Reading on my way back from Jakarta

I just got back this morning from a week in Jakarta at a global marketing meeting. On one of the afternoons, we went on a trade visit. It's always fascinating to visit stores in a different market than your own. Just observing how the trade is organized, listening to a local salesperson and just observing consumer dynamics is one of those experiences that you always learn from.

Not surprisingly, the traditional trade in Jakarta is very similar to what we find throughout Latin America. Small mom & pop stores with extremely limited space, many products being sold in single-serve sachets. In our case, the importance of securing space on the counter making our brands as accessible as possible, avoiding people having to ask for your products.

It was a long trip flying back to São Paulo, so I used the time on flights to read Buyology - Truth and Lies About Why We Buy - by Martin Lindstrom. When the book first came out, I was a little skeptical. I decided I needed to read the book to form an opinion about the intersection between neuroscience and marketing. A rather intriguing and controversial subject. The author carried out extensive research using brains scans to try and find patterns on what actually triggers people to make purchasing decisions.

I particularly enjoyed chapter 5 on the power of rituals, where we cites examples like Oreo's classic 'twist, lick & dunk', Corona with lime and Guinness' phenomenal 'good things come for those who wait' strategy.

A long wait for TinTin on the big screen re-created by two of the World's greatest

As a die-hard fan of The Adventures of TinTin - magically created by Belgian artist Georges Rémi (1907-1983) who wrote under the name Hergé - I just can't wait for the release of the feature film 'TinTin in The Secret of the Unicorn' being produced by two of the World's greatest: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. What a dream team to bring to the big screen one of the best comic strips of all times. Combining Classics have this amazing quality of timelessness, becoming part of pop culture without trying to be. Exactly what brands try so hard to do and so few succeed.

I introduced TinTin to my daughters a few years back, we read and watched all the DVDs. They became huge fans as well. The film is scheduled to hit theaters in Dec.'11... a long wait that will certainly be worth it!

Here are a few images released by Empire Magazine...

The joy of stats

Messages have a greater possibility of resonating when they are based on hard data and delivered with a touch of theater. Some people have that talent. I really enjoyed the video below “200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes” from the BBC 4 Series "The Joy of Stats" hosted by Swedish Professor Hans Rosling graphically illustrating global development over the past 200 years.

We're only scratching the surface of how new media has the power of transforming education and impacting millions of people around the world. Fascinating times.

Disconnecting to reconnect while following the river's flow

To celebrate the new year, my wife chose an unusual destination: Bonito - one of Brazil's many eco-tourism havens. If you haven't read about it in National Geographic or Lonely Planet, this place is worth checking out. Hard to describe and certainly hard to forget. Bonito is a region cut by beautiful rivers of crystal-clear waters due to the high concentration of limestone. Rivers with romantic names like Rio Formoso, Mimoso and Rio da Prata, with amazing waterfalls and a wildlife that makes you feel like you're on a Discovery Channel show. In the five days we were there, we spotted macaws, alligators, armadillos, capuchin monkeys and a 3-meter anaconda, which we saw while snorkeling close to the source of Rio Formoso.

One of the things that amazed me is how the entire community seems to be dedicated to promoting a sustainable eco-tourism model. As a marketer, I love to see when a destination carves a well-defined position. Speaking to tour operators, the owner of our B&B or to the many guides who showed us around, there was always a genuine concern around preservation. Bonito seems to be moving in the right direction.

In this remote location, it wasn't easy to get a mobile connection, which was just wonderful. We ended up disconnected and yet very connected as a Family. One of the guides who took us snorkeling down the Rio Sucuri, told me that he tends to ask those coming from the big cities to just relax and let yourself follow the river's flow. What a wonderful way to start a year....

I found this video on eco-tourism produced by the Brazilian Government we some images of Bonito.

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Is this the coolest iPad magazine around?

Richard Brandson's much anticipated iPad Magazine 'Project' lives up it the hype. I really enjoyed the content, the visual effects and how it was conceived to use many of the wonderful features of new technology. I've been downloading many publications in the past months but I have to admit this one was a joy to read.

I particularly enjoyed the article "3D Tour of Secret Tokyo - The Inside Track to Japan's Mega-City from Five Key Creatives". It made me think of how this is the perfect type of application for people who love to travel like myself.

The next issue will be in the App Store Jan. 7th.

A Christmas message of hope from Colombia

How can the Colombian Army motivate guerilla fighters to demobilize... and find their way back home?

Take a look at a beautiful campaign being aired called 'Operation Christmas'. Colombian Special Forces infiltrated in the Macarena Mountains and set up a 25m Christmas tree with 2,000 lights that lights up by motion sensors. Other trees were set up in nine other rebel zones.

Christmas certainly has different meanings in different parts of the World.

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Making it easier for people to read in poorly-lit places

Recently, I've been having difficulty reading small print in poorly-lit places, specially in the evenings when I feel my eyes tired after a long day wearing contacts. This happens often at restaurants with menus, reading the ingredient list of a product at a supermarket (which I do a lot of) and it happened a few weeks ago trying to read a newspaper on a late flight from Mexico City to Lima (which I know I'll be doing a lot of in my new assignment).

With a radical change of demographics in many markets around the World, what I'm going through is probably becoming a growing trend. This certainly opens the door to marketing opportunities in products and certainly in services. One of Brazil's top-selling newspapers, Folha de São Paulo, was recently redesigned with larger easier-to-read fonts. Last week-end, my wife and I were in Buenos Aires having dinner at Sushi Club Palermo and the waitress seeing that we were struggling trying to read the options, came out with a back-lit menu. Sushi Yuku, a new restaurant in Blumenau created by my good friend Juliano Mendes, was Brazil's first restaurant to use iPads as menus.

With a bright screen, great photography and adjustable fonts, the iPad is not only great for re-thinking the restaurant experience, but it also makes it easier to be able to read on a night flight or in bed with the lights off. I love it.

Time Out São Paulo is here!

Good news for travelers from around the World who are interested in exploring my São Paulo.... Time Out São Paulo - English language edition - has just been launched.

For those who are familiar with Time Out London or New York, will certainly be happy that we now have a fun essential guide for locals and visitors who want to find out where to eat, the best gigs, cool places to shop, the city's exciting cultural scene or where to find the best caipirinha. I guess we all need some time out to explore this fascinating (but often intimidating) city.

This is what Publisher Silvio Gianni said in the editorial "....Time Out São Paulo will provide an increasingly valuable service, presenting everything that's interesting and attractive on the city's cultural scene. We have challenges ahead, as the World Cup 2014 and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro draw closer, bringing with them more tourists, more business and more entertainment, in a virtuous circle in which the media has a key role. This launch is our small contribution to the final internationalisation of our city. São Paulo is amazing and it deserves to be in the spotlight."

A week working out on the Kinesis Wall

I spent this week in Mexico City. Early morning, everyday before an exciting business agenda, I hit the hotel gym and worked out on this fabulous equipment called the Kinesis Wall. I loved it.

The corporate website says that the equipment incorporates stretching and workout routines that imitate natural movements such as lifting, bending down and reaching out. After a week using the Kinesis, which looks like it was designed by some cool Scandinavian design boutique, I felt absolutely great.... toned, energized and without the sensation of tense muscules I often feel at traditional gyms.

Monocle on Sao Paulo

Walking back to my London hotel to pick up my things, I pass by the Monocle Shop (24 George St. a few steps off Marylebone High Street). I've always been a fan of the magazine but had no idea they had a store. I bought the Nov.'10 edition which comes with a 24-page city survey on Sao Paulo - a guide covering business, design, architecture, culture, media, retail and why Sao Paulo has become one of the great cities of the world.

I'll have some fun reading for the flight back home.

Books for Cooks

This morning, before heading off to Heathrow, I went to Books for Cooks (4 Blenheim Crescent in Notting Hill) to pick up a few books my wife asked me to buy. This has always been one of my favorite retail concepts (London is such a great place to see new ideas in retail).

The people behind Books for Cooks describe themselves as "A Cookbook shop crammed with thousands of tasty titles and equipped with a squashy sofa for cookbook junkies in need of a long read. In this shop we really do cook the books - cookbooks are put to the test in our cafe at the back of the shop, while cookery classes take place in the demonstration kitchen upstairs."

If you're into cooking, this is a place you have to visit.

Click here to read the Books for Cooks story.

Listening to Contagious in London

Spending an amazingly stimulating week in London. As part of the programming, we had a great opportunity to meet with Jessica Greenwood from Contagious - a fusion between magazine, think tank and consultancy - speak about a few of the trends that are shaping the fascinating and ever-changing marketing/advertising/digital landscape and how some brands are breaking through the clutter and connecting in different ways. An hour that blew me away. She was brilliant.

Is this the coolest parking garage?

Back to Lincoln Road in Miami Beach this mroning and we ended up parking at 1111 Lincoln Road Parking Garage. What a surprise. Everything about this inspiring structure of concrete and steel cables is outstanding. It's fascinating to see how great design tends to have universal appeal. The kids we had in the car were like 'wow, this is the prettiest parking garage!'

I was super curious to find out more about the project so, later in the day, I went online to find out it was designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog and de Meuron, This is the same firm behind the National Stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, known as the 'Bird's Nest' and London's ultra-cool Tate Modern.

If it's possible to reconceptualize something as mundane as a parking garage and create something extraordinary, it's only proof how transformational architecture and design can be.

Next time I'm in Miami, I guess I'll need to rent a Tesla Roadster...

I know this day is coming....

Don't you just love it when advertising strikes an emotional chord? When there is a powerful insight that leads to great brand storytelling. It happened to me the other day with this Subaru spot called "Baby Driver".

As a father of two little girls, this campaign is certainly making a connection with other people who are in my same lifestage. A nice little reminder that yes, this day is coming...

Using design to re-invent the fast food experience

You have to give credit to McDonald's for constantly looking for ways to re-invent the fast food exeperience. Reason why I enjoyed reading FastCompany's article "Making Over McDonald's" as part of the special edition Masters of Design 2010. The article talks about how the burger icon has been using the power of design to recreate the mcexperience.

If you also agree that design is one of the most fascinating forces behind marketing, it's worth the read.

Giving customers what they really need

Apple Store Lincoln Road, Miami Beach - Today 11:00am. I walk in determined to buy a MacBook Pro. I had done all my research online back in Brazil, which I usually do, so I knew 'exactly' what I wanted in terms of hardware configuration. A salesperson comes by and starts asking all sorts of questions about my family's computer habits and makes a completely different recommendation. I end up paying US$ 700 less than my original order. I swipe my debit card on the spot, no lines, no hastle. They guy finds out I like photography and gives me cool tips in terms of storage, photo compression and file sharing resources. No hard sell. Pure bliss.

In a world where we're so used to so many annoying salespeople pushing high-ticket products or features you don't want just to guarantee a higher commission, from insurance brokers to car rentals, today's experience was awesome. An experience that only reinforces my love for the Apple brand and makes me coming back.

Giving customers what they need even though that means selling for less than the person had budgeted for is an amazing lesson... that will certainly pay off later on in terms of loyalty.

Miami's Design District

Last week-end, I went out to dinner with a friend who took me to the Sra.Martinez Restaurant in Miami's ultra cool Design District.





























We lived in the Miami area from 2000 to 2003 and at that time, the area north of midtown was pretty run down. I was amazed to see the transformation: art galleries, chic boutiques, renovated historic building housing an exciting gourmet scene, loads of people in the streets. Proof that, with the right planning and entrepreneurship, cities or degradated parts of town can morph in something amazing. What a refreshing makeover.

Click here to get more info on the place, in case you're heading to Miami anytime soon.

Using visuals to bring ideas to life

In any brainstorming session, I can only properly function when I have something to draw on. I feel there's a more productive flow of ideas deas when I'm able to draw certain correlations, flow charts or conceptual ideas. So, I was happy to find out I'm not alone. I just read an interesting article written by Clive Thimpson for Fortune Magazine called "Think Visual - Why the best way to solve complicated problems might be to draw them".

If you're also the type that feels an uncontrolable urge to draw in meetings, worth reading the article.

Apples & Berries

What did you think about the recent announcement of the BlackBerry PlayBook?

It's never an easy task when you're late in the game especially when you're going head-to-head against a device that introduced an entirely new product experience, that got so much buzz, so many reviews. I also believe the game is less about hardward and more about applications and the disruptive business model of the incredibly intuitive App Store. If the PlayBook doesn't bring anything new to the table except supporting flash, it only reinforces that Apple is the true industry thought leader.

Challenger thinking in São Paulo

This week Adam Morgan - the creative thinker behind EatBigFish - is in Brazil as part of the Future Speaker Series. It's always a tremendous pleasure listening to him speak about challenger strategy. Fresh, thought-provoking and powerful concepts that can help anyone who needs inspiration to grow their business by changing the rules of the game.

I personally love one of the challenger credos: sacrifice and overcommit - the notion of clearly defining what you're willing to sacrifice to build a strong engaging brand story. Always easier said than done. We tend to believe that there's always opportunity for a product tweak here and there or adding another claim on the package or launching a new line extension or even expanding to another category, many times diluting what the brand stands for.

Adam and his team are also fabulous story tellers. Click here to explore some of their thinking.

Ideas That Spread

Next week, Jaboticaba Publishing House will be launching the book "Ideias Que Espalham / Ideas That Spread", a collaborative effort that brought together 12 Brazilian thinkers around a common theme.

The idea was inspired by Seth Godin's "The Big Moo", suggested a year ago by Alexandre Peralta - head of StrawberryFrog Brazil - inviting some interesting people with different professional backgrounds to write a chapter on their experiences of creating ideas that spread... ideas that eventually became part of a cultural movement.

The list of collaborators include the Campana Brothers - Brazil's coolest product designers, Heitor Dhaila - one of Brazil's most successful film directors and screenwriters - João Batista Chiaco - head of marketing at Fiat Brazil and one of the country's most award-winning professionals and Adam Morgan - the intellectual genius behind EatBigFish - just to name a few.

I took part in the project writing one of the chapters, which was a new yet daunting experience for me. More on the book next week...

Nobody's Backyard

Following a tradition of great news coverage on Latin America, The Economist Sept.11 edition is a must-read.

After the fantastic Nov.'09 cover "Brazil Takes Off" with the image of Rio's Christ The Redeemer taking off into the future, this month's special 14-page edition has an upside map of the region with the great headline "Nobody's Backyard - The Rise of Latin America".

Talking apps

Two days ago, I sat down to talk to a friend who I hadn't seen in a few months (something I need to do more of). This guy is the wired type that knows it all and is always a pleasure to talk to. It's funny how, a few years ago we would have talked about what's hot in São Paulo's restaurant scene or catch up on who is doing what, especially since we have some many friends in common.


What happened was, the conversation revolved pretty much around the latest apps we've downloaded and our opinion about the brands that we think are doing a good job taking advantage of new media. It was fun.


Sign of the times...

Revolutionizing Education

After reading this article in Fortune Magazine, I went to YouTube to check out the Kahn Academy channel in YouTube. In you haven't seen it yet, there you'll find over 1,600 videos that will blow you away. From the Pythagorean Theory to how to calculate EBITDA... powerful concepts explained in a beautifully simple way. The educational videos created by Salman Kahn are the best examples of how the internet can and will revolutionize education. I spent the four past nights immersed in these amazing mini lectures.

Proof that simple ideas can change the world.

eQlibri - Brazil's new line of healthy snacks for women

eQlibri - our brand new line of healthy snacks for women - was launched a few weeks ago and is getting great reviews from trade customers around Brazil. eQlibri comes in two product formats:

eQlibri breadchips - a mini baguette-shaped breadchip that comes in two great-tasting flavors: mild cheese & herbs and parma ham, in a 40g stand-up pouch.

eQlibri crackers - a very light cracker in three flavors: mozzarella & basil, hint of lime and an original flavor. The crackers come in a 100g box, an ideal size for sharing and in a 100-calorie 23g single-serve package designed for on-the-go consumption.

Fortune for iPad

It's becoming a nice habit, after putting the girls to bed, to search through the Apple App Store to find interesting content to download. Last night, I had a chance of reading through one of the editions of Fortune Magazine for iPad. I really enjoyed it. Clean graphic design with fun-to-read business stories and interactive articles like one on FM Global which was great. As a marketing guy, it was interesting to see how advertisers are jumping on board using video resources (like an ad from IBM called 'Conversations on a smarter planet'). I can easily see Brazilian business publications borrowing a page from this initiative as they figure out how to play in this fascinating space.

Worth checking it out.

Time to open up

I finished reading "Open Innovation - How Social Technology Can Transform The Way You Lead" by Charlene Li (author of "Groundswell"). I wasn't unable to attend Charlene's speech here in São Paulo earlier this year, so I was happy when my friend Alexandre Peralta gave me her latest book. The book is a guide on how to manage, communicate and navgate in this new (and sometimes intimidating) socially networked world full of interesting stories of how some companies and leaders are getting it right.

For information on the openess journey, go to open-leadership.com.

I also found this short video of Charlene Li talking about her new book.

No TV at home.... time for the iPad

It's been over a month since we've been living without a TV at home (I'd rather not mention what happened....) and it's interesting to see how much the whole Family has been reading much more than before. The girls and I have been spending a few hours after dinner downloading and reading books on the iPad. We just love it. Last night, after they went to sleep, I continued on the iPad but this time reading through the Cool Hunting app which is absolutely essential for anyone working on innovation. It's a great way to read a bit about what's going on in other markets without having to travel at all.

I can't get over how e-books will transform the publishing business in a big way and certainly engage a new generation of readers. An awesome disruptive revolution in the making.

Creating a purpose-driven organization

Yesterday, I was invited to a presentation that was truly inspiring. Especially inspiring for anyone who is interested or determined in creating a purpose-driven brand or company. It was a presentation by BrightHouse - an ideation corporation which is now in Brazil represented by the Grupo Troiano de Branding. They talked about how they are helping companies generate master ideas through what they call the 4I's Process (investigation, incubation, illumination and illustration).

What blew me away were two case studies of how the process is brought to life. Instead of yet another powerpoint, the work is presented in an inspirational video fromat. The film carves a very defined positioning and lays out what purpose a specific brand should have. The videos were insightful, using powerful words & imagery, elevating the brand story to a different place. Great work.

My love affair with the Canon EOS 7D

When it comes to photography, I've always been a Canon fan. With the exception of my first SLR camera during high school, a classic Pentax K1000 (the camera that helped me fall in love with photography), I've only had Canons. From the EOS Rebel to the digital EOS D50 to my very new Canon EOS 7D, which I bought for this summer vacation, and I'm absolutely in love with. After two months using it, it's definitely my dream camera, combining an 18.0 megapixel SLR camera with the benefit of full HD video.