Posted by

Barry Siskind

UFI’s Community Manager

Marcos Giberti is a partner at the venture capital firm, Vesuvio Ventures. He is also a former President of Reed Exhibitions, Latin America. Marcos will be speaking at the upcoming 81st UFI Congress in Bogota, Columbia, October 28th to November 1st. The title of his presentation is, Are You Fit to Compete in Latin America?

I spoke to Marcos about what he will be presenting to give you a flavor of his topic. Here’s what we spoke about.

Barry:

Why are some companies better equipped to compete in Latin America than others?

Marcos:

I believe that a multinational company is ready for Latin America when it understands the size and complexity of the market. Many US and European companies take a light approach in Latin America thinking that their events will be accepted by the local community in similar ways as their home countries. They often minimize the competitive research (particularly with local events) thinking that the market will immediately embrace their value proposition.

The reality is that Latin America, like any other region is a combination of many different countries, cultures and economic and political realities so that each event and opportunity must be analyzed very carefully. Companies who are successfully competing in Latin America are led by people who understand the way that the main markets in the region work and can operate their events as locals, adding a global value proposition. Working this way can be extremely difficult to execute.

The other key component that I see with successful companies in the region is their long term commitment and their approach to business initiatives. We saw many “short term views” or shortcuts in the region while local customers are demanding a long term strategy and commitment in order to be part of their events.

Barry:

What message would you like to leave your audience with at the Congress?

Marcos:

I hope to be able to share some concrete examples of “love and horror” stories from global organizers doing business in Latin America and also from local players competing on a global scale.

I think that if we are able to share these examples, we will see more and better events in the region and a healthier and more successful industry.

The progress done in events in Latin America during the last 10+ years is really important and I’m sure that this will continue to improve and grow during the next decade if the collaboration between industry players keeps going into the right direction.

To see the full 81st UFI Congress program, click here: www.ufi.org/bogota2014