Insights on Brazil’s Unique PR Landscape

Curious about the hidden intricacies of public relations between Brazil and the United States? Join host Peter Woolfolk as he chats with Vania Gracio, the brilliant mind behind Sing Communications, who unpacks over two decades of rich experience in corporate communications. We discuss the vital role of building robust relationships with Brazilian journalists, prioritizing local relevance, and embracing tech-savviness in PR activities. Discover the cultural nuances that set Brazilian PR apart, such as the clear distinction between business announcements and social events, and the crucial need for customized press releases. This conversation is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to navigate the unique PR landscape in Brazil.

Are you considering entering the Brazilian market or want to understand how they manage relationships with their media? Learn from the best as Vania shares critical considerations for market entry, from understanding local nuances to tailoring communication strategies for success. We explore the indispensable role of localization, the importance of local testimonials, and why detailed, audience-relevant information is preferred by Brazilian journalists. Vania’s expertise highlights the challenges and opportunities for global brands aiming to make their mark in Brazil. This episode is packed with invaluable advice, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in international public relations and effective communication strategies. Tune in and expand your PR horizons!

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Chapters

• 1:10 Cultural Differences in Public Relations
• 16:52 Key Considerations for Brazil Market Entry
• 22:15 International Public Relations Insights

Transcript

Announcer: 1:11

Welcome to the Public Relations Review Podcast, a program to discuss the many facets of public relations with seasoned professionals, educators, authors and others. Now here is your host, eter Woolfolk.

Peter Woolfolk: 1:31

Welcome to the Public Relations Review Podcast and to our listeners all across America and around the world. This podcast is ranked by Apple as being among the top 1% of podcasts worldwide, and we thank all of our guests and listeners for making this possible. And also, please leave your review of the podcast at the end of our show. Now question so. And also please leave your review of the podcast at the end of our sho Now question what are some of the major differences between public relations activities here and in the us and in other foreign nations? Are they press releases? Just what could they be? Well, my guest today has an answer for you.

Peter Woolfolk: 2:05

With over 20 years of experience in corporate communications, she has worked with national and international brands, including technology, entertainment, consumer goods, e-commerce, sports and more. In 2018, she contributed to the book Brand Real, the Ultimate Entrepreneur's Handbook offering startup entrepreneurs advice on when and how to hire a public relations agency. In 2004, she led Sing Communications, a woman-powered boutique communications and public relations agency with over 20 years of history, to serving leading brands such as NVIDIA, odata, transunion and others. She is a mother of three cats, no less, a wine enthusiast, a lover of new technologies and a fan of rock and pop concerts, especially when they take place in New York City, lisbon. So joining me today all the way from Sao Paulo, brazil, is Vania Gracio. She is the founder of Sing Communications. Vania, welcome to the podcast.

Vania Gracio: 3:05

Hi, t, so excited for having a chance to talk to you and your audience today. Thank you for having me.

Peter Woolfolk: 3:12

Oh, absolutely. One of the things that I mentioned in the opening is that, you know, there are different cultures in terms of, obviously, what our public relations observates here and there. What are some of those differences that you see?

Vania Gracio: 3:30

Well, I see that we differ a lot from many other countries because in Brazil, especially in Latin America, we are all about relationships, so here we are more our journalists. They are more focused on building that relationship, on relying on all the spokespeople that they can find in many companies, and also they always give much more value for what is local. So it's really important for global brands, when trying to arrive in the Brazilian market, to consider understanding better understanding our culture in the country and looking for how people like to relate with the creative relations with the brands, how they like to use social media. Brazilians are tech savvy, so usually we are the first ones to start using new social media, and so this is really important when planning to launch a brand or planning to come to the Brazilian market, and because our audience is very unique and so our is. The same applies to our, our media outlets in the country.

Peter Woolfolk: 5:09

Now, when you say your culture is unique, what give us a little bit more of what you mean by that? Because I understand that and certainly appreciate the fact that, going into a new country, you have to learn to adapt. So I'm just wondering talk about some of the uniqueness of some of the Brazilian people.

Vania Gracio: 5:28

For example, we really love technology, but we love having the opportunity to create relationships. So, for instance, here we do not have organized an event to celebrate, like in the US I know it's very unusual to organize an event to celebrate that the company is Starting a business in Brazil, with separate what is business and what is party. So we love relationships but Relationships and and we love party, but at night, not where, when working. So when you are, when you are launching a company here, if you are organizing an event and you are inviting a journalist, you are inviting the journalist to go there and get a piece of news. He's not going to the event only because it's a global company or only because it will be free meals and free drinks. He's going there to get news, to get something that is relevant for his audience.

Vania Gracio: 6:37

And so I think it is very unique and another thing that our journalists, they ask a lot and they are totally focused on their audience. So they want to show that something is really important for their audience. So if the product offers something different or it's a new service, that will bring something very unique to their audience. So they don't like to avoid objectives, so they are really focused on their audience and they are more. They like press releases, but they want not the same model that we use in the US press, for example. We need to do something really focused on the Brazilian media when we need to address the journalists here.

Peter Woolfolk: 7:35

Well, a couple of things suddenly caught my attention in that you know, having an announcement that is not the time to have a cocktail party. If you have an announcement, your journalists want to show up and hear exactly what the product is about. How does it benefit their, their audience? You know, how does it compare to other items of the similar nature, that sort of thing. So it's really about more substance than entertaining. Is that about right?

Vania Gracio: 8:05

yes, yes, it's also your right. And another thing that I know but I'm trying to give because I know you have a huge audience in the US, so I'm trying to bring more comparisons to what is used in the U Like. In the US you have some, like Coke and Pepsi, that for many years we saw those brands in the media and one mentioning another. This is not common here, so we usually do not compare our brand, my brand, to my competitor's brand to show how my brand is better than my competitor. This is something that our public and also the media here, does not like, so this is something that we it's one of the first things that we usually say to American brands coming to Brazil avoid making or making comments on your competitors or making aggressive statements against that. This is not seen as a good practice in Brazil.

Peter Woolfolk: 9:33

Well, let me ask you now has that been a problem? Let's say, the first time an American organizational company wanted to introduce its product in Brazil, did they listen to you first and take your advice, or did they tell you what they'd like to have happen and you had to correct them? How did that? Or has that worked? Or has there been a combination of some listened to you and then some decided they wanted to do what they wanted to do and then listen to you? What experiences have you had in that?

Vania Gracio: 9:57

well, we have both cases. Sometimes they they come with a recipe and they want to replicate the recipe, and sometimes they rely on our, on our advice on how what to do in in the, in our market, to best get the results. But what we usually try to show is that um, if you, if you really want to reach um, your audience in brazil, you need to, to want to better understand this audience, especially because I think this is not only in Brazil but in many other markets. Sometimes you want to, if you want to talk to the gen d generation, for example, you are not going to use the the media, you are going to use social and the traditional media. I mean, you are going to to bet on a communication strategy for social media. And for another example in brazil we have um tv and radio. They and also printed newspapers. They are the weekly source of news for about 30% of people.

Vania Gracio: 11:07

Because Brazil is huge want to target the youngest audience and so probably I will. I will use the social media and other channels and, for example, what's up. What's up is huge in Brazil. We have people using what's up to talk and to spread some images and messages and everything. So we really need to understand what, where the audience is, are where they, what kind of channels they use and they are the daily communication to define the best strategies. So I think it's really important for any any company trying to to to to start business in the new, in a new country. First of all, find out what is your audience and where they are, because our market is changing a lot and since the pandemic, we are reinventing ourselves all the time and looking for the trends to better find the right places to be and the right messages, because they also the motivations that get the attention of our audience is changing all the time, so we need to be updated all the time.

Peter Woolfolk: 12:40

So I certainly understand what you said about getting to know, or making sure that they use the right tool, if you will, to reach the right audience. And I guess in some cases where there might be products that reach both younger people and older people I don't know let's say maybe something like tennis shoes, or older folks might wear some tennis shoes, younger folks might. So that means you've got to use a wide variety of different platforms to reach each different group. Am I correct in saying that?

Vania Gracio: 13:16

That's totally right. For example, since Brazil is huge we have more than 250 million people living in Brazil, 83% of people have access to internet, and broadcast TV is something really huge in Brazil. As radio, especially when you go to the, when you, when you want to go to the masses radio and TV are really interesting media to be considered, but when we are trying to get the audience like mass audience. So that's why I'm saying that knowing the audience and the, the behavior of people, is important, because if you have a popular product or service, certainly TV and radio will be key in your communication strategy strategy. But also we cannot forget the social media, especially. What's that? Because we have a lot of groups, people here. We talk all the time on whatsapp. Now it's much more user than the like traditional phone to. So WhatsApp would be another important element in a communications campaign.

Vania Gracio: 14:49

Actually, in Brazil now we have more mobile than people. Usually people have two mobile cell phones. So it's another thing of our culture. It's another. It's another thing of our culture. We love to talk, love to be connected with people all the time. So communication is something that is really alive in our country. But, uh, when you know that the your audience. You know that this is uh interesting for a specific target audience that you have in your campaign if you want to, if you are a b2b company, so the strategy will be completely different. You probably work with speaking opportunities and trying to find in the the trade events that we have after the pandemic. Now we are seeing a boom of the events in Brazil, so this would be for sure, something interesting for B2B brands trying to talk to their audience.

Peter Woolfolk: 16:00

Well, it sounds like you know. Obviously, it's something that companies need to make sure they understand very well, or have individuals such as yourself who understand how to best reach the audience they want to reach and do it successfully. I would imagine that you've been at this for a while and you've been quite successful at it.

Vania Gracio: 16:26

Yes, that's correct, because you need to make sure that you have a local, reliable partner, partner agency or communications local communications team that will have to help you to understand the, the local scene and how to To do, to plan and and execute things in the market.

Peter Woolfolk: 16:53

I Think I have one more. I'm sorry, okay, no, go on. And you said you had one more. What is that?

Vania Gracio: 17:04

and you said you had one more. What is that? No, I think I have one more example talking about how birthed in is there is specific in our markets about the journalist, because many times executives they think, okay, I know my products, I know the services, I know everything, but they are, they know the product and they are not ready to talk about our market. So when they come here, the journalist waits, expects someone that is a specialist in that product or that service but also knows the impact of their offering in our market. So, for example, you already have some local clients and you have some examples of how the local clients are using this product or service in a different way and the results that they are experiencing. That and some testimonials and also show that, for example, sometimes they create some companies, they create a specific version of that product or service for the Brazilian market because, for example, we have, if you are an American product and you do not have that your you are offering, so related to Portuguese, depending on the, the audience that you are targeting.

Vania Gracio: 18:36

This might be a barrier because not all people, everyone in Brazil, speaks English. So it would be really important to consider the localization of a website, of a campaign using local. We have a lot of slang using the local it length to better communicate with your audience here. So I think it's really important when the brands value the importance of this localization, they can have much more results because the consumers or the public will understand. The consumers or the public will understand that they created something especially for the Brazilian market or for the Brazilian audience here.

Peter Woolfolk: 19:33

This is really key when entering here. Well, you know, I certainly agree with that. It certainly makes a lot of sense to me, and I think you've given us an awful lot of information that anybody coming into the Brazilian market needs to take heed of that.

Vania Gracio: 19:55

Let me ask you now is there anything that you think that we have left out in our discussion today? I'm sorry, just cut a little bit.

Peter Woolfolk: 19:58

Could you repeat, peter? Okay, do you think that we've missed anything in terms of how to deal?

Vania Gracio: 20:06

with the Brazilian market. Did we leave anything out, I think, I would ask. Just regarding prices, as we are talking about PR, I think, just have in mind that prices must be. It's a key element, it's still a key element in the communication strategy in Brazil. So usually global companies, they rely on news wires and I think this is good, but it's not the only thing that you need to build brand awareness. So they should consider having press releases localized, not only with less objectives, because the Brazilian journalists, they do not like objectives but also with a quote from the local spokesperson and examples and local customers. So, when possible, spokesperson and examples and local customers. So when possible, it's always important to localize the press release and since the media rooms are shrinking, sending the press release may be an opportunity to have your news published by Brazilian media as well.

Peter Woolfolk: 21:28

Well, Vania, let me say thank you so very much. I believe you provided a wealth of information to our listeners and I really do appreciate your coming on and the fact that we have a chance to talk to you all the way from Brazil. This has been a great, great opportunity for our listeners to learn more about how to be successful outside of the United States. So any parting words.

Vania Gracio: 21:52

Thank you so much, it was a pleasure. And, of course, anyone interested in learning more about our culture and how to do communications in Brazil. I'm totally, totally available and when I grab to I'm on the, on LinkedIn, in other social media, so you can Talk to us. It will be a pleasure.

Peter Woolfolk: 22:16

Well, thank you so very much, and I want to say thank you to my guest today, vania Gracia, who is the founder and CEO of seeing communications out of Sao Paulo, brazil, and to my guest today, vania Gracio, who is the founder and CEO of Sing Communications out of Sao Paulo, brazil, and to my listening audience. I certainly hope you've enjoyed this information and hopefully that you will also share it with some of your colleagues. And also, please don't forget to give us a review we certainly would appreciate it and also listen to the next edition of the Public Relations Review Podcast. Thank you.

Announcer: 22:48

This podcast is produced by Communication Strategies, an award-winning public relations and public affairs firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you.