High Five: Brazil

Covid-19 is a real drama in Brazil. We are having thousands of victims per day and it’s very sad all over the country. It’s a huge health problem that impacts families and the economy. And this is the reason why initiatives like 'Pertinho de Casa' / 'Near Home' are so important: is a digital platform responsible for connecting customers with small business via geolocation, contributing with the entrepreneur financial health by promoting its products and services without any cost and selling by WhatsApp. The sellers can setup a digital store in a simple and accessible way, in less than three minutes. More than 15,000 businesses from 650 cities in Brazil have already joined the platform and 'Pertinho de Casa' was acknowledged by the United Nations.

A new real flavour of Doritos? A Japanese ad on Brazilians channels? A green Dorito? A social experience? A joke? No, it’s quite serious! PepsiCo innovated with this Doritos Wasabi launch strategy and reached a lot of views and engagement on social media. They created a lot of buzz, and most importantly, a lot of conversations with the public. People love the communication and format, and the best proof of success is at first Doritos Wasabi was a limited edition and now is a flavour that comes to stay!

All forecasts for the gaming market consider a significant growth and Covid-19 just accelerates this. But the problem is that with more people at home playing, unfortunately we can have more people – and kids – exposed to toxic postures. Like a new kind of cyberbullying that emerged on Fortnite, it’s against players who can't afford a better skin and play using the basic one. So, Samsung and Fortnite created a new Fortnite skin called 'The Glow'. It was available for the entire Galaxy family for free and it was the first ever skin that can be donated. This idea is from before I arrived at Cheil Brazil, but is definitely one of the reasons for me accepting to work here.

What I like the most in this idea is the core of the thinking - the moment you simply can’t enjoy a beer is the perfect moment to launch a zero-alcohol beer for when you are driving. The execution couldn’t be better: a billboard with a bar inside it. 'The Outdoor Bar' distributed Heineken 0,0 to thousands of drivers and influencers, reaching millions of people and big results. Cheers!

Another big worldwide challenge talking about Covid-19 is how you can keep mentally healthy if you couldn’t go out as usual. According the World Health Organisation: “…as new measures and impacts are introduced – especially quarantine and its effects on many people’s usual activities, routines or livelihoods – levels of loneliness, depression, harmful alcohol and drug use, and self-harm or suicidal behaviour are also expected to rise.” Thinking on that, for the first time, Go Outside Magazine changed its name to 'Go Inside' to encourage people to stay home during the pandemic, and launched a special digital edition with tips, tricks and lots of inspiration to face quarantine. So, if you haven’t had the vaccine, please, go inside and take care.