We interviewed the President of Omnicom Media Group Digital Latin America, Marina Méndez, to give our readers an insight into the digital changes that are taking place in Brazil and the rest of Latin America. The interview questions derive from statistics stated in an article published in adlatina.com, "Las empresas e Internet." Ms. Méndez covers questions about online investments to online video.

1. Brazil's IAB states that 2009 was the year with the highest Internet investment in the history of the country, with an increase of 24%. Do you feel that a similar increase can be expected for the years to come and for other Latin American countries as well?

Demand for broadband in Brazil is expected to soar. Broadband operators have been struggling to keep up, and there have been problems of system overload. The government has plans to spread broadband across the vast country in one of the world's largest infrastructure projects. Two major factors have inhibited the growth of broadband in Brazil: shortage of fixed-line infrastructure and broadband prices, which are too high for the Brazilian socioeconomic environment. On the other hand, the growth of mobile broadband in Brazil has been nothing short of spectacular, attracting more than four million subscribers.

2. Brazil is the country with the highest connectivity time in the world, with online time being 24 hours and 48 minutes per month. What factors do you think influence this and do you feel that other Latin American countries will slowly begin to catch up? Do you have any specific order of countries that you feel will be the strongest Internet countries in the region in the years to come?

Instant Messengers and conversational media both boost significant user online time in Brazil due to their popularity. Sixty-five percent of Internet users in Brazil are less than 35 years old and single. The Internet user profile is a key factor that influences the connectivity time due to the user's lifestyle. Brazil also it is the highest growing country in the region. It's seeing strong investment in the telecom sector and this investment is public and private due to high competition. The strongest countries in the region in the years to come will be: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.

3. The mobile penetration has also gone up, although only 14% of the Brazilian population favors advertising via mobiles. Do you agree with Fernando Guntovich from The Group in that this trend is only temporary? What do you feel is the mobile trend for the rest of Latin America? Do you think that mobile might be stronger in other Latin American markets?

The mobile market in Brazil and Latin America will grow for years to come, the most relevant countries are receiving strong investment from the private sector and the access to low cost smartphones with Internet access will help this trend to continue. According to the study "Mobile Marketing Brazil," the mobile market in Brazil will keep growing for the next 2 years.

4. How about video? What is the trend that you have seen for online video? How strong are the advertising possibilities?

Due to Network speeds offered in the region, video is growing very slowly. TV and movies over broadband are not available yet in the region to a wide audience. Advertising possibilities are going to appear in years to come but presently Latin America doesn't have them for online video.

5. Do you think that paid vs. free online content will affect the increase of online consumption that has been seen in the past years, specifically pertaining to LATAM?

Paid content has never been successful in Latin America; the most successful online services are always the ones that are free. For specific sites there are subscription possibilities but they are only relevant in niches.

6. Any additional comments?

Fernando Guntovich's statement that Twitter will have the same fate of that of Second Life needs a deeper analysis. Second Life is the Internet's largest user-created, 3D virtual world community and Twitter is a communication/information network tool. You can't compare both. Second life created a bubble. Corporations started to buy virtual land in Second Life to sell goods. Also, individuals started to sell goods in the virtual world which might have been ahead of its time, but the causes of failure do not apply to Twitter. This doesn't mean that Twitter will never fail. It can fail, but for different reasons, and it may take longer.

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Source: Information for questions derived from: http://www.adlatina.com/notas/noticia.php?id_noticia=35423br>