At the beginning of the month, I went to Brazil where I was one of the speakers at the Marketing Mix Conference sponsored by POPAI in Sao Paulo. The Marketing Mix Conference is the largest gathering of retail marketing professionals in South America. About 1,000 people attended the conference, with approx. 320 attending the seminars. The line up of speakers was quite international and included myself, representing the US and speakers who came from Brazil, France, Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands.

My presentation outlined what it takes to build relevant brand experiences at retail, and it was very well received by the audience – who asked many questions after I was done talking. It was my first time presenting to an audience that did not speak English – but, thanks to a translator who relied my messages in Portuguese to those members of the audience that wore headsets, everyone seemed to understand what I said.(At least I hope). Approximately 60% of the attendees were from brands and the other 40% were almost equally divided between retailers, agencies, fabricators and academics.

I very much enjoyed the presentation by Elodie Cyrus, the CMO of Carlipa (France) – a company that delivers Digital Media Solutions. She illustrated how brands are embracing digital media at retail, and creating more powerful and efficient ways to connect with customers and increase sales. I also enjoyed the presentation by Nicolas Loose, from GIM (Germany) – a research firm that studies consumer behavior at retail. Nicolas shared some very interesting data about the exponential growth of “digital signage”.

The trip was mostly about business…however the folks at POPAI were outstanding hosts and they treated me to a few delicious meals and some samplings of caipirinha that I enjoyed very much. I especially enjoyed chatting with Chan Wook Min, the president of POPAI Brazil – and Luciana Barreto and Diego Milani other key players at POPAI Brazil.

I hope to have a chance to return – and next time I hope to visit Rio de Janeiro as well!!!

Ciao!!!

Alfredo Muccino
Chief Creative Officer
Liquid Agency

Author: Alfredo Muccino
Category: Brands in general