Marketing in Brazil: Big Ideas for 2010

Some of Brazil's top marketeers got together on the TV show Reclame for a short discussion on their thoughts for the year to come.

When asked for the big marketing innovations that influenced these last couple of years, most of them agreed that increased digital content and the rise of social media have had a big impact. These days internet plays a role in most campaigns. And the measurement of consumers engaging with these campaigns gives a tool to optimize these initiatives. But a very valid point was made by Maíra Barcellos, marketing director for Hotéis.com, she stressed the importance that these online initiatives are monetized, checked if and how they contribute to profits. A remark that jumped a bit from the pack came from Regina Macedo, marketing director at HP. According to her cloud computing has been the innovation with the most economic relevance because it has changed business models and allowed better collaboration. Rodrigo Lacerda of Carrefour has noticed a bigger focus on brand reputation management, with every piece of communication to the end users and other stakeholdersdefining this reputation.

With two big events in 2010, the presidential elections and the World Cup soccer, there are a lot of opportunities to capitalize on them. Easier access to online sources changes the way people will look for information on both the presidential candidates and everything football related. Brazilians will spend more time online.

For Ms. Barcellos the challenge in 2010 is the user generated content and its management in a way that is relevant to the consumer. Christine Ponte from Chevrolet sees things from the consumer's side: because of the consumer's increased exposure to online information, the brand needs to shift the way it communicates. Olavo Ferreira of Yahoo! Brasil sees the future rise of Twitter and the related increased mobility of the consumers. This different way of consuming information was also mentioned by Eduardo Toni from LG with "Prime time any time" where the consumer selects its own media exposure. Ricardo Monteiro of Reckitt Benckiser sees a continuing shift in advertising to more simplified communication, especially in commercials, to a more direct and easy communication. Finally Carrefour executive Rodrifo Lacerda thinks that the a focus on the Brazilian identity will continue, after the political and economic crises people feel proud securing the World Cup 2014 and  the Olympics 2016 bid

Participants represented Yahoo! Brasil, Phillips, Credicard, Hoteis.com, HP, Chevrolet, Carrefour and LG.

Check here for part 1 and part 2 of the discussion.