THE BRIDGE TO SUCCESS IN PERU

As a PR agency in Peru and other Latin American countries, it is important for us to explore in depth each country in which we work. This is especially true of Peru, a country whose media undergoes change on a yearly basis.

On the other hand, Peru is one of the fastest growing economies in the region over recent years. According to Statista, the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) is forecast to total US$278.10bn in 2025.

Peru is a young country, where nearly 66% of the population are aged between 15 and 64 years old. As such, the social network which Peruvians trust most is Facebook (38%), followed by Twitter (17%) and YouTube (17%), as reported in our “Media Consumption in 2021” study. 

Peruvians have also acquired the habit of fact-checking before sharing information of any kind. The most trustworthy “fact-checkers” are scientists (46%), family (39%) and journalists (29%). However, television is by far the most typical format of media consumption: 74% of respondents get their news from TV at least once a day. 

Listening to the radio is another typical Peruvian activity – 39% of respondents listen to it at least once a day, unlike other Latin American countries like Argentina, Chile and Mexico, all of whom consume this media format less and less each day. 

Around 84% of Peruvian’s Media is concentrated in just three business groups: the El Comercio Group, ATV and Latina.

According to our PR agency in Peru, companies in the region should be less holistic and more flexible, specialising in niche audiences. Hiring diverse, talented professionals to handle different points of view is another pillar which needs improvement. They also should seek to prevent crises while building their reputation, rather than merely reacting to identity crises.

In this way, a lack of dynamism can give way to more inclusive and effective communications in Peru. 

An effective agency in Latin America knows that each Latin American country has its own unique characteristics. Therefore, the first steps for advertising abroad are research and insight, so your company gets to know what’s happening in your target destination, and how locals interact with the media and society itself. 

Here are three common mistakes to avoid when doing business in Peru.

Ignoring minorities

According to the International Group of Indigenous Affairs, 4 million indigenous people live in Peru – roughly 12,5% of the total population. Despite this, the national media caters exclusively to the Lima point of view. Some channels, like TV Peru and Radio Nacional, broadcast bilingual programmes, but their signal doesn’t reach the remote regions where many indigenous people live.

This is according to Cecilio Soria, promoter and defender of Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights in Peru. He notes that radio is the best way to communicate with, and between, indigenous groups: “the Shipibo listens to the radio first. Radio is the means of communication that is closest to the native peoples. Those who have an internet signal also use their phones to access information.”

For Soria, traditional news platforms “mostly deal with negative issues. When they talk about the jungle, they usually talk about crimes, accidents and environmental problems. They do not deal with the ancestral cultural richness of our communities and its practical uses today”. The 1.5 million Peruvians with disabilities are also poorly served by the country’s media. 

Focusing exclusively on the capital

Nearly 60% of the country’s economy is based in Lima, but Peru has 24 departments or states, which contain 62,5% of the country’s population. If you want to reach your target audience, you need to know where they are – and in all likelihood they won’t all by living in Lima.  

Choosing the wrong media

Communication in Peru has its own idiosyncrasies, especially when it comes to radio and print media. According to our report, nearly 27% of Peruvians read newspapers at least once a week, while this percentage has been decreasing in recent years elsewhere in Latin America.

Peruvians fully trust the information they get from television and the Internet, so it’s important to combine Out of Home (OOH) with PR and Digital Marketing strategies, such as:

• media relations;
• on page SEO;
• content marketing;
• social media;
• link building;
• message development
• reputation and crisis management;
• creative design;
• and many more.

Thriving in Peru means working with a local team that understands the unique cultural quirks of the market, combined with an international perspective, and which can fit your needs into a campaign that delivers tangible results for your business.

Whether you are a B2C brand, business services provider or a disruptive tech start-up, our Digital Marketing and PR agency in Peru combines local knowledge and contacts with decades of international experience.

“Interculturality in the media is very important, otherwise racism will grow and there will always be a clash between cultures. Even international researchers are interested in the way we live and manage our economy, but in our country our own culture is not evenly distributed, despite the fact that much can be learned from us”. 

– Cecilio Soria.