Multicultural Marketing: Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands of 2012

By Elizabeth Reinhardt

In the U.S., the multicultural marketing sector is experiencing a lot of growth. The need to understand the Latino market has never been greater. And what better way to grow our understanding of una cultura – as marketers – than to explore that culture’s most successful brands?

Global marketing research group Millward Brown, in partnership with the advertising agency WPP and brand valuation company BrandAnalytics, announced the 2012 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands el 22 de junio. By being a publicly traded company with positive earnings for the year, 800 Latin American brands qualified for the list. To narrow it down to the top 50, 25,000 Latin American consumers were polled and company financials were examined.

The list shows the global importance of emerging markets. Brazil is the most obvious example, as it dominates the list; currently the world’s sixth largest economy, Brazilian brands hold one third of the $136 billion total value of the Top 50. The list demonstrates how these emerging Latin American brands compete with global brands, specifically finance, communications, and retail.

Multicultural marketers should keep an eye on these companies – it’s only a matter of time before they hit the U.S. (if they haven’t already).

The Top Five

1. Petrobras, Brazil

petrobras 50 Multicultural Marketing: Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands of 2012
Founded in 1953, Petrobras is an energy company with a brand value of around $10,560 million. According to the company’s website, it is the fifth largest energy company in the world. It has a presence in 27 countries on five continents.

2. Telcel, Mexico

Telcel 50 Multicultural Marketing: Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands of 2012
Listed second, it falls about $2000 short of Petrobas, coming in at $8,449 million. Telcel is a communication provider that was founded in 1978, beginning with installing and operating car phones. They have won the Marcas de Confianza award three times.

3. Bradesco, Brazil

Bradesco 50 Multicultural Marketing: Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands of 2012
The first of two Brazilian financial institutions in the top five, Bradesco is listed with a value of $6,690 million. It was founded in 1943 in the city of Marília, São Paulo.

4. Itaú, Brazil

itau 50 Multicultural Marketing: Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands of 2012
Brazil’s second financial institution comes in at number four. Itaú’s value is set at $6,606 million, and it is one of the ten largest banking institutions on the planet. Just in Brazil, the bank has around 5,000 branches and 30,000 ATM locations.

5. Comcel, Colombia

comcel 50 Multicultural Marketing: Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands of 2012
Owned by the same telecommunications giant as Telecel, Comcel is listed with a value of $5,513 million.

*******

Want to see what other brands made the list? Check out all of Brandz Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands. Are you surprised by any companies that made it? Or the ones that didn’t?