
Digital Marketing in Brazil

Brazil’s population exceeds 192 million people and the economy has grown to overtake Italy and the UK in the last few years, with GDP reaching more than $2 trillion during 2010. In 2014, the country will host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games are scheduled to be held two years later. Brazil is undoubtedly an enticing prospect for companies seeking to expand and broaden their audience and an exciting market to watch.
During 2011 alone, the Internet population grew by 16% (comScore) with IAB Brazil estimating a total Brazilian online audience at more than 81m people (aged 16+). The number of mobile subscriptions, however, dwarfs these figures at 240 million as we entered 2012 (GSMA). It is typical for Brazilians to have numerous subscriptions to their name.
The Boston Consulting Group puts Brazil and other countries like it into a particular digital category: ‘Straight to Social.’ Social media in the country has long been dominated by Google-owned network Orkut. Last December, however, Facebook continued its land grab (up 192% during the year) and boasted 36 million unique visitors, surpassing Orkut (34 million) for the first time (according to comScore). Interactive media specialist and member of the IAB Brazil advisory board, Marcelo Sant’Iago, highlights some key factors about the Brazilian social landscape, putting the success of LinkedIn (ranked 7th) down partly to the network’s decision to open an office in the country. He also notes the importance of microblogging in the entertainment industry. ‘All public figures, TV stars and football players are on Twitter,’ he says.
Brazil leads the Latin America region for e-commerce with retail sites reaching 70% of the online population, according to comScore
. Among our smart pack case studies are analyses of two e-retail success stories:
Americanas.com
One of Brazil’s most well-known stores, the primary online property for Lojas Americanas serves 3 million customers around 70,000 products. The retailer boasts an amazing social presence with more than 200,000 on Facebook and 70 followers on Twitter, and is utilizing a mobile commerce iPhone app to engage with customers whether they are at home or browsing in-store.
Buscapé
Since 1999, Buscape has grown to become Brazil’s biggest shopping comparison website. Customers are offered a range of ways to use the service efficiently, either by browsing on PC or the well-optimised mobile site, using the free mobile app, or by downloading the Buscapé Time browser add-on for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and PSafe INTERNET.
CasaDicor.com
Another player of the Brazilian retail market, CasaDicor.com has grown your advertising efforts to the level of the biggest players in the market. Its strong presence in the online and offline media combining with the loyalty of its customers are making a legion of fans spread the brand around Brazil, making its revenue rise 200%/year for the last 3 years.
Leading businesses in Brazil are highlighting opportunities across social and mobile in Brazil. Exclusive data from IAB Brazil also signals that Internet advertising including search is growing strong, together accounting for 10% of total media advertising in 2011. The digital landscape is fluctuating quickly. In comparison to markets where similar changes have been on-going for the past 10 years, one cannot help but notice that it seems like, for Brazil, everything is happening at once. This is a notion reflected by Brazilian digital marketing expert, Nino Carvalho, who specialises in strategic planning and training in communication. While highlighting that multimedia content should be particularly relevant to any new campaign, he argues that newer agencies may also benefit from a ‘back-to-basics’ approach. The “BIG” opportunity is as dull and obvious as doing marketing right. Plain and simple: delivering good services, listening to your customer, monitoring competition, then actually using all that to enhance your offers to clients.