The company, which has 100% of its revenue from the advertising market, is keeping an eye on trends such as new mobility, such as the hybrid model and the return to physical purchases.
Strongly impacted by the pandemic, when it lost 80% of its user base at the height of the health crisis, Waze has recovered and has already increased its numbers by more than 20%, when compared to the pre-pandemic scenario, according to Anasofía Sánchez Juárez , head latam for Waze, in an interview with PROPMARK.
Now, the company, which has 100% of its revenue from the advertising market, is keeping an eye on trends such as the new mobility, which includes moments at home and in the office, and the return to physical purchases. The objective is to expand and evolve solutions for brands to take advantage of this new scenario and also to offer products that help measure results in out-of-home actions, contributing as a means of attribution.
“We are facing a special opportunity for advertisers to have a different or better relationship with people. For example, a person used to always go to a supermarket close to the office, then, with the pandemic, close to home and now, with the hybrid, it varies from day to day. Brands have this opportunity to stay close to them in these new moments of movement”, says the executive, who took over the entire platform operation in Latin America in April 2021, after a period leading the Spanish-speaking countries in the region.
One strategy is to advance the Location Personalities feature, launched last year, which allows advertisers to report in-store and drive-thru pickup options via Waze. The platform plans to enable integrations with partners’ apps so that purchases in the “click and collect” model – where customers buy online and pick up in the physical store – are increasingly fluid and is carrying out tests in Brazil, the fifth largest market in number of users and 3rd in terms of revenue.
According to the executive, in the United States, this type of initiative with Dunkin’ Donuts, the famous brand of donuts and coffee, allows users to buy the items and employees to know the exact time they will pass for withdrawal.
“We are trying to do the same thing, but the logistics are much more advanced in the United States than in Latin America. This is the challenge we are facing and now we are resuming tests in Latin America, which were paralyzed with the pandemic”, he explains. .
Measuring and integrating channels
Another move that the executive sees as important at the moment for the platform is in the measurement area, based on integration with more traditional media such as out-of-home and radio.
“We have found this opportunity to help other media to have a little more measurement, mixing the two media”, he says. This union with OOH players or directly with the brands would help in the attribution of results.
With radio, the executive says that the platform already has successful examples in France, with integrated campaigns that are broadcast on channels and activated on Waze. In Latin America, however, the process is slower and faces greater difficulties. In part, because of the programming schedule, which is unable to offer the detailed times when the spots will be broadcast.
“For this to happen at the same time, we have to have the radio plan with specific times. Sometimes in Latin America it doesn’t happen that way. So we are doing a lot of testing now,” she adds.
