In a crowded media landscape, success is not just about being seen, but about earning visibility in the places and conversations that matter most
In an increasingly competitive media landscape, shaped by the speed of information, media presence is no longer just about generating a high volume of coverage. For consumer brands, particularly in Latin America, the real challenge is to build awareness, visibility, and a leading role in the conversations that truly matter.
In this context, concepts such as Winning the Shelf and Share of Voice are becoming increasingly important in Public Relations strategies.
What Is Winning the Shelf in Public Relations?
Winning the Shelf represents a brand’s ability to secure the most strategic media placements, whether locally or globally. More than simply appearing in the media, it often means leveraging a well-executed communications strategy to position a brand’s flagship products in highly relevant media outlets, programmes, and editorial environments, including TV networks, news portals, and specialist publications.
The principle is simple: being in the media is not enough. Brands need to stand out on the shelf that matters, in the spaces capable of generating the greatest impact.
What is Share of Voice, and Why Does It Matter to Brands?
Share of Voice helps measure how much of the conversation a brand commands compared with its competitors. This metric allows companies to assess their share of media coverage, identify opportunities to expand their presence, reinforce their key messages, and establish a stronger position within their market.
Winning the Shelf and Share of Voice complement each other in building an effective Public Relations strategy. A successful campaign must balance quality and scale, securing both high-impact placements and a consistent share of the broader market conversation.
In Latin America, this challenge becomes even more significant due to the cultural, editorial, and behavioural differences across countries. Understanding local contexts, anticipating and revisiting trends, turning data into authoritative news stories, developing proprietary content featuring spokespersons, and transforming relevant events into compelling media narratives can all be essential to a campaign’s success across the region.
Public Relations Case Studies and Brand Visibility in Latin America
Some of the most successful case studies demonstrate how this combination can deliver positive results across Latin America.
MercadoLivre: Brand Visibility in Strategic Media Spaces
MercadoLivre, one of the largest technology and financial services conglomerates in Latin America, transformed an element of its visual identity into an experience which was integrated into Globo’s programming, winning the Media Grand Prix at Cannes Lions.
Rather than relying on traditional commercial activations, the campaign turned scenes with handshakes — a key element of the brand’s visual identity — featured in TV Globo programming into opportunities to offer discounts. Each of the 2,000 moments was linked to a unique QR code that unlocked discount coupons for viewers in real time, increasing impressions and brand recognition while helping drive an 80% increase in Black Friday sales in 2023.
Sherlock Communications and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation: Strategic Communications Across Four Markets
Working with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Sherlock Communications implemented a Public Relations campaign across four Latin American markets – Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico – to broaden the discussion around the circular economy.
The campaign addressed topics such as food, climate change, and plastic waste, turning them into media stories in Portuguese and Spanish and leveraging spokespeople to communicate key messages.
The initiative generated more than 600 media placements, including coverage in major outlets across the region, such as GloboNews, El Tiempo, Folha de S.Paulo, IstoÉ, and Valor Econômico. It also helped to generate more than 2.2 million signatures for a petition related to plastic pollution.
How Can Brands Build Relevance Through Public Relations in Latin America?
Taken together, these case studies demonstrate that brand awareness is not simply a by-product of media volume. It stems from the ability to create stories that people and journalists want to share and discuss. The goal is not merely to maximise exposure, but to secure the most relevant media placements, reach the right audiences, and become part of the conversations that matter most to each brand.
In Latin America, this challenge is even more significant given the cultural, editorial, and behavioural differences between countries. Understanding local contexts, anticipating trends, identifying the right timing, and recognising differences in audience behaviour across markets can be the real keys to a successful campaign built around Winning the Shelf and Share of Voice.
The aim is not just to generate media coverage reports, but also to identify where a brand needs to be, and create stories that take it towards its ultimate goal.
Ultimately, the objective is not simply to make a brand visible. It is to ensure that a campaign appears in the right place, at the right time, with a message capable of generating engagement and meaningful media conversations.