Brands of Brazil: searching black gold with Petrobras

When talking about Brazilian brands, they don't really get bigger than Petrobras. In a recent study it came out as the eight biggest company in the world, with a turnover of $164.8 billion. That is more than the GDP of a country like Pakistan. How did it get so big?


about Petrobras

Although the oil industry was liberated in 1997, today the majority of the company is still in the hands of the government. Petrobras has operations all around the world, with recent ventures in Portugal and Turkey, where it looks to get involved in the energy battle around the Black Sea. Activities of the company include exploration, production, refining and transport of oil and natural gas in South America. It also generates side products from the oil production such as synthetic rubber. It is also generates and distributes electricity. In 2008 a big oil field was discovered in the deep waters on the Brazilian coast (it actual size is still uncertain but it could be the third largest oil field in the world). They built a cool flash application that has more info.
At a time when we try to make people less dependent on fossil fuels, a discovery of this magnitude complicates things. What do you mean there is no more oil?! The oil is located 7000m under the sea. That makes the extraction very difficult and poses many risks to the fragile ecologic system at that depth. But the third largest oil field of course means a lot of money and power. In the reformation of the economic world order this is an important asset for Brazil to have.

Another activity of theirs is the extraction of ethanol from crops such as soy, corn, wheat sugar cane. The latter is the most popular as it is the cheapest to produce. Alternative fuels are really popular in Brazil as they are cheaper then regular gasoline and available in all gas stations. But the company doesn't see these alternative fuels as the solution to the future energy problem. Estimated investments in alternative fuels will be around 1% of the profits in the period 2008-2015.

 brand portfolio

Petrobras
short: BR
slogan: O desafio e a nossa energia (the challenge is our energy)
Usage: On their 7000 gas stations worldwide, its fuel products (gasoline, diesel, alcohol and kerosine) and other oil derivative products for industry application or household usage.

Lubrax
subbrands Ferbrax (railway industry) and Marbrax (maritime industry).
Lubricant products

Communication:
The main brand that is being communicated is the Petrobras brand. Everything in its 6000 gas stations in Brazil and 1000 abroad (spread over in 27 countries) is Petrobras branded. Products that are being sold under the Lubrax name also carry the Petrobras logo in small on the package.

Advertisements in magazines, newspapers and on TV mainly focus on further establishing the Petrobras brand. Targeted industry ads are used for its Ferbrax and Marbrax brands. These ads are not limited to Brazil but they also run in other key markets like Argentine, Bolivia and Colombia.

Apart from their ads just to push their brands and products, they also feature a lot of their social activities.
They are the largest sponsor of arts, culture, sports and environmental protection in Brazil. On aUS$15 billion turnover they invested US$330 million.

With high profile sponsorships such as the Rio de Janeiro Flamengo football team (champion in season 2009) and the BMW-Williams F1 team until 2006. They also featured advertisements on a car in the movie Speed Racer, probably trying to establish a more international profile.

Their first steps into social media, caused some controversy. The company launched a corporate blog (Facts and Numbers) last June and featured interviews with a couple of its key executives. The questions for these interviews were actually used in a different and at the time still unpublished interview from newspapers. These last ones saw it as an infringement on their copyright on the questions. Now the battle has diminished and they have been steadily blogging ever since.

Follow this link to discover more Brands of Brazil.