What’s driving success proper now—and why.
At the start of 2025, Direct Promoting Information held the primary LATAM DSU in Miami, Florida, an occasion that gathered among the most visionary company executives, firm house owners and sensible minds in our channel. The power was electrical. We immersed ourselves in conversations in regards to the potential in every Latin American market; shared finest practices from corporations thriving within the area; and mentioned the present alternatives and political complexities that proceed to form the direct promoting panorama.
The consensus was clear: LATAM stays a vibrant and fertile area—possibly probably the most thrilling arenas for enlargement within the world channel. But we should additionally acknowledge the political fluctuations that sweep via the area and, at occasions, turn out to be unpredictable burdens for worldwide enterprise.
So, the questions I hear nearly in all places I am going are the identical: “What nation ought to we enter first?” “Which one is probably the most worthwhile?” “Which one is the best?”
My reply is at all times the identical: It relies on your organization’s mission and imaginative and prescient and your short-, mid- and long-term objectives. Understanding the particular tradition of the market you want to enter can also be a vital basis of any worldwide enlargement. With out this alignment, even probably the most sensible enterprise technique turns into fragile.
Tradition: The Core of Growth
One of many ideas I’ve repeated for years at occasions, in boardrooms and in non-public consultations, is how essential tradition is inside a enterprise framework, particularly when increasing internationally. We’ve all heard the well-known Peter Drucker quote, “Tradition eats technique for breakfast.” I’ve lived this fact all through my whole profession.
Being half Latino and half American has given me a front-row seat to the deep contrasts between cultures, not simply in language, however in how folks understand alternative, cash, neighborhood and entrepreneurship. Each firm has a tradition. Each nation has one, too. The query is: how do you marry each cultures to construct a worthwhile, sustainable enterprise?
That is the query too many executives overlook to ask. They laser concentrate on the profitability mannequin, pricing, logistics, compensation plans with out understanding that—as soon as once more—tradition eats technique for breakfast. And when the enterprise struggles or shuts down, solely then do they understand tradition wasn’t only a element…it was the lacking piece.
Understanding and adapting to an area tradition is way more than translating advertising supplies. It requires strolling the streets, visiting the markets, speaking to native enterprise house owners, observing how folks work together, work, hustle and dream. You should perceive the rhythm of the nation, not simply the numbers.
Direct promoting thrives in LATAM for one main cause: financial want. The casual economic system performs a key position, representing roughly 41 p.c of GDP and greater than half of all employment.
Lengthy earlier than Avon, Tupperware or any direct promoting pioneer entered Latin America, folks have been already promoting merchandise from residence, working small outlets and counting on community-based commerce. Entrepreneurship is embedded within the area’s DNA.
LATAM folks have been born into environments that formed them into entrepreneurs. It’s cultural. It’s generational. And that basis is without doubt one of the biggest causes for the large success of direct promoting within the area.
A Area in Transition
All through 2025, I traveled extensively round LATAM. In Peru, a taxi driver proudly instructed me their forex (soles) had strengthened from 4 to three.5 per greenback. In Colombia, one other driver shared an identical commentary: the Colombian peso was strengthening from 4,300 to three,800 per greenback. In Mexico, conversations have been much more animated. Individuals celebrated how their peso had strengthened from 23 to 18 per greenback in just some years.
These taxi drivers have been solely seeing one facet of the coin: native economies have been changing into stronger, whereas the US greenback was weakening. Whether or not we name it a recession or a melancholy, we’re clearly dwelling via a worldwide financial transition. Some native economies are strengthening whereas some others are weakening.
Currencies are shifting. Governments are intervening. Financial fashions are being examined and restructured. And the world of enterprise is present process a change we haven’t seen in a long time.
However right here is the excellent news for us. When economies go down, our channel goes up. Whereas some executives hesitate to enter rising markets out of concern, true entrepreneurs acknowledge that these environments unlock extraordinary alternatives.
Progress Alternatives
Mexico continues to amaze me as probably the most strategic and accessible markets for enlargement in LATAM. However don’t be fooled, its proximity to the US and its commerce agreements don’t assure a easy entry. You should nonetheless study the tradition; perceive the dangers; and determine the true alternatives to your product class. Should you set it up accurately, Mexico—now the Eighth-largest market within the direct promoting channel—can turn out to be a robust portion of your organization’s income.
Then we’ve Brazil, an financial big with a bureaucratic authorities construction that fiercely protects native trade and infrequently discourages international funding. Excessive tariffs and gradual forms create obstacles for corporations in dietary and wonder classes. But, for many who succeed, Brazil can turn out to be a monumental win.
After these two giants, Colombia and Peru stand out as extremely entrepreneurial markets, naturally aligned with our channel. If you observe successes like Natura &Co, Omnilife, Yanbal, Belcorp, Fuxion, Leonisa, Muscari and others, you shortly perceive the power of direct promoting within the area.
Argentina is reawakening. Firms like Nu Pores and skin, who remained affected person throughout years of financial instability, at the moment are thriving because the nation rebounds from a long time of mismanagement. Argentina is changing into one of many fastest-growing markets in LATAM.
Then you’ve gotten smaller however secure nations like Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. Their populations are small, however their democratic constructions are strong, making them dependable, although not transformative markets. Alternatively, international locations with heavy political or felony affect like Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and several other Caribbean nations stay too dangerous for many enlargement methods.
Firms that target the highest 5 can obtain
double-digit progress with out venturing into the extra difficult markets.
I additionally imagine in leveraging Amazon’s rising logistics infrastructure and grouping Central America and the Caribbean into what I name the CAC Hub: Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. These international locations have a robust direct promoting tradition and a well-educated base of entrepreneurs hungry for alternatives.
Infrastructure: A Nation’s Financial Pulse
My father taught me one thing easy however highly effective: wherever you see cranes, development and new buildings you see financial progress. And this by no means fails.
Take Puerto Rico, for instance. The absence of recent development reveals a long time of mismanagement and financial stagnation. Distinction that with Panama, the place you typically can’t inform for those who’re in downtown Miami or Panama Metropolis.
In 2025, I used to be impressed by Peru’s beautiful new airport, full of recent retail shops and eating places. I noticed new skyscrapers in Peru and Colombia, rising factories in Mexico and big international investments pouring in throughout a number of areas.
Mexico is changing into the “China of the Americas” a powerhouse of producing, logistics and expert labor. Over 17 new Chinese language electrical automobile manufacturers entered Mexico, dominating a market that the US by no means imagined it might lose.
Brazil continues to construct; Argentina is stabilizing; and the complete area is getting ready for a wave of progress that savvy leaders will capitalize on.
Why LATAM
Latin America has embraced direct promoting for many years, lengthy earlier than many world giants even seemed south. Almost 80 p.c of the inhabitants has participated within the channel immediately or not directly. This isn’t simply due to financial want. It’s as a result of LATAM’s cultural DNA is completely aligned with entrepreneurship.
In a lot of the area, entrepreneurship isn’t non-obligatory, it’s a survival ability. Households develop up understanding that earnings is one thing you create, not one thing you await. Individuals promote meals, garments, magnificence merchandise and family items. They commerce, they hustle, they use neighborhood networks as financial engines.
That is why direct promoting thrives right here. The entrepreneurial spirit doesn’t have to be taught, it simply must be activated. Phrase of mouth is a cultural norm. When a product resonates, it doesn’t merely unfold, it explodes. Total households, neighborhoods and communities mobilize collectively. Momentum right here has a distinct depth.
Layer on a serious demographic benefit: LATAM is younger. With hundreds of thousands of individuals getting into the workforce annually, the urge for food for alternative is gigantic. In distinction to growing old markets in Europe or North America, LATAM provides contemporary power, ambition and a starvation for monetary mobility.
After which there’s resilience. LATAM folks reinvent themselves continually via political shifts, financial cycles and forex swings. This resilience makes them among the most resourceful entrepreneurs on the earth. When corporations construct right here, they’re partnering with a inhabitants that is aware of the way to adapt—and win.
On the identical time, the area is modernizing quick. Ecommerce is booming. Social media utilization is among the many highest globally. Infrastructure is bettering. Overseas funding is accelerating. This creates a fertile panorama for corporations seeking to scale shortly and sustainably.
All of because of this, for 2026, my high markets for LATAM enlargement are:
- Mexico
- Peru
- Colombia
- Argentina
- The CAC Hub: Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic
If you wish to win in LATAM, you will need to begin with tradition, understanding the folks, their aspirations and the realities of day by day life. Empower native management. Align with the rhythm of the nation. Construct with humility, curiosity and respect. Try this, and LATAM received’t simply be one other enlargement, it should turn out to be probably the most highly effective progress engines in your whole world technique.
Y que viva LATAM.
ALEX HOFFMANN has greater than three a long time of expertise within the direct promoting trade main each company and distributor groups inside the channel with experience in constructing worthwhile markets throughout North America, LATAM and Europe.
From the March/April 2026 challenge of Direct Promoting Information journal.
