Brazil has been going through an extensive process of media exposure generated by the capture, promotion and holding of mega events. In spite of attracting an ever more eclectic audience, through the various interest profiles of sporting, religious, cultural and scientific events, worldwide trends in the tourist sector have been repeatedly proven.
One of these is the increasing use of digital media for the planning, purchase and sharing of travel experiences, in the case of foreign tourists visiting the country. In Europe, for example, 32% of internet users made online holiday travel purchases this year, according to data from Eurostat. Five years ago, this index was 21%. Moreover, according to the consultancy, 75% of people aged between 16 and 74 in the European Economic Community use the internet and, of this total, 59% carried out some type of purchase on-line this year.
In this context, it is relevant to point out that the strategy and decision to invest in digital media, including in promotional campaigns for Brazil as an international tourist destination, gain increasing relevancy in the planning processes of both public and private organisations every day. With the objective of improving good performance, Embratur (Brazilian Tourism Institute) has been expanding its digital communications campaigns in recent years, through the launch of publicity and public relations product and service apps.
One example of this type of campaign is the Sunny Days platform that gained a bronze trophy in the best use of interactive media category in the national level of the Ampro Globes Award competition. Created based on the idea that the incidence of sunshine is directly linked to good mood, the tool calculated the number of sunny days that a person had experienced in the last year and invited them to visit Brazil to experience more days of sunshine and happiness. The results could not be better: the site was on air from December 2013 to February 2014 and in one month achieved 27,000 views, as well as having been accessed in 90 different countries, in particular the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom.
In turn, access to Visit Brasil, the promotional portal for Brazil as a tourist destination, increased by 189% on Instagram between July and August this year, when the postcard photos of Brazilian cities taken by the Russian Murad Osmann were shared. The social network, www.visitbrasil.com, administered by the Institute, promotes Brazil abroad and currently has 6,438 likes.
After the campaign, the average number of likes for photos on the Visit Brasil profile rose from 200 to 600. The Russian photographer published six photos of Brazil and in all, there were more than 1.2 million interactions over the images, which highlighted Brazilian destinations. Murad quoted Visit Brasil in all publications, as well as using the hashtags #visitbrasil and #lovebrazil. We went from having 2,108 followers in June, to 6,438 after the campaign.
During the campaign, Murad shared photos of Maracanã, Copacabana Beach, Christ the Redeemer, the Amazon River and the Iguaçu Falls. The photographer's profile currently has more than 1.6 million followers. His average number of likes is 150,000 per photo, with some images surpassing 200,000.
Making the most of the World Cup, Embratur teamed up with Google to launch an innovative campaign and promote three new apps in the main tourist countries to Brazil. The success of the campaign, which used coverage and interaction on YouTube, brought Embratur an increase of five times in the volume of downloads of the apps.
The campaign was based on Google surveys, which showed that, in the first five months of this year, the search for topics related to Brazil was 20% higher than compared with the same period in 2013, and among these searches, 27% were made using mobile devices. Bringing these facts together, Google and Embratur carried out an unedited promotional campaign for the apps, designed by the Institute, between 23rd June and 23rd July in order to bring information on Brazilian tourist destinations to the world.
The Fellow Trip, Brasil Quest and Brasil Experience Mobile apps sought to promote the Brazil Trademark and to build an even better relationship with the users in each country. Germany, England, the USA and Argentina were the focus of the campaign, markets chosen for the number of tourists from these countries that had searched for Brazil before the World Cup.
For the campaign, aimed at the downloading of apps, an unedited Brazilian presenter appeared on the YouTube Mobile App Promotion, which works on mobile devices by making a direct link available so that the user can make the client app download after the presentation of a video. Together with this type of format, an engagement video ad was aired on the Google Display Network, aimed at mobiles.
Fellow Trip, an app for smartphones designed for putting together trips according to the user's profile, allowed, through a partnership with Trip Advisor, the user to see reviews by people already in tourist places, as well as sharing trips created by other users.
On the Brasil Experience Mobile app for smartphones, users can create their own experience: a sequence of up to four photos with Brazilian tunes as a soundtrack. In addition, travellers can receive suggestions for itineraries to explore the 12 World Cup host cities, as well as attractions close to their location or search for experiences using keywords and interest categories.
With the growth in the number of people with access to the internet and the use of smartphones and tablets incorporated into daily life, we have the possibility of expanding our digital communications campaigns, seeking out contact in a more direct manner with various audiences interested in getting to know Brazil, our culture, our gastronomy and our people.