SAP Global Survey: Alex De Carvalho on Brazil

                       [Alex de Carvalho. Photo by a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/hyku/">hyku.]

Alex de Carvalho is the Community Guy at Scrapblog, where I have been consulting. As the interview will reveal, he knows a good deal about the comparative cultures of the world. I turned to him specifically for his significant understanding of what is going on in Brazil, South America's most populous country. The answer is a great deal and Alex has some good advice for companies hoping to do business there.

I'll let him tell you.

1. Alex, you have lived in more places than just about anyone I know. Can you give me a summary?  Can you also tell me a bit about how these cultures are the same or different?

Well, my father is a retired Brazilian diplomat, my mother is from Finland and I was born in Paris. We moved frequently and I spent my youth in Algiers, Accra (Ghana), Teheran, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Helsinki and Miami, where I attended high school and college. I later completed an MBA in Fontainebleau (France) and then lived in London, Chicago, Setúbal (Portugal) and Paris before moving back to Miami.

From having moved so much, my experience is that everything can change from one day to another and we are susceptible to even small changes in the environment, in politics and in the economy. The world is not so small and not so flat and there are new places and ways of seeing and doing things waiting to be discovered by each one of us. We should celebrate and preserve these differences, for they add variety to life. Beyond these differences, though, we all have similar dreams, goals and emotions which transcend geographic barriers and cultural differences, like raising a family and living in peace.

2. When, why and how did you first become involved in social media?

Through a combination of experiences and circumstances, I was looking for greater authenticity in online marketing. I had worked in advertising agencies and co-created an e-mail marketing company in France, based on Seth Godin's "Permission Based Marketing" concepts.

It made sense to market to people by getting their "opt-in" first, rather than interrupting them with commercial messages.

The change came when I read the Cluetrain Manifesto and then stumbled upon IT Conversations and started listening to podcasts all the time. This brought me quickly up the learning curve on Web 2.0 and I started my current blog in mid-2004. I adopted various social tools and started to connect with people around the world. Soon after, I started posting photos on Flickr, started a second blog, joined different social networks as they were created, including LinkedIn, Orkut and Facebook and started bookmarking on del.icio.us. I also joined the WeKnow guild in World of Warcraft and explored Second Life.

Blogging, social media and game play allowed me to meet and exchange ideas with brilliant people around the world. Paris has an outstanding blogging community and bloggers organize weekly events and meetups. I also attended great conferences in Europe related to the Web 2.0, including LesBlogs in Paris and Reboot in Copenhagen.  I currently lecture at the University of Miami on Social Media, covering online identity, community building and citizen journalism.

3.  Tell me about Brazil. Who uses technology in Brazil? What do they use? How much of the country has broadband connection?

Although I don't live in Brazil, I try to keep up-to-date with the Brazilian blogosphere and social networks. I organized the Brazilian delegation at the World E-Democracy Forum in Paris and was brought up-to-speed on the use of technology in Brazil. I was surprised to learn that Brazil has one of the largest electronic voting populations in the world, with over 120 million people who vote electronically.

Apparently the voting system uses open source code, so it can easily be audited. During elections, voting machines are even brought to remote villages in the Amazon. Most Brazilians --90% of them--file their income taxes electronically. Brazilians have one of the most advanced banking systems; they can access some of their medical records online; and they can get informed and participate in local municipal and school board decisions online.

Most recent figures indicate Brazil has Latin America's largest online population, with about 16 million monthly unique visitors. That's only 10% of Brazil's population. Nearly a third of those are using broadband, so there will be considerable growth ahead.

4.  How popular is Orkut in Brazil? Why do you think it became so popular? Why do you think Facebook adoption has been so tepid there and do you see Facebook adoption increasing?

Social media in Brazil revolves mostly around Orkut and the photo sharing sites Fotolog, Flogao and Flickr. Orkut is the most visited site in Brazil and over half its members are Brazilian.

Orkut made explicit the social graph: writing scraps (messages) on each other's profiles, leaving testimonials and being a "fan" of someone made social relationships apparent. Now people make plans and keep up with each other through the scraps. "Scrapping" on Orkut has replaced emailing in many cases. There are also thousands of communities and some of these are very large, with many that have over a million members.

A quick search on Alexa shows that Facebook does not currently rank within the top 100 sites visited in Brazil. I think Facebook's current potential in Brazil is limited because its navigation is more text-intensive than Orkut and the applications are all in English.

Orkut has been translated to Portuguese and its Scrapbook is more prominent than Facebook's Wall. Also, Orkut's communities are more active in general than Facebook's and threads are easier to follow.
But social network adoption is difficult to predict and Facebook may gain popularity in Brazil as it continues to grow elsewhere.

5. How is social media impacting Brazilian culture?

If you're online in Brazil, more likely than not you're using at least one of the popular social media sites mentioned previously. Brazilians are also active bloggers. Orkut in particular has entered popular culture through songs and through frequent mentions in the press. The site has also replaced emailing and phone calling for keeping in touch with friends and for making plans for going out and for the weekend.
On the negative side, there have been isolated cases of illegal activity on Orkut and there tends to be a lot of spam if you're a member of large communities. Many have decided not to join Orkut for these reasons, as well as to protect their privacy, identity and safety. In general, though, Brazilians are outgoing and those online are using a combination of Orkut, photo sharing, instant messaging and Skype to keep in touch with each other.

6.  How big a barrier is language on the Internet?  What percent of Brazil speaks English?

I am not sure what percentages of Brazilians speak English, but language is a significant barrier for a large proportion of Brazilians online and most would prefer to navigate and communicate in Portuguese, given the choice. Generally speaking, English is still a competitive advantage at work.

7.  Tell me how business is using social media in Brazil--if at all?
What tools are the most popular?

In my experience, Skype and instant messaging with MSN have been popular in Brazil for connecting with others professionally and for project management and collaboration through chat and VoIP. Some CEOs have started blogging and this may also become a trend. I've also seen some Brazilian businesses and brands in Orkut and in Second Life. A lot of this is still experimental, but Brazilians spend a lot of time online and they tend to pick up quickly on what works and what doesn't.

8. What about young people? Is there a division between people under
25 and over?

Brazil's population pyramid is shaped like a pear and the under-25 represent a large proportion of the overall population, perhaps about a third. I don't have statistics on who's online; from my experience on social media, I would say that the under-25's tend to use Orkut and Fotolog more and the 25-45 segment is on Flickr or is blogging.

9.  What advice do you have regarding social media to multinational enterprises wishing to do business with Brazilians?

I would start by listening to the conversation. Do searches on Technorati in Portuguese and on Orkut to see what's being said about your company and products and to see who your fans are. Get in touch with them and start a dialog. Be sensitive to cultural differences, hire Portuguese speaking community and outreach managers and translate everything to Portuguese, or at least provide help in Portuguese.

Assist them with their questions and ask them for feedback. Help them become evangelists when appropriate by supporting their community building efforts on Orkut or elsewhere. Consider bringing the conversation to your own space by starting a blog and setting up forums where users can help each other. Run promotions and be generous with your evangelists and those getting the word out, but always be transparent in your actions. Finally, make it easy for Brazilians to purchase securely online using their own credit cards and banking systems.

10.  How will social media evolve in Brazil over the next five years in your opinion?

Because Brazilians spend so much time online, I think Brazil will track closely with what's happenning elsewhere. Broadband penetration is rising rapidly in Brazil, so probably video and photo sharing sites will do well. Google is well accepted, Orkut recently launched and new 'Web 2.0' look with rounded corners and RSS feeds and Brazilians are very active on YouTube.  Social media is evolving quickly and many of the same tools will be picked up or adapted by Brazilians online.

11. Additional comments?

Yes, I would like to add that social media has opened many doors that for many historic reasons were restricted mediawise:
- The democratization of speech through free tools that allow people to publish, collaborate and organize with each other online
- The possibility to access knowledge and information and to share opinions with people from other cultures
- New rules for advertising and consumerism, because people are savvy, they are protecting their rights and they are having conversations

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