Technology

WhatsApp launches first ever global brand campaign in Brazil

Both the ad's timing and its theme centered on Carnival point to the importance of the Brazilian market to the messaging app

Scene from the campaign's first film depicting depicting the fire raging on a samba school shed.

LABS

23.Feb.2020 14:07 BRT

Brazil is one of the main markets for the company worldwide and the campaign pays tribute to the Carnival tradition;
WhatsApp plans to launch local campaigns in other countries throughout 2020.

WhatsApp has chosen Brazil to launch its first ever brand campaign in the world. The timing and the theme of the campaign’s first film is revealing of the importance of Brazilan market to the Facebook-owned messaging app: Carnival season.

The 7-minute film is called ‘Fica só entre vocês’ (‘Keep this between you’) and tells the story of a community that got together on WhatsApp to help a samba school that loses everything in a raging fire ahead of Carnival. Through the app, members of a rival school organize to collect donations and help rebuild their warehouse. The ad, which was based on true stories, ends with the lines “Rivals in public. Friends in private”.

“Brazil is one of the main markets for the company worldwide, so we decided to launch the campaign here and pay tribute to the solidarity of Brazilians inspired by one of the country’s dearest traditions,” says in a statement Taciana Lopes, Head of Consumer Marketing at Facebook Brazil.

The new campaign aims to reinforce the company’s positioning: more than a messaging app, WhatsApp allows users to establish real connections and empower their communities through private communication .

The ad was made by AlmapBBDO and it will be shown, entirely or in shorter versions, on movie theaters as well as Instagram and Facebook.

Brazil is a major market for WhatsApp, which has more than 2 billion users globally. The latest figures made public for the country are from 2018, when there were around 130 million WhatsApp users in Brazil.

International positioning

According to the company, it will launch other local campaigns in different countries throughout 2020. Like the debut film, the productions will be based on cultural moments of other places.

Some of the creations will be co-productions between countries. In addition to AlmapBBDO, BBDO México, BBDO Berlin, BBDO India, and BBDO San Francisco are also involved.