Andy Mosmans: Branding Brazil

Famous for life. Underestimated for business

Brazil needs little introduction. Or so you would think.

Ask people what comes to mind and the associations arrive immediately: football, Carnival, samba, beaches, the Amazon. Colour, rhythm, nature, passion. As a nation brand, Brazil possesses something many countries spend fortunes trying to manufacture: an unmistakable identity. You can almost hear it.

But ask people to name Brazilian companies and the rhythm slows.

Havaianas, perhaps. Petrobras. Some will mention Natura or Embraer. Fewer will think of Itaú, Nubank, WEG or the industrial and technological capabilities these businesses represent. We recognise the country’s capacity to celebrate life more readily than its capacity to create economic value.

That gap struck me on 26 October at the Mövenpick Hotel in Amsterdam, where I attended Invest in Brazil, Where Impact Meets Scale. Convened by Aliança pelo Impacto, ApexBrasil and ABVCAP, in partnership with the Brazilian Embassy in the Netherlands, the meeting brought together Brazilian impact-economy representatives and Dutch investors.

An attractive proposition. Impact and scale: two things investors would ideally like to find together. Yet what surprised me was how little awareness I encountered of Brazil’s branding challenge. Particularly the distance between how those presenting the country saw its opportunities and how investors might perceive its risks.

There seemed to be an assumption that explaining the opportunity would be enough. Surely the size of the market, the entrepreneurial talent and the potential for impact would speak for themselves? They don’t. They speak through the associations already in the listener’s head.

And alongside Brazil’s positive associations sits another set: political volatility, corruption, inequality, public insecurity, environmental destruction. Fair or unfair, current or outdated, these perceptions enter the room before the presentation begins. Call it “Latin risk”: an imprecise label that bundles different countries, institutions and investment conditions into one convenient mental shortcut. It deserves to be challenged. But first it needs to be understood.

As a branding strategist, I found the apparent surprise about that perception more surprising than the perception itself. The timing made it particularly striking. Lula had just been re-elected the evening before. A surprise, of course. Depending on whom you asked.

Whatever one’s political preference, an election result does not make questions about policy continuity, institutional reliability or investment conditions disappear. Investors need to understand what a political outcome means for their investment. Enthusiasm about a country cannot answer that question on their behalf.

This is where nation branding becomes business strategy.

Brazil already has powerful evidence with which to broaden its reputation. Havaianas turns Brazilian ease and colour into a product people wear around the world. Natura connects biodiversity with beauty and science. Embraer demonstrates sophisticated engineering. Nubank shows how financial services can be reinvented. WEG brings Brazilian industrial expertise into motors, automation and electrification.

Together, these companies tell a richer story: Brazil creates, designs, engineers and delivers.

Yet that story remains fragmented. The companies have built capabilities that the country’s international image does not fully reflect. Brazil’s reputation travels easily through football and music; its business achievements need a more deliberate connection to their place of origin. The opportunity is to connect Brazil’s vitality with its ingenuity. Show how its human energy, natural richness and entrepreneurial resourcefulness translate into useful solutions and competitive businesses.

For impact investing, that connection is especially relevant. Brazil’s environmental and social challenges create urgent needs. Its businesses and institutions must demonstrate how they can address those needs effectively, at scale, with credible governance and measurable results. That requires candour. Acknowledge the risks. Distinguish between them. Show what has improved, what remains difficult and how specific investments are protected. Confidence grows when people feel that their concerns have been understood.

“Where Impact Meets Scale” is a promising invitation. To turn it into investment, Brazil also needs to show where opportunity meets reliability. A nation brand is built through the relationship between what a country promises, what people believe and what it consistently proves.

Brazil has already given the world many reasons to love it.

The task is to give investors equally compelling reasons to believe in it.

Andy Mosmans is the founder & CEO of VENGEAN.

www.vengean.com

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