emerging brands A perspective from… Havaianas’ Afonso Sugiyama The president of Alpargatas USA, the parent company of flip-flop brand Havaianas, Afonso Sugiyama talks to Pip Brooking about the challenges of exporting Brazil’s best loved brand to a global audience The Havaianas brand has something most brands could only dream of – 100% awareness in its home market. However, that also places limitations on further growth. The brand has been growing organically outside Brazil, driven by affinity with its ‘Brazilian spirit’; now it is time for it to build n that, believes Afonso Sugiyama, president of Havaianas parent company Alpargatas USA. usinesses. In Europe we need to find more occasions to wear, so it’s about developing brand extensions such as closed-toe shoes. “We were concerned that Brazilians would be offended” The business is so large in Brazil that there’s an emotional connection with the brand. The fact it’s all about flip-flops is much stronger in Brazil. Elsewhere the connection is more to do with the “fun” aspect of the brand. How does the proposition change outside Brazil then? Does your experience offer learnings Outside Brazil, Havaianas goes from market leader to a challenger brand.
We need to be more daring and have more of a story to tell. It’s also less about the category and more about the brand. In the Northern Hemisphere the biggest challenge is the seasonality of flipflops. We have to make it more relevant in people’s minds, and to stockists’ Storytelling is very specific to the brand, but understanding who you’re telling it to and how to connect them is something that applies to anyone. Latin America is generally very shy about taking business globally, but like t or not, the world is global.
Building resonance internationally can reinforce your position in your home market. k www. mandmglobal. com MM Q4 p57_Emerging brands. indd 57 At number 85, Corona is the only Latin American brand to make it into Interbrand’s Top 100 Global Brands Index. It is not only the biggest selling beer in Mexico, but the fourth best selling beer in the world. According to its parent company, Grupo Modelo, Corona Extra is the number one imported premium beer in the US. It is still expanding into new markets such as Australia and New Zealand.
Many of the most familiar Brazilian brands come from the financial sector, but Banco Itau is the biggest. The bank was crowned the most valuable Brazilian brand for 2010 ahead of other financial brands Bradesco and Banco do Brasil. With an estimated brand value of $12bn according success of the group in multiple areas of banking services is beginning to gain international attention outside its domestic market. Telcel Mexico The Mexican telecommunications company is familiar throughout Latin America and with a 60% marketshare it is the most valuable brand in the egion, according to Millward Brown.
It has created high brand awareness through aggressive marketing and sports sponsorship, including NASCAR, world tennis tournaments and football events. But does that upset your loyal fans in Brazil? We were concerned that Brazilians would be offended that there’s a product somewhere else that they couldn’t buy. It’s why the closed-toe model is available in our concept store and we will be rolling it out across the market. Luckily though, the reaction in Brazil has been very positive. Brazilians are proud of seeing Havaianas going global.
How does brand perception change from home market to a global market? Corona Banco Itau Brazil How do you take a brand like Havaianas, global? We have a strong asset that has developed organically over 50 years – it’s something no investment in marketing you must always stay loyal to the brand. We always start with the Brazilian heritage, but as communications have evolved it has become less about Brazil and more about the Brazilian spirit and its values. Our values are fun, energy, design and style, which are all things associated with Brazil.
That comes hrough in our communications, but our selection of media is very local. Other global challengers Petrobras For more industry perspectives go to mandmglobal. com The semi-public oil company is Latin America’s largest company, and the sixth biggest company in the world by market value. Marketing includes TV and press campaigns to further brand recognition, as well as targeting industry in key markets such as Argentina and Colombia. Recent sponsorship of BMW Williams Formula One team was aimed at increasing international recognition. Q4 2010 57 25/1 1/2010 18:03
