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Buenos Aires Real Estate Expo: Who Invited Small Investors to the Party?

On August 31, 2010, In buenos aires events, real estate, by InvestBA

911 Carrera at the Argentina Real Estate Expo

Small investors at the Real Estate Expo were looking for safer investment alternatives than a $200k 911 Carrera.

Ten days have passed since Expo Real Estate Argentina 2010 (Did you see our video?), which gave Clarin sufficient time to absorb all the information presented and formulate some conclusions of their own. Most notable was the fact small investors were really the stars of the event, significantly outnumbering large brokers, developers or architecture firms.

“We’re not talking about people with huge international support or institutional funds backing them,” said one attendee, “We’re talking about individual investors looking for a safe alternative for investing their capital.”

Just one small problem, Clarin opines. The small real estate investor walking the floor of the Exhibition Hall is as likely to influence the direction of the local market (in terms of product and pricing), as a small shareholder attending the Annual Meeting of a large publicly-traded company (with the possible exception of Berkshire Hathaway).

Small real estate investors have concerns, needs and great ideas; yet, the push-push-push marketing by the local broker-developer community leaves them out in the cold. Don’t believe us? Try finding a local broker or developer with a blog, twitter account, or any type of social media plugin soliciting user feedback.

Instead, our inboxes are cascading with Argentine broker e-mails with subject lines like INCREIBLE PROPIEDAD! or PARA INVERSORES! and the requisite 5MB attachments which we never open. As one very astute broker told Clarin, “The new way of operating should be less about having a big Rolodex and more about reading the market and having the capacity to segment your clients.”

Which is exactly what we do @InvestBA. We blog in several languages, we inform and educate, we promote lifestyle, we solicit feedback daily, and we know exactly which of our international clients would be interested in what types of real estate opportunities in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Uruguay. In short, Clarin characterized the presence and demands of the small investor as “nuevos desafios,” but we view them as “nuevas oportunidades.”

Internet, WiFi Penetration Continues to Rise in Argentina

On June 16, 2010, In lifestyle, technology, by InvestBA

LCD sales may taper off post-Mundial, but WiFi growth means more broadband accounts in Argentina.

Sales of LCD TV’s in Argentina are currently up 150% over last year, but many analysts say those numbers will taper off once the World Cup is over. The growth of new Internet subscribers, however, should continue its upward trajectory as more Argentine residents and businesses seek broadband access to online content.

According to infobae.com, over 700,000 new residential users signed up for Internet service between March 2009 and March 2010 raising the number of online households to 4.1 million. During the same period, the number of Argentine businesses adding Internet service increased 48% and the number of broadband accounts grew 58%.

One number moving in the opposite direction is the number of e-mails sent, as Argentines sent 7.7% fewer correos electronicos compared to one year ago. This statistic partially reflects the growing preference among Argentine consumers for communicating via social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

ADSL accounts for 62% of Argentine broadband connections, and cable modems represent another 24% of users. As we’ve noted previously, the rapid growth and popularity of WiFi has prompted the rush to broadband in Buenos Aires and other major cities in Argentina. The most recent rankings of global Internet usage show 49% of Argentines have Internet access compared to 50% of Chileans, and 36% of Brazilians. (Full Story in Spanish)

For more information about Buenos Aires investment opportunities, download IncomeBA and the new issue of InvestBA Privada.

Tagged with: adsl broadband argentina • argentina • blogs • buenos aires • buenos aires internet • buenos aires wifi • correo electronico argentina • facebook • infobae.com • internet • internet em buenos aires • internet penetration in argentina • lcd • social media • statistics • subscribers • twitter • wifi • wifi em buenos aires

Twitterando: Buenos Aires Companies Slowly Tap Social Media

On May 12, 2010, In creative class, franchises, technology, us companies, visionaries, by InvestBA

Companies like Starbucks Argentina are taking the bold first steps in BA business social media.

While Facebook, Twitter and corporate blogs are de riguer social media tools for U.S. brands, the phenomenon is a relatively nascent one in Argentina according to an in-depth article by Florencia Radici for Cronista.

It’s hard to pinpoint whether the Web 2.0 reluctance is motivated by fear of losing control of the message or the heavily flawed assumption that what they, Empresa X, have to say is more important than what consumers of Empresa X have to say and share with fellow users and potential Empresa X converts.

Yet major Argentine brands with hundreds of outlets and millions of customers either have no social media exposure or only a handful of followers on sites like Twitter. In fact, Argentina doesn’t even show up in Twitter’s global ranking on Alexa, while other Latin American countries account for a sizable percentage of the microblog’s traffic: Brazil (3.2%), Mexico (1.5%) and Venezuela (0.7%…thanks to El Loco Chavez, the Ashton Kutcher of Caracas.)

Fortunately Radici says some BA companies are biting the social bala and engaging with customers via blogs and social networks. Many of these companies like Starbucks Argentina, Officenet Staples and IBM have U.S. ties and managers previously baptized in the waters of social media.

Despite a slow start, Radici says BA companies are starting to warm to the idea of online customer engagement, and she points to two recent examples of BA2.0 brilliance include Nike runners twittering in the October 10K and Park Hyatt guests twittering with the concierge. (Full story in Spanish)

Tagged with: alexa • blogs • branding • brazil • cronista • facebook • florencia radici • ibm • marketing • mexico • nike • officenet • park hyatt • social media • social media in argentina • social media in buenos aires • starbucks • starbucks argentina • twitter • us companies • us companies in argentina • venezuela

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