertising with entertainment, gave his predictions for the future of advertising. "Advertising is on the road to becoming invisible," he said. "People are tired of being interrupted but people are listening to stories. Branding goes hand-in-hand with content."

Other sessions covered on day one of The Festival of Media LatAm were titled 'Digital Change', 'Sporting Continent' and 'Rebirth of Reading'.

The Festival of Media LatAm is taking place from 23-25 September in Miami, US.

Jenni Baker, Miami