Propaganda

When I first heard the word "propaganda" used in Latin languages to mean what in English is called "advertising", I laughed. The sinister connotations of the p-word to a native English speaker sit uncomfortably with the notion that advertising is more good than bad, being a necessary ingredient of free markets.

I was reminded of this linguistic awkwardness the other day while extracting an eye-popping R$ 30 from my unhappy pocket for a magazine called Exame. Justification for this outrageously high price could no doubt be found in the red and white banner above the masthead, proclaiming "Special Edition in English". Note the ever-present not-quite-correct use of English by second-class translations. It should have read: "Special English Edition", an admittedly minor correction but setting the tone for the more egregious grammatical and stylistic errors elsewhere.


Cover headline: "Brazil, the country of the present." (Copy editors: delete the definite article and replace the comma with a colon.) It's a pun on Brazil's longstanding tag as the "country of the future". (In dealing with the endless parade of Brazilian electricians, plumbers, landlords etc. whose constant refrain is "até amanhã !", my own weary tagline for Brazil is "Tomorrow never comes ...")

My £11 was buying me a purportedly objective, Economist-style assemblage of juicy facts and figures about Brazil's booming economy, burgeoning middle class and tantalising marketing opportunities.

Propaganda indeed.

But cynicism aside, here are a few tidbits of fairly interesting info:

* Brazil's lower socio-economic group, class "C", has been scrimping and saving like crazy these last few years in order to afford a computer and internet connection. This demographic has made good headway in bridging the yawning chasm between themselves and the web-savvy elites in class A and B. As a result, they are beginning to harness the informational efficiencies of the internet to boost their household incomes. For example, a taxi driver now gets more work because he takes bookings by email. All of which is great but I still don't buy the "propaganda" that these people have suddenly become a cash-rich new middle class. I also don't give Brazil itself much credit for "creating" this would-be middle class. The tools have come from outside.

* As a result of this new online constituency, some companies in Brazil are making greater efforts to target the C demographic. "Class C members tend to reproduce on the web the same system of help networks that permeate their offline lives." Which means viral marketing should have a big impact here, leveraging the desire for friends and family to share information among groups and create support networks. Consumer opinion websites and Youtube videos demonstrating product use are proving popular.

* Class C is not yet buying so much over the internet but is increasingly using it to research prices prior to purchase. Most popular sectors for online investigation are, in descending order, "electro-electronics" (by which I think they mean, simply, "electronics"), with 44% of such products researched online, followed by household appliances (36), books and magazines (29), computers and accessories (24),  clothes (21), movies and music (18), and travel (12%).

* Companies that have changed their online marketing specifically to attract these lower-income consumers include Bradesco, Goldfarb, Magazine Luiza, TAM, Kraft Foods and Natura.

* In 2009, almost 40% of all consumers who began purchasing online were from the new middle class.

* Then there's an article talking about Brazil's current baby boom generation and how, from now on, the population will start to age. This will bring opportunities for targeting an older and wealthier demographic, riding on the back of an exploding workforce over the next 20 years. It's a "golden opportunity" which other countries have managed to exploit (US, Singapore, South Korea, China). "Every year, approximately 1.7m new families are formed in Brazil - that totals 35m by 2030." But the risk is missing the window and ending up with an aging population, overstretched welfare system and inadequate infrastructure.

The article concludes: "Now we must show virtu (sic) to take utmost advantage of the window of opportunity. We have 20 years - and the clock is ticking." Damn right. Personally, I can't see them doing it. Not until there's a cultural sea-change that stops accepting shoddy workmanship and expediency over proper longterm planning; not until the culture of "good enough" is replaced by one demanding "excellence"; not until efficiency is seen as essential rather than an exotic curiosity, and not until I stop getting electrocuted in the shower, for chrissake !

* There's a piece about the go-go Brazilian stockmarket (although go-going in the wrong direction of late) and how it has been attracting ordinary folk, as happened in the US in the 1950s. But it still has a relatively small number of listed companies and most of these are large capitalisation ones. The need now is to create a decent number of small and medium size caps. The incentive is certainly there: one company boss who already floated on the Bovespa, says: "You cannot find money cheaper than in the stock market."

* Next article: "The decade of infrastructure begins", as Brazil embarks on its biggest programme of public works in at least 30 years.  "Are these works still but a drop in the ocean of needs? Yes. Was the government machine set up in a way that things cannot happen? No doubt. Does any work in Brazil need to win a bureaucratic marathon to become reality? True." .. This kind of rhetoric builds to a crescendo as we eagerly await the counteractive punch line, yet I've already been firmly put off. Anyhow, said punch line restates that this is biggest infrastructure drive since the military government endeavours in the 1970s, and quotes a Brazilian economist, who says now is the "best moment" in decades. And a US consultant adds: "Brazil has never been so close to taking flight in an area marked by despondency for so long."

Great. But then we get a cold slap of reality with the admission that 60% of public works have, since 2007, been suspended midway because of corruption ! The figure could be even higher since, to put it another way, just 11% of public works that were started in 2007 have now been completed. And as one observer says about the never-ending problems with Brazilian infrastructure, when you solve one problem, another immediately springs up - like shiny new ports whose efficiency is ruined by disastrous bottlenecks on the horrible roads connecting them to the rest of the country. "It never ends, just changes places." The article concludes with a sobering acceptance that no amount of infrastructure enthusiasm will work unless the country truly eradicates its third-world underbelly.

* Article on how the Chinese have entered Brazil in a big way, bringing a "new type of capitalism". You mean, one that is ruthless, rapacious and amoral, focused narrowly on commodities and Chinese self-interest at the expense of all else and controlled by a sinister, still Communist in name government? Ah yes, that new type of capitalism ! Still, the article does go on to address some of the dangers ahead and concludes, "The Chinese are here to do business, not to impose their lifestyle. The way they negotiate is no doubt different from anything else we have ever seen. We need to learn - and now - how to make the best of an invasion that seems irreversible." By the way, I am living in Bom Retiro, which used to be predominantly Jewish but is now largely Korean. And from what I hear, the Koreans are also busy buying up large chunks of Brazil, such as farmland for rearing cattle much more cheaply than back home. The beef will be exported to Korea.

* Article on emerging buying power of Brazil's female consumers. "Of the nearly 2 trillion Reals destined for consumption in 2009, women were responsible for 1.3 trillion, and of that sum 800 billion were direct consumption and the rest counted on their influence." (There's that slightly jarring English translation again). "Women are already a large part of the car, apartment, education and health markets." A big driver, or perhaps the big driver in this, is the outsized growth of women's salaries in Brazil, up by 42.3% between 2001 and 2008, compared with a relatively flaccid 26% for Brazilian men.

Women's salaries are still unfairly lower than men's but the difference has narrowed: 71% of the males' salary compared with just 32% in 1992. There is also an estimated 150,000 women entering the Brazilian workforce every year. Also good news for mass market marketers is the fact that class C women's earnings account for 41% of the household income, compared with just 25% for class A. One pundit predicts: "Salary equality should arrive in low income classes first."

Alice, 38 from Pernambuco, earns R$ 1200 per month but makes another R$ 2000 on the side (!) by selling cosmetics for Natura (how many times have I seen this cosmetics sideline?!). Late last year, along with the rest of Brazil, she went on a shopping binge and splashed out on a notebook computer, oven, fridge and cellphone. "I go from one credit purchase to another," she says. "I'm always consuming, even if to do so I need to invent other ways of making money." Yes, hmm .. on the one hand, good, on the other hand, oh dear .. Anyway, for all marketers salivating at the prospect of this new army of female consumers, beware: don't just paint it pink ! "With so little time available, women want practicality," says a Brazilian market researcher.

Companies that have changed their marketing to target Brazilian women more specifically include real estate giant Cyrela, which realised women were now buying apartments in their own right rather than just influencing their husbands. This meant including beauty salons, Pilates centres and leisure areas for children in their new properties. Women now account for 40% of Cyrela's sales, up from 30% three years ago.

(Mind you, when I visited a new Sao Paulo high-rise apartment project recently, I was depressed at seeing yet another midget-sized double bed in the thinly disguised midget "master suite" with no room to swing a midget cat. Same tired old yuppie nonsense that has been working its way round the world for the past three decades. Oh for the joys of old-fashioned apartments, with their lovely high ceilings and comforting proportions. OK, so the building is a death-trap and falling apart, but you can't have everything.)

Korean electronics company LG has introduced easier to use TV systems, while Renault-Nissan has given its cars more storage space and "softer fabrics for upholstery and livelier prints." Although presumably not in pink.

Finally there is C&C, the "construction material retailer" (which I think in jolly old England we might call "DIY"), which set up the inspiringly titled "female client directorate", one of whose first initiatives was to change store designs so that they more closely replicated the home environment, as can be seen already in interior design stores like Etna and Tok Stok. C&C's product range was also expanded to include appliances because ... and here is the key theme for those of you who have not been paying attention .. "In our surveys we realized that the biggest dream women have is to save time." The happy ending to this marketing revamp is that women now constitute 55% of C&C's clientele.

And that, ladies and gentlefolk, is the end of my marathon marketing magazine reading. Phew ! I feel exhausted and energised at the same time. Let's go, booming, burgeoning consumer paradise Brazil !

Bra-ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllll !!