Global marketing does not exist. This is the statement of the American Richard Monturo, a cultural marketing and advertising expert who participated this October 21 in the event New Brand Communication, in São Paulo. Monturo studies the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China). To him, companies must learn how to work better with local teams and realities.
They must also unite the past of the country, respecting local culture, with what is new. As disastrous examples he mentioned the construction of large shopping centers in Bangalore, India. "People there have the habit of buying in the streets. Understanding this kind of behavior and respecting it is essential for the future," he said.
Monturo's clue for those entering a new country, with the objective of learning about the consumer there and selling to him, is total immersion, but "pretending you are from Mars in order to perceive the differences."
Monturo said that, when he arrives in a new place, he only reads – and watches – local news. "It is necessary to think that you are only interesting if you are interested in your audience," he said. For this, companies must have "multiple talents" among their staff – and must know how to train them.
In Brazil, Monturo also observed habits and brands. To him, some companies born here have great chances to become global, especially if they decide to grow in developing nations. He mentioned Lojas Americanas, in the retail sector, which "is where you need it", the innovative Osklen cloths brand from Rio de Janeiro, airline Gol and Antarctica guaraná.
The exercise was also performed in China, India and Russia. New markets, like the Arab nations, with Islamic consumers, may be the next objects of Monturo's study.
Social Growth
Brazil is also a source of study for the British TWRAmericas, based in London, belonging to researcher Tim Lucas. With the help of psychologists and anthropologists, Lucas has been developing work in the classes with lower buying power, which are growing socially due to the better conditions of the Brazilian economy, identified in recent years.
A first identification is that families are smaller and can now buy more expensive goods, like sneakers for 600 Brazilian reais (US$ 273 – whereas the minimum wage in the country is 415 reais – US$ 189), as declared by one of those interviewed in a qualitative research developed recently. The character was a resident of the city of Jardim Iguatemi, in the outskirts of São Paulo.
Blogs, Orkut and MSN are also part of the reality of the middle class of São Paulo. But great care is necessary to reach them through these means. They are aware, they accept the advert if it is explicit or spontaneous (commenting on a good movie and recommending it to friends, for example).
If the attempt is something discrete, in between the lines, the company will certainly have problems with these consumers. According to Lucas, these youths, with this new economic reality, will certainly be engaged in a different manner at the time of purchase. It is a good idea to keep your eye on them.
King of Copper
Pará should produce 700,000 tons of copper per year in 2012, according to the Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram). This position should raise Brazil to the category of eighth global producer of this ore, right after Russia (with 730 tons a year).
By that year, copper should also advance on the global market, answering to a generous share of exports of the Legal Amazon. "From January to August 2008, copper exports from the Amazon reached US$ 515 million. Pará and Mato Grosso are the states that export the largest volume of copper in the Legal Amazon," added André Reis, coordinator of the Ibram Amazon. Copper exported from the Amazon, especially Pará, is turned to Germany, South Korea, Sweden, India and China, the main consumer markets abroad.
The variations of these and other ores on the global market should be discussed at the first Congress of Mining in the Amazon, to be promoted by the Ibram, with the support of the government of the state and the Federation of Industries of Pará (Fiepa), from November 10 to 13, in state capital Belém.
According to the Ibram, in the ranking of ores most extracted in the Amazon, copper currently occupies the fourth position (11.3%), only after iron (35.2%), alumina (17.6%) and aluminum (15.1%). Pará is the state in the Amazon that produces most produces the ore. Since 2007, with production of around 120,000 tons, which corresponds to US$ 900 million.
Among the current investment turned to the ore in Pará, the main one is the implementation of Sossego project (in the mining region of Carajás), with investment of US$ 400 million. The other projects should total around US$ 2.5 million. Today, copper is only extracted in Canaã dos Carajás. In future, there should be projects in the cities of Marabá (Salobo), Parauapebas (Alemão), Cristalino (Curionópolis), 118 (Canaã), developed by Vale, and Boa Esperança (Tucumã), by Caraíba Mineração.
Unblocking
The head of the Foreign Negotiation Department at the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty), ambassador Evandro Didonet, hopes that the promotion of the second Summit of Arab-South American Countries (Aspa), to take place in the first half of 2009 in Doha, Qatar, should help unblock negotiations of the free trade agreement that the Mercosur, the economic block that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, is negotiating with the nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.
The process was formally launched during the first summit, which took place in Brasília, in May 2005. After some rounds of negotiation, however, the treaties jammed on resistance of the Brazilian petrochemical industry, which fears the competition of products made in the Gulf, where the sector is very strong.
To be considered free trade, the agreement must include the vast majority of products included in the trade basket between the countries involved, according to regulation established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the case of exports from the GCC, petrochemicals have considerable weight. "The summit should open new perspectives. We are going to continue investing, as it would be politically important to progress with the agreement and, if possible, complete it," said the diplomat.
Above Average
The economic growth of the Middle East and Central Asia should be greater than the global average this year and next, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund published by news agency Zawya Dow Jones. However, both regions will suffer the reflexes of the global financial crisis, although not directly.
According to the Fund, the average price of commodities is high this year and there is high domestic demand and credibility of the economic policy and real growth of 6.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008. The recent reduction of oil prices does not affect this estimate, according to the report.
However, according to the IMF, countries that export oil in the Gulf region should have a reduction of growth to 6% in 2009, as reduction of the economic activity globally should result in lower consumption of fuel and in continued depreciation of the commodity.
Dumping Champion
The number of investigations regarding dumping practices – exports of products and unfairly low prices – rose in the first half of 2008, according to the WTO. The countries intensified the quantity of measures to protect their industries from dumping.
China was the most frequent target for new investigations, with 37, almost half the total. Dumping takes place when a factory in a country exports its product to another for a price lower than in the country of origin or for less than the production cost.
The number of investigations grew 39% over last year. From January to July this year, 16 members of the WTO started 85 new investigations. In 2007 there were 61 in the same period.
Most of the investigations considered dumping practices in the sector of base metals (21), followed by the textile sector (20) and chemical products (10). Turkey registered the greatest number of investigations, with 13, followed by the United States, India, Argentina, the European Union, Brazil, Australia and Colombia.
Anba – www.anba.com.br
