Professional Services
Thought Leadership
PR For a Small World: Achieving Effective International PR in Brazil
Q&A with Angelica Consiglio, head of Planin Worldcom in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Q: What are the most important components to a PR strategy for a U.S. financial or professional services company looking to speak to current or prospective clients in Brazil?
A: It is important to be objective in the message and be prepared to share useful information. São Paulo is the most important city in the country and we have here about 20 million people. It is a huge city. So, the traffic here is terrible and executives and clients do not leave their offices without a very good reason. So, every detail is important to be planned. In Brazil, we love to have personal approach and to be together with other people but the press receives news from all international agencies and most of the interviews they do by phone because it is not easy to schedule a drink or a lunch (it is one hour by car to get there and an other hour to come back).
Q: How should the messages in the Brazilian marketplace differ from those being used in other South American countries? How important is localization?
A: Brazil is a big country (like the United States) with 185 million people and with very unique profile.
In Brazil we speak Portuguese. In Latin America other countries speak Spanish. In Brazil we don’t like to be considered a Latin-American country. We are one of the biggest economies in the world. In Brazil we work following the US model but unfortunately only 5% of the population speaks English.
The largest international companies and banks all have offices in Brazil and all the major enterprises have Latin American headquarters in Brazil, whereas in the past they had them in Mexico.
To have a succinct and powerful PR message in Brazil, it is important to use the American model and localize the message. The difference is the local touch. It is also important to send information to the press and to the market in our native Portuguese. We like and are very open to U.S. companies but they need to prove to the market that they are committed to a future in Brazil.
Q: What are the most important Brazilian news outlets (newspapers, magazines, blogs etc.) for a financial or professional service company to get their message in?
A: National business newspapers (with headquarters in São Paulo unless noted):
- Valor Econômico
- Gazeta Mercantil
- Folha de S. Paulo
- O Estado de S. Paulo
- O Globo (headquarters in Rio de Janeiro)
Magazines:
- Isto É Dinheiro (weekly)
- Exame (biweekly)
- Época Negócios (monthly)
- Carta Capital (monthly)
Broadcast:
- Bloomberg
- Reuters
Sites
Q: Are there “news culture” nuances that any U.S. company rolling out a PR strategy in Brazil should think about?
A: Yes and they are very important:
- To have a local executive to give interviews in Portuguese.
- To share news and investments to prove the long term commitment to Brazil.
- To emphasize that Brazil is strategic for the headquarters.
-CRS
