US Senator Says Social Media is the Best Way to Reach LatAm
October 5th, 2011Source: Reuters
The United States should move aggressively to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to promote its agenda in Latin America and help newly wired citizens cement political gains, said a new U.S. report obtained by Reuters.
Senator Richard Lugar said countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua still sought to curb economic and political freedoms, while other Latin American countries needed help buttressing emerging civil society groups.
Social media tools on the Internet, which played a central role in the “Arab Spring” uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East, may be even more influential in Latin America, said Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Latin America does have the advantage of more mobile phone subscriptions, Internet users, broadband access, and secure Internet servers than the Middle East,” Lugar said in the preface to the report, which his office is expected to release on …
Latin America’s Social Media Adoption Soars
September 22nd, 2011Argentina ranks third in the world in social media usage
By Dan Berthiaume
While Latin America does not yet represent the same type of social networking market as North America, Europe, or the Asia-Pacific region, social networking is rapidly changing the digital landscape of Latin America. According to a new study from comScore, “The Rise of Social Networking in Latin America,” in June 2011, 114.5 million people in Latin America visited a social networking site, representing 96% of the entire online population in the region.
Serial Entreprenuer Sees Payoff of North-South Hybrid Model
August 19th, 2011By Dan Berthiaume
An increasing number of innovative global IT companies are launching in Latin America using a hybrid model where some employees and resources are located in Latin America and some are located in the US. Serial entrepreneur and Colombian native Andres Barreto, who at 24 has already launched three successful global technology firms, knows first-hand about the benefits the hybrid model offers.
Globant Buys Nextive, Acquires U.S. Mobile and Social Media Talent
August 4th, 2011

Globant CEO Martin Migoya welcomes the firm's growth, fueled partly by the creative tech approach of CTO Guibert Englebienne (at left).
By Dennis Barker
Well-known nearshore trailblazer Globant revealed parts of an ambitious, globally expansive growth strategy this week with the acquisition of a small and savvy mobile software developer in Silicon Valley. The acquisition, taken on face value, shows Globant is doing what very few Latin America-borne IT players have done in recent years: land onshore in the US, make an acquisition or two, and create US jobs in the process. (Outsourcing bashers, explain how such companies hurt the US economy.)
By Patrick Haller
The Latin America IT and software development community is starting to become a stand-out location for social media management. At least that’s the opinion of Michael Widjaja, who is a Senior Executive with Accenture in Europe, and a private investor. Widjaja, currently on paternity leave in Buenos Aires, spoke to us about how LatAm can leverage this unique positioning, and also offered a set of views on the investment climate in the region.
Friending Brazil: U.S. Companies Need to Tap Into the Country’s Social Media Network
April 14th, 2011
It’s one way to find IT workers for your outsourcing operation, and to protect your company’s brand
By Josette Rigsby
Social media has become an increasingly important component of corporate marketing strategies and daily collaboration. But few U.S. organizations have extended their social media campaigns to the very large and expanding Brazilian market.
Each geography has its own style of social media etiquette and online behavior – and these regional idiosyncrasies will without a doubt have an impact on marketing activities — but it is time that U.S. companies operating in Brazil stop assuming that only Americans have embraced all things Web 2.0. It is time to get friendly with the continually expanding Brazilian social media environment.
5 Marketing Lessons from SXSW Interactive
April 7th, 2011I just spent five days at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, a conference that focuses on emerging technologies such as social media, web 2.0, development tools, cutting edge marketing and startups.
It’s a wild and woolly cornucopia of ideas, networking, presentations and parties.
As somebody who is in the business of helping nearshore software development companies market themselves to U.S. buyers, I am always on the lookout for new ideas to help generate awareness and bring in customers. Since SXSW provided too many great ideas to list here, I narrowed down what I learned into five key lessons that Nearshore providers can implement in their businesses.
1. Think like a startup
SXSW Interactive is THE conference for startups. Many of them launched their products right there at the festival, or participated in …
Neoris Q&A Part 2: A Single Country Focus Doesn’t Work in LatAm
January 26th, 2011Muruzabal on the need for a regional approach to nearshoring and why Mexico and Argentina are the best places to find talent.
By Tarun George
In Part 2 of his special interview with Nearshore Americas, Neoris CEO Claudio Muruzabal (#4 on our Power 50 Ranking) tells us why firms need to have a holistic approach to Latin America. He also discusses the role of social media in outsourcing, and why the ‘labor arbitrage’ concept is old. Read on for more.
LatAm-Focused Marketing Directors Find Social Media a Challenge
January 24th, 2011Here’s the reality for many marketing executives today: Not enough staff, too little budget, added responsibilities and a fast-changing media landscape to navigate, including a social-media explosion.
More than a dozen professionals discussed those challenges – and ways to handle them — at WorldCity’s Marketing Connections on Jan. 21, as they sketched an agenda for talks in 2011.
One common concern: how to harness the power of social media to meet company goals and boost profits. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are so new that many employers are still struggling to figure out how to weave them into larger business strategies and how to measure their effectiveness.
“Right now, it’s like the wild, wild west” in social media, said Claudia Damas, a manager for Kinetic KW, which handles media planning and buying for “out-of-home …
It Pays to Listen: Using Social Media in Outsourcing
January 4th, 2011
By Tarun George
Social media continues to show tangible business value by illustrating that it pays to listen to what clients and prospects are saying on the Internet. But how can social media be leveraged in the Nearshore outsourcing industry? Where does it belong when country investment agencies, suppliers and service providers want to interact with influential business managers? And how are companies better connecting with their employees using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube?
We sat down with Rodolfo Salazar, Strategy and Digital Reputation Consultant at Ideaworks and a former marketing executive with Stream Global Services, to answer these and other questions. Read on for more.











