Nubank announced a new member of its directors’ board, the singer Anitta, one of the most influential Brazilian artists, with 54.2 million followers on Instagram and a fortune estimated at nearly $100 million, according to Forbes.
The singer’s appeal to a young audience and her reputation for managing her own career was decisive for the choice; Nubank relies on Anitta’s expertise in brand building.
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“Anitta has a deep understanding of consumer behavior in these markets [from Latin America and the United States] that she has been exploring and has a lot of experience in winning marketing strategies. These skills were key to our invitation to the Board. No other advisor has that experience,” said David Vélez, Nubank‘s CEO and co-founder.
Anitta will participate in quarterly meetings with the other directors and Nubank’s board to discuss strategic decisions for the future of the digital bank. Anitta will be entitled to “restricted stock units” (RSU) as part of her compensation as a board member. All company employees can win shares of this type, regardless of position or area. In 2020, more than 80% of employees received shares as bonuses, according to the company.
In addition to Anitta, Nubank’s board includes Anita Sands, a professor at Princeton; Daniel Goldberg, former president of Morgan Stanley in Brazil; Doug Leone, managing partner of Sequoia Capital; Jacqueline Reses, President of the Economic Advisory Council of the FED, the US central bank; Luis Alberto Moreno, former president of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Vélez.
Marketing strategy
Specialists interviewed by the newspaper Valor Econômico analyze the choice of Anitta as a board member as coherent with the marketing strategy adopted by Nubank, which is focused on social networks, where it has a community of captive followers. Because of this, Nubank has a low customer acquisition cost. Also, the singer projects an image of diversity and reinforces Nubank’s “modern bank” image.
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Professor at the School of Advertising and Marketing (ESPM), Fábio Mariano Borges, told Valor that although Nubank’s board is highly qualified, it lacks interaction with popular classes – this will be Anitta’s role, to be the voice of this public and help the bank think about products and strategies to expand its reach with the C and D classes.
