What Mercado Negro does

Mercado Negro (legal entity: Mercado Negro Advertising SAC) is a privately held Peruvian B2B media company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Lima. It operates the first specialized media outlet for Marketing and Advertising in Peru, publishing daily news, campaigns, creativity showcases, and trend coverage targeted at marketing professionals, agencies, brand managers, and advertisers. Its audience reach exceeds 21.2 million average monthly impressions across digital, with 4.6 million monthly page views, 2.7 million active users, and a 70,000-subscriber newsletter delivering a 20% open rate — meaningfully above the 15–20% industry benchmark cited in source material. Social followings exceed 1.6 million across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

The product portfolio is a multi-format ecosystem rather than a single publication. Core offerings include: the mercadonegro.pe news portal; the "Mercado Negro Newsletter" (weekly, two sends, 10 content pieces per send); the "By Marketeers" print magazine (three editions per year, 1,500 copies each, with at least nine editions published); three proprietary branded events — Mejor Panel del Sur, Top Influencers, and Premios Tótem; two podcasts (Efecto Influencers, Voz Empresarial); the Chamba para Creativos creative-jobs marketplace; and a Specialists contributor network. The underlying technology is a conventional digital publishing stack — content management system, newsletter distribution platform, and social media integration — with no proprietary AI/ML components disclosed.

The business model is advertising-led across all channels. Revenue streams include digital display and sponsored content on the website, print advertising in By Marketeers, event sponsorships, newsletter sponsorship, and podcast sponsorships. A commercial team of four named "Ejecutivos comerciales" handles sales via a MediaKit offered to advertisers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no M&A activity recorded in source material.

Name

Mercado Negro

Legal name

Mercado Negro Advertising SAC

Website

https://mercadonegro.pe

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Media and Advertising

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Lead Generation & Performance Media (B2B/B2C) (MPAAACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Consumer & Public Shows (B2C) Organizers (THAHABAC), Product & Brand PR (Consumer & B2B) (BPAFADAH)

Keywords

• Trade media publishing
• Advertising sales
• Marketing journalism
• Brand news coverage
• Media events

Headquarters

HQ city

Santiago De Surco

HQ country

Peru

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Digital Advertising: The primary revenue stream comes from digital advertising on their website, including display ads, sponsored content, and campaign placements. They offer a MediaKit for advertisers.
2. Print Magazine: 3 printed magazine editions per year with 1,500 copies per edition, generating revenue from print advertising.
3. Event Sponsorships: Revenue from events and award ceremonies including Mejor Panel del Sur, Top Influencers, and Premios Tótem.
4. Newsletter Subscription Services: Newsletter subscription with 70,000 subscribers and 20% open rate, serving as a direct communication channel for advertiser reach.
5. Podcast Content: Podcast productions including Efecto Influencers and Voz Empresarial, potentially generating sponsorship revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Mercado Negro operates a specialized B2B media platform covering the marketing and advertising industry in Peru. It monetizes its audience of marketing professionals and brands through digital advertising on its website and social channels, a weekly newsletter, a tri-annual print magazine (By Marketeers), branded events and awards, podcasts, and a creative-talent job platform.

Product overview

Mercado Negro is Peru's first media outlet specialized in Marketing and Publicity, operating as a multi-platform content company. The ecosystem consists of: a digital news portal (MercadoNegro.pe) with millions of followers across social platforms, a weekly Newsletter with 70,000 subscribers, a print magazine (Revista By Marketeers) published three times yearly with 1,500 copies per edition, three branded events (Mejor Panel del Sur, Top Influencers, Premios Tótem), two podcasts (Efecto Influencers, Voz Empresarial), a job platform for creatives (Chamba para Creativos), and a MediaKit service for advertisers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• By Marketeers: Magazine publication produced by Mercado Negro featuring marketing and advertising content
• Mejor Panel del Sur
• Top Influencers
• Premios Tótem
• Efecto Influencers
• Voz Empresarial
• Chamba para Creativos

Products and services

• Mercado Negro Digital News Portal

Quantifiable outcome

• 21.2 million+ average monthly reach across digital platforms
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Specialists Network (Especialistas)minorOthersMercado Negro maintains a network of specialists and columnists (especialistas) who contribute content to the platform, accessed through specialists.mercadonegro.pe. This network provides expert perspectives and content for the publication.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The Drum: The Drum is a global publisher for the marketing, advertising and media industries, with editorial, awards (The Drum Awards) and events such as Drum Marketing Awards. Comparable to Mercado Negro as a multi-platform marketing trade media brand combining content, events and proprietary recognition programs.
• PRWeek: PRWeek is a global trade publication for the public relations and communications industry, monetized through editorial, events and awards (PRWeek Awards). Adjacent to Mercado Negro's editorial focus on branding, creativity and product/brand PR coverage.
• Adweek: Adweek is the largest US-based trade media brand covering advertising, marketing and media industries through news, events (e.g., Adweek Awards) and proprietary research. It is the benchmark global incumbent against which specialized regional players like Mercado Negro position themselves.
• MediaPost: MediaPost is a US-based B2B media company covering advertising, marketing, media and technology through newsletters, online publications and conferences. Comparable to Mercado Negro in the model of monetizing specialized B2B audiences via newsletters and events.
• Campaign Magazine: Campaign (Campaign Asia, Campaign Latin America) covers the global advertising and marketing industry with editorial, awards (Campaign Awards) and events. Its multi-region editorial model and owned awards overlap directly with Mercado Negro's editorial-plus-awards (Premios Tótem) structure.

Regional players

• Contxto: Contxto is a Latin American B2B media platform covering marketing, startups and digital business across the region. It targets an overlapping Spanish-speaking professional audience with content monetization comparable to Mercado Negro's model.
• Effie Awards (Effie Worldwide / Effie Peru): Effie is a global awards program recognizing marketing effectiveness, with local Effie Peru chapters. It overlaps with Mercado Negro's Premios Tótem and Top Influencers as a competing or complementary owned-IP recognition franchise for advertisers in Peru.

Emerging players

• Marketing Directo: Marketing Directo is a Spanish-language marketing and advertising trade media outlet serving primarily Spain and Latin America. It targets the same advertisers and marketing professionals as Mercado Negro with overlapping editorial coverage, though operating from a different home market.
• P&M (Publicidade & Marketing / Mercadeo y Publicidad): P&M is one of the longest-running Spanish-language advertising/marketing trade publications covering Latin America (notably Colombia). It competes with Mercado Negro in the same niche of regional marketing trade media and share-of-voice for brand storytelling coverage.

Direct peers

• Adlatina: Adlatina is the leading advertising/marketing trade media outlet for Latin America (headquartered in Argentina), covering campaigns, creativity and industry awards. It is the most direct structural peer to Mercado Negro's model of B2B trade media serving the regional ad industry through news, events and rankings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mercado_negro
• Facebookfacebook.com/mercadonegrope
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mercado-negro-advertising-news
• Instagraminstagram.com/mercadonegrope

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercado Negro