the brazil country brand & the 2014 world cup

The Brazil Country Brand & the 2014 World Cup

Author: Hallie Neumann

Editors: Meredith Puleio & Sophia Sadinsky

Design: Jeremy Tinianow

Date: May 31, 2015

The Brazil Country Brand & The 2014 World Cup

Ta B l e o f Co n T e n T s

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Table of Contents

IntroductIon 1

About the Authors 2

executIve summAry 3

English 3

Português 10

Español 17

context 25

What is a country brand? 25

Why is a country brand so important? 26

How are country brand stereotypes & perceptions formed? 27

International sporting events & how they influence country branding 28

reseArch methodology 32

AnAlysIs 32

Part 1: Country Brand Before the World Cup 32

Part 2: Brazil’s Experience: Was the 2014 FIFA World Cup a success? 38

Part 3: Brazil’s Country Brand during and after the event 42

Part 4: Brazil’s Country Brand Management moving forward 47

General Conclusions & Observations 50

Lessons Learned 51

Acknowledgments 54


I n T r o d u C T I o n

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Introduction

This report analyzes the relationship between country branding and international sporting events. The study mainly focuses on direct personal experiences during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and documents the perceptions of approximately 20 individuals (international visitors to Brazil and Brazilian residents) before, during, and after the event. It also considers analysis and a methodological framework used in previous research, namely my graduate thesis project titled “This Time for Africa—The role of international sporting events in country branding: The South African experience and lessons learned for Brazil.” This thesis was published in 2011 by the Universidad de San Andres & FLACSO before the actual event took place, so I was particularly interested in carrying out my investigation in real time during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The analysis provided in this report is useful for other countries as it provides insight into the importance of country branding and the instrumental role it can play in advancing/boosting/improving a country’s strategic position in the inter-national arena. The existing studies on country branding focus on factors such as tourism, patrimony, culture, favorable conditions for business, quality of life, and value systems, but they do not consider the importance of international sporting events and the subsequent effect they can have on the country brand. Furthermore, the lessons learned from this research on the Brazilian country brand (before, during and after the event) can be applied for future events and for Brazil’s upcoming hosting of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This report can also serve as a guide for other countries in helping them leverage their country branding campaigns when hosting international sporting events.

Imagina na Copa das Copas / Imagine, the World Cup of all World Cups


a B o u T T h e au T h o r s

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about the authorsHallie Neumann holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the George Washington University and a joint Master’s degree in International Rela-tions & Negotiations from the Universidad de San Andres & FLACSO. Her exten-sive experience abroad has taken her around the globe with a recent stint in Rio de Janeiro where she managed World Cup travel for high-end clients while simultaneously researching Brazil’s country brand and it’s development through-out the 2014 FIFA World Cup. She currently serves as the General Manager of Blue Parallel and resides between Buenos Aires and Barcelona.

Gaston Marando holds a Bachelor s degree in International Relations from the Universidad del Salvador; he worked as a researcher at the Research Institute of Social Sciences of the Universidad del Salvador and C.I.P.P.E.C, he was also a guest professor at the International Relations conference for the Argentine Legislature (2007-2009) sponsored by MRECIC & FCE-UBA; he currently works as the Operating Director of the General Directorate of Foreign Trade for the Ministry of Economic Development for the Buenos Aires City Government and resides in Buenos Aires.

Joyce Fagundes holds a Bachelor’s degree in Library Science from Universidade Federal Fluminense and a Master’s degree in Social Memory from the Universi-dade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. She has developed extensive research involving feminine identity and gender policies for Brazilian women. She currently resides between Berlin and Rio de Janeiro and will complete a PhD in Sociology at the Institute for Research in Latin America.


e x e C u T I v e s u m m a ry

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executive summaryBy Hallie Neumann

Introduction

This report analyzes the relationship between country branding and international sporting events, specifically focusing on direct personal experiences during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It documents the perceptions of approximately 20 individ-uals (international visitors to Brazil and Brazilian residents) before, during, and after the event while incorporating analysis and a methodological framework used in previous research, namely the author’s graduate thesis project titled “This Time for Africa—The role of international sporting events in country branding: The South African experience and lessons learned for Brazil.”

The analysis provided in this report is useful for other countries as it provides insight into the importance of country branding and the instrumental role it can play in advancing/boosting/improving a country’s strategic position in the inter-national arena. The lessons learned from this research on the Brazilian country brand (before, during and after the event) can be applied for future events and for Brazil’s upcoming hosting of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This report can also serve as a guide for other countries in helping them leverage their country branding campaigns when hosting international sporting events.

what is a country brand and why is it important?

The term ‘country brand’ is defined as “the idea of the brand as a country’s asset” (Anholt, 1996). As globalization has sparked heightened competition between countries, the country brand has emerged as an integral part of the country’s


e xeCuTIve sum m ary

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strategy for competing in the global market. However, in certain cases a country can be unfairly perceived in way that does not fully represent the true reality (identity) of the country or its expressed design but rather is the natural result of its perceived history and the messages that have been transmitted throughout two or three generations. For example, general perceptions of Brazil (before the World Cup) were related to insecurity and high levels of crime and preceding the event, there was considerable discussion related to security concerns, crime and violence. However, the international public was largely unaware that the Brazilian government worked to intensify police and security operations for many years leading up to the event. Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup subsequently provided an opportunity to showcase the implementation of security measures in real time to an international audience.

how do international sporting events influence country branding?

There are various channels that can influence the country brand; however, this report focuses specifically on: direct personal experience and international sport-ing events. The international reach of such an event provides millions of interna-tional travelers and spectators a profound immersion and complete experience in the country’s culture and the opportunity to project a country brand with real, relevant and unforgettable content about the host country. It is important to note, however, that the successful execution of an international sporting event is not enough to positively shift a country brand, nor is it exempt from risks. For example, the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia were overshadowed by polemic issues related to human rights violations (for both cases of the Olympics) and poor management and corruption (Commonwealth Games). Therefore, these experiences demonstrate that merely hosting an international sporting event does not alone guarantee a strong brand.



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As demonstrated above, if a country chooses to leverage a sporting event, it is essential that the country brand campaign has a long-term vision that is artic-ulated and marketed to the local population and all efforts must involve a high level of organization and collaboration among the public and private sectors.

the brazilian experience

The analysis incorporated in this report is related to the direct personal experi-ences captured in interviews with both Brazilian residents and international vis-itors and sheds light on how their experience with the 2014 World Cup affected their perceptions of Brazil. As highlighted by the pre-event media coverage and pre-event interviews, there was a general sense of pessimism and negative cover-age related to delays with deadlines and lack of preparedness by the government on the building of stadiums and infrastructure improvements. This negative press was further heightened by the Brazilian public’s discontent and anger over the exorbitant amount of public funding used for the event when many Brazilians felt that this money should be invested on initiatives such as healthcare and education. The press then further propagated these negative issues and divulged this information to the international public. Therefore, most international press coverage before the World Cup was highly negative and doubtful of Brazil’s abil-ity to successfully pull off the event. Furthermore, pre-existing stereotypes and perceptions of Brazil as a disorganized and insecure country strife with poverty and crime struck a chord in the international public as these preconceptions were widely held before the event. It was noted in interviews with international visitors that Brazil also grapples with the superficial stereotypes of samba-dancing, fut-bol-loving, happy-go-lucky people and it is not yet taken seriously in relation to its product and services. The positive attributes, noted in the interviews, were mainly related to the warmth and hospitality of the Brazilian people and the diversity



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of landscapes and cultures throughout the vast country. However, the negative attributes, including a general sense of disorganization, insecurity and corruption made many people question Brazil’s capacity to successfully host the event.

Therefore, Brazil was up against strong negative perceptions before the event in a very defining moment in its history. Would Brazil be able to move past its prevailing image of parties, beaches and samba? Would the country be able to project a more serious image to accompany what Brazil has accomplished as the 7th world economy?

conclusions & observations

As noted in my post event interviews with international visitors, most of the respondents were pleasantly surprised that things were relatively well organized and that security was not an issue. Furthermore, all forms of evidence (FIFA evaluation, the press, and interviews with Brazilian residents and international visitors) showed that Brazil proved to have the resources and organizational skills to pull off the event. One of the principal characteristics of Brazil, left by the event, was the certainty that the country can combine operational efficiency with an environment of festive celebration particular to the Brazilian spirit.

Perhaps, if the Brazilian government would have properly explained or set the expectations for the cost and public’s involvement in the event, the process may have gone smoother. However, there is no denying that Brazil as a country is also enthralled in a moment of internal dialogue and change as the country moves forward and determines the developmental path it will take. Brazil’s recent ascension to the 7th largest world economy is also causing internal debate onto what it means to be Brazilian and this national construction of Brazilian identity is underway.



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In spite of the initial negativity surrounding the event, one of the main reasons that the event was partially a success is largely due to the fact that a majority of the Brazilians were proud to host the World Cup and were content that they were able to positively showcase that their country is capable of hosting such an important event. The impact of social media and the 3,429,873 people that attended the games in Brazil directly and indirectly also influenced perceptions of the host country through word of mouth and social media. The World Cup was the most talked about sporting event in the history of social media and, as estimated by Dr. Nikolaus Eberl, an additional 150 people are indirectly influ-enced by that one individual’s perception of the host country. In regards to local interviews, most respondents felt that the Brazilian government’s handling of the World Cup exceeded expectations as it was easier than anticipated to get around and there were no security problems. There are, however, certain pre-existing infrastructure issues that were not resolved as promised by the government, so some Brazilian residents noted that they were disappointed even though the event was successfully executed. All international participants responded that they would return to Brazil for vacation and business. However, the responses were not as positive for future investment in the country and this was related to civil unrest, crime and the unreliability of the government.



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Pre-event recommendations for the brazilian government

As the country continues to develop it must take into account the lessons learned from the 2014 World Cup and also further define what is the Brazilian identity and how this can be displayed during the 2016 Olympics. For example, the gov-ernment should:

• Ensure that it delivers on domestic promises before allocating government funding for future events

•Have realistic goals and deadlines; be organized and stick to the due dates. This will help prevent negative press leading up to the event

•Don’t be over ambitious with goals (i.e. no need to build 12 stadiums when 6 are sufficient)

• Inform residents of the task at hand and involve them in the process

•Understand potential weaknesses and try to address and improve them before the event (For example, in Brazil’s case: hospitality, security, transportation, accommodations, etc.)

•Create a believable, consistent and straightforward country brand that the public identifies with and that is visible and represented, leading up to and during the event

The construction of a country brand takes time and it needs to be stable so that it can slowly improve its position. Furthermore, the positive attributes of Brazil: hospitality, creativity, energy, a dynamic and diverse population, and landscapes need to be better coordinated and marketed.

• Ensure that the country brand receives exposure in a way that benefits the target country and make sure to incorporate all interesting destinations

•Harness the press coverage in the best way possible to get positive coverage for areas less known by the international public. In Brazil’s case, they need to figure out how to better market the whole country, not just Rio



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More specifically, the tourists that attended the World Cup and traveled through-out the country were able to experience the diverse cultures and landscapes of Brazil. However, the international public watching the games at home merely saw an aerial view of the stadiums and repeated footage of Copacabana Beach. Brazil missed a big opportunity in further promoting its host cities during the event.

event recommendations

During the event, the government should:

•Conduct interviews, polls and research throughout the event to bring together comprehensive data that can be used post-event to better understand the public’s perceptions and feedback related to the event

•Analyze demographics, inflows of tourists, countries of origin and capitalize on this market for future country branding campaigns

Post-event recommendations

Following the event, the government should:

•Capitalize on the success of the event and continue to invest in mega global tourism marketing and focus on destinations which are relatively unknown

• Focus on the people that visited the World Cup and entice them to come back



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executive summary, PortuguêsTranslated by Joyce Fagundes

Introdução

O artigo analisa o relacionamento entre o conceito marca país ou Country Brand-ing e os eventos esportivos internacionais, com destaque especial para a FIFA Copa do Mundo de 2014. Registramos as percepções e experiências pessoais vivenciadas por 20 participantes dentre eles (estrangeiros que visitavam o país e brasileiros residentes na cidade do Rio de Janeiro) antes, durante e após o evento, incorporando a análise de uma estrutura metodológica utilizada em pesquisa anterior, na dissertação de pós-graduação do autor intitulada “O momento de destaque para a África - O papel dos eventos desportivos internacionais em termos de marca país: A experiência da África do Sul e o legado para o Brasil.”

A análise apresentada neste artigo será útil para outros países, uma vez que fornece percepções sobre a importância da marca país e que é um instrumento para um potencial modelo de desempenho na promoção, no reforço e na melho-ria da posição estratégica do país no cenário internacional. As lições aprendidas com essa pesquisa sobre marca país do Brasil (antes, durante e após o evento) pode ser aplicada para os eventos futuros principalmente para os próximos even-tos que o Brasil sediará como os Jogos Olímpicos de 2016 na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Este artigo também pode servir como um guia para auxiliar outros países a alavancar suas campanhas nacionais de marca enquanto sediam eventos esportivos internacionais.



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o que é uma marca país e qual a sua importância?

O termo “marca país” é definido como “a ideia da marca como ativo do país” (ANHOLT, 1996). Como a globalização provocou aumento da competição entre os países, a marca país surgiu como uma parte integrante da estratégia do país para competir no mercado global. No entanto, em certos casos, um país pode ser injustamente percebido de forma equivocada, ou seja, que não representa de forma realista a identidade do país ou até mesmo, não expressa sua concepção histórica, mas pelo contrário, torna-se o resultado natural da história percebida através das mensagens transmitidas ao longo de duas ou três gerações. Por exemplo, as percepções gerais do Brasil (antes da Copa do Mundo) foram rel-acionadas à insegurança e altos níveis de criminalidade que precede ao evento, houve uma considerável discussão relacionada a preocupações de segurança, crimes e violência. No entanto, a opinião pública internacional foi em grande parte inconsciente no que se refere ao trabalho do governo brasileiro para intensificar as operações policiais e de segurança nos anos que antecederam o evento. A seleção do Brasil como sede da Copa do Mundo, posteriormente, foi uma opor-tunidade para mostrar a implementação de medidas de segurança em tempo real para uma audiência internacional.

como os eventos esportivos internacionais influenciam a marca país?

Existem vários canais que podem influenciar a marca país, no entanto este artigo faz sua abordagem especificamente sobre as experiências pessoais e direta de alguns participantes nos eventos esportivos internacionais. O alcance interna-cional de tal evento fornece a milhões de viajantes internacionais e espectadores uma imersão aprofundada na experiência cultural do país e a oportunidade de projetar uma marca-país com conteúdo real, relevante e inesquecível sobre o país



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sede do evento. Entretanto, é importante ressaltar que a execução com sucesso de um evento esportivo internacional não é suficiente para mudar positivamente a marca país, nem está isenta de riscos. Por exemplo, os Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2008 na China, os Jogos da Commonwealth de 2010 na Índia e os Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 2014 na Rússia foram ofuscados por questões polêmicas relacionadas a violação de direitos humanos (para ambos os casos dos Jogos Olímpicos) e má gestão e corrupção (Commonwealth Games). Portanto, essas experiências demonstram que apenas a realização de um evento esportivo internacional não garante uma marca forte.

Como demonstrado acima, se um país escolhe para alavancar um evento esport-ivo, é essencial que a campanha da marca país tenha uma visão de longo prazo, que é articulado e comercializados para a população local e todos os esforços devem envolver um alto nível de organização e colaboração entre os setores público e privado.

A experiência brasileira

A imprensa propaga ainda mais essas questões negativas e divulgada a infor-mação para o público internacional. Nesse caso, a maior parte da cobertura da imprensa internacional antes da Copa do Mundo foi muito negativa e duvidava da capacidade do Brasil em realizar um evento bem sucedido. Além disso, os estereótipos e percepções pré-existentes sobre o Brasil como um país desorga-nizado e inseguro, com altos níveis de criminalidade e pobreza foi amplamente divulgado para o público internacional antes do evento.

Notou-se em entrevistas com visitantes internacionais que o Brasil também lida com os estereótipos superficiais como o samba e a exibição do público feminino na dança, um país de amantes futebol e de pessoas desinteressadas e despreocu-



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padas. Um país que ainda não é levada a sério em relação aos produtos e serviços. Em relação aos atributos positivos, observado nas entrevistas, foram relacionados principalmente com a cordialidade e hospitalidade do povo brasileiro e da diver-sidade de paisagens e culturas diversificadas pelo vasto território. No entanto, os atributos negativos, incluindo uma sensação geral de desorganização, insegu-rança e corrupção fizeram com que muitas pessoas questionassem a capacidade do Brasil em sediar o evento com êxito.

No entanto, o Brasil venceu as especulações negativas que antecederam o evento, num momento decisivo em sua história. O país seria capaz de contrariar uma imagem pejorativa predominante de um país de festas, praias e samba? O país seria também capaz de projetar uma imagem mais séria para acompanhar o cenário socioeconômico como a 7ª economia mundial?

conclusões e observações

Foi observado nas entrevistas pós-evento com os visitantes internacionais um feedback positivo sobre o desempenho e a atuação do país na organização do evento, para minha agradável surpresa a maioria dos entrevistados afirmaram que as coisas estavam relativamente bem organizadas e que a segurança não foi um problema. Além disso, todas as formas de provas (avaliação FIFA, a imprensa e entrevistas com residentes brasileiros e visitantes internacionais) mostraram que o Brasil provou ter os recursos e habilidades organizacionais para sediar o evento. Uma das principais marcas do país, deixados como legado do evento, era a certeza de que o país pode combinar a eficiência operacional com um ambiente de celebração festiva característica do espírito brasileiro.



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Talvez, se o governo brasileiro tivesse devidamente explicado ou definido as expec-tativas para o custo e envolvimento do público no evento, o processo poderia ter sido mais equilibrado. No entanto, não há como negar que o Brasil como um país também está passando por um momento de diálogo interno e mudanças pro-gressivas, determinando um caminho de desenvolvimento em longo prazo. A recente ascensão do Brasil à 7ª maior economia mundial também está causando um debate interno sobre o que significa ser brasileiro e como a construção de uma identidade nacional brasileira está se desenvolvendo.

Apesar da negatividade inicial em torno do evento, um dos principais motivos pelo qual o evento foi um sucesso parcial é está associado ao sentimento de orgulho nacional que a maioria dos brasileiros expressaram por sediar a Copa do Mundo, sendo capazes de mostrar de forma positiva a capacidade do país em sediar um evento tão importante. O impacto das mídias sociais e as 3.429.873 pessoas que assistiram aos jogos no Brasil, influenciaram direta e indiretamente as percepções sobre o país sede, através do boca a boca e mídia social. A Copa do Mundo foi o evento esportivo mais falado na história das mídias sociais e como estimado pelo Dr. Nikolaus Eberl, um adicional de 150 pessoas foram indiretamente influ-enciados pela percepção de um indivíduo do país sede do evento. Em relação as entrevistas locais, a maioria dos inquiridos consideraram que a manipulação do governo brasileiro da Copa do Mundo superou as expectativas, uma vez que era mais fácil do que o previsto para se locomover, como também não grandes houve problemas de segurança. Há, no entanto, algumas questões pré-existentes de infraestrutura que não foram solucionadas a tempo como prometido pelo gov-erno, por isso alguns residentes observou que ficaram desapontados embora o evento tenha sido executado com sucesso. Todos os participantes internacionais responderam que voltaria ao Brasil para férias ou negócios. No entanto, as res-postas não foram tão positivas para futuros investimentos no país e isso estava relacionada as questões civis, criminalidade e falta de viabilidade do governo.



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recomendações pré-evento para o governo brasileiro

À medida que o país se desenvolve deve se ter em conta as lições aprendidas com a Copa do Mundo de 2014 e também definir o que é a identidade brasileira e como isso pode ser exibido durante as Olimpíadas de 2016. Por exemplo, o governo deve:

•Certifica-se de que é capaz de cumprir as metas, do que é prometido a nível nacional antes da atribuição de financiamento do governo para eventos futuros;

•Tenha metas e prazos realistas, ser organizado e manter as datas de vencimento. Isso ajudará evitar a imprensa negativa que antecede os eventos;

•Não ser tão ambicioso com metas, ou seja, (não há necessidade de construir 12 estádios quando 6 seriam suficientes);

• Informar os projetos aos cidadãos e envolve-los no processo;

• Entender os possíveis pontos fracos e tentar resolve-los e melhorá-los antes do evento (por exemplo, no caso do Brasil: a hospitalidade, segurança, transporte, acomodações, etc.)

•Criar uma marca país com credibilidade, consistente e simples de forma que o público nacional se identifique e se sinta representado, antes e durante o evento

A construção de uma marca país leva tempo e tem que ser estável, de modo a melhorar gradualmente a sua posição. Além disso, os atributos positivos do Brasil: a hospitalidade, a criatividade, a energia, o dinamismo da uma população tão diversificada além das paisagens precisam ser mais bem coordenadas e comercializadas.

•Certifique-se de que a sua marca país recebe a exposição de uma forma que beneficia o país e certifique-se de incorporar todos os destinos interessantes;

•Aproveite a cobertura da imprensa da melhor maneira possível para obter uma apresentação favorável das regiões menos conhecidas pelo público internacional.



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No caso do Brasil, que precisa descobrir a melhor forma de comercializar todo o país, e não apenas do Rio

Mais especificamente, os turistas que assistiram a Copa do Mundo e viajou por todo o país foram capazes de experimentar as diversas culturas e paisagens do Brasil. Entretanto, o público internacional que assistiu os jogos de casa, viu apenas uma vista aérea dos estádios e repetiu imagens da Praia de Copacabana. Brasil perdeu uma grande oportunidade para promover ainda mais as suas cidades-sede durante o evento.

recomendações para os eventos

Durante o evento, o governo deve:

•Realizar entrevistas, enquetes e pesquisas em todo o evento para reunir dados abrangentes que podem ser usados nos eventos futuros para entender melhor as percepções do público e comentários relacionados ao evento;

•Analisar demograficamente os fluxos de turistas, os países de origem e capitalizar nesse mercado para futuras campanhas de marca país

recomendações pós-evento

Após o evento, o governo deve:

•Aproveitar o sucesso do evento e continuar investindo em projetos de impacto de marketing para o turismo internacional e se concentrar em destinos que são relativamente desconhecidos;

•Concentrar-se nas pessoas que visitaram a Copa do Mundo e seduzi-las para voltar futuramente



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executive summary, españolTranslated by Gaston Marando

Introducción

Este informe analiza la relación entre la marca país y los eventos deportivos internacionales, centrándose específicamente en las experiencias personales directas durante la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2014. Documenta las percepciones de aproximadamente 20 personas (visitantes internacionales a Brasil y residentes brasileños) antes, durante y después del evento, mientras que la incorporación del análisis y un marco metodológico utilizado en la investigación anterior, es decir, el proyecto de tesis de posgrado del autor titulado “Es tiempo para África- El papel de los eventos deportivos internacionales en la marca país: La experiencia de Sudáfrica y las lecciones aprendidas para Brasil “.

El análisis presentado en este informe es útil para otros países, ya que da una idea de la importancia de la marca país y el papel fundamental que puede desem-peñar en la promoción / aumentar / mejorar la posición estratégica de un país en el ámbito internacional. Las lecciones aprendidas de esta investigación sobre la marca país de Brasil (antes, durante y después del evento) se pueden aplicar para futuros eventos y para la próxima celebración de Brasil de los Juegos Olím-picos de 2016 en Río de Janeiro. Este informe también puede servir como una guía para otros países para aprovechar sus campañas de marca país, cuando la celebración de eventos deportivos internacionales tenga lugar.

¿Qué es una marca país y por qué es importante?

El término ‘marca país’ se define como “la idea de la marca como activo de un país” (Anholt, 1996). Dado que la globalización ha provocado una mayor com-



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petencia entre los países, la marca país se ha convertido en una parte integral de la estrategia del país para competir en el mercado global.

Hoy todos los países despliegan una agresividad sin igual en sus relaciones económicas con el mundo. Hoy los países tienen puesta la mirada en el crec-imiento y desarrollo puertas adentro y su nivel de conectividad con el mundo. Esto puede explicarse mediante la agresividad en términos de negocios interna-cionales que incurren algunos países.

Sin embargo, en ciertos casos, un país puede ser percibida de manera injusta en forma que no es representativa de la verdadera realidad (identidad) del país o su diseño expresado sino más bien es el resultado natural de su historia percibida y los mensajes que se han transmitido a lo largo de dos o tres generaciones. Por ejemplo, las percepciones generales de Brasil (antes de la Copa del Mundo) estu-vieron relacionadas con la inseguridad y los altos niveles de delincuencia y antes del evento, se desarrolló un debate considerable en relación con los problemas de seguridad, la delincuencia y la violencia. Sin embargo, la opinión pública inter-nacional fue en gran parte inconsciente de que el gobierno brasileño trabajó para intensificar las operaciones policiales y de seguridad durante muchos años pre-vios al evento. Siendo Brasil el país anfitrión de la Copa Mundial, posteriormente brindó la oportunidad de mostrar la aplicación de las medidas de seguridad en tiempo real a un público internacional.

¿cómo influyen los eventos deportivos internacionales a la marca país?

Hay varios canales que pueden influir a la marca país, sin embargo este informe se centra específicamente en: la experiencia personal directa y eventos deporti-vos internacionales. El alcance internacional de este evento ofrece a millones de viajeros y espectadores internacionales una inmersión profunda y la experiencia



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completa en la cultura del país y la oportunidad de proyectar una marca país con contenido real, relevante e inolvidable sobre el país anfitrión. Es importante señalar, sin embargo, que la ejecución exitosa de un evento deportivo internacio-nal no es suficiente para cambiar positivamente una marca país, ni está exento de riesgos. Por ejemplo, los Juegos Olímpicos de 2008 en China, los Juegos de la Commonwealth 2010 en la India y los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de 2014 en Rusia fueron eclipsados por temas polémicos relacionados con tales como violaciones de derechos humanos (tanto para los casos de los Juegos Olímpicos) y la mala gestión y la corrupción (Commonwealth). Por lo tanto, estas experien-cias demuestran que simplemente organizar un evento deportivo internacional no solo garantiza una marca fuerte.

Una alternativa adicional podría llegar a darse al conjugar el cruce de marca país con eventos deportivos — calendario como variante para crear nuevos escenar-ios de negocios. La creación de marca asociada a eventos deportivos propone una construcción gradual hacia la inserción de este nuevo paradigma asociativo donde se debate un sistema de interdependencia económica entre países y en determinadas ocasiones hacia terceros mercados. Esto simboliza una estrategia a mediano y a largo plazo que tiene compatibilidad de intereses en la arquitectura de negocios de manera mancomunada ante el nuevo mapa de la competencia económica global.

Como se demostró anteriormente, si un país decide aprovechar un evento deport-ivo, es esencial que la campaña de marca país tiene una visión a largo plazo que se articulan y se comercializan para la población local y todos los esfuerzos deben implicar un alto nivel de organización y colaboración entre los sectores público y privado.



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la experiencia brasileña

El análisis incorporado en el presente informe está relacionado con las experi-encias personales directas capturados en las entrevistas con los residentes bra-sileños y visitantes internacionales y arroja a luz sobre cómo fue la experiencia de las personas entrevistadas con la Copa del Mundo de 2014 y como afectó sus percepciones sobre Brasil. Como se destaca por las entrevistas pre-evento y a su vez la cobertura de los medios, había una sensación general de pesimismo relacionada con retrasos en los plazos y la falta de preparación por parte del gobierno en la construcción de estadios y mejoras en la infraestructura. Esta prensa negativa se acentuó aún más por el descontento del público brasileño y enojo por la exorbitante cantidad de fondos públicos utilizados para el evento en que muchos brasileños sintieron que este dinero debe ser invertido en iniciativas como la sanidad y la educación. La prensa propaga aún más estas cuestiones negativas y divulgó esta información a la opinión pública internacional. Por lo tanto, la mayor cobertura de la prensa internacional antes de la Copa Mundial fue muy negativo y dudoso de la capacidad de Brasil para sacar con éxito el evento. Por otra parte, los estereotipos y las percepciones de Brasil preexistentes como un país desorganizado e inseguro con pobreza y crimen, encontraron eco en la opinión pública internacional antes del evento. Se ha señalado en entrevistas con los visitantes internacionales que Brasil también lucha con los estereotipos super-ficiales de samba-baile, futbol-amoroso, gente feliz y despreocupado, y aún no se toma en serio en relación con sus productos y servicios. Los atributos positivos que arrojaron las diversas entrevistas, relaciona principalmente con la calidez y la hospitalidad del pueblo brasileño y de la diversidad de paisajes y culturas en todo el vasto territorio. Sin embargo, los atributos negativos, incluyendo una sensación general de desorganización, la inseguridad y la corrupción hacen que muchas personas cuestionan la capacidad de Brasil para ser sede éxito del evento.



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Por lo tanto, Brasil se enfrentó a las fuertes percepciones negativas antes del evento en un momento muy decisivo de su historia. ¿Brasil sería capaz de mov-erse más allá de su imagen predominante de fiestas, playas y samba? ¿El país será capaz de proyectar una imagen más seria para acompañar lo que Brasil ha logrado como la septima economía mundial?

conclusiones y observaciones

Como se señaló en las entrevistas posteriores al evento con visitantes inter-nacionales, la mayoría de los encuestados se sorprendieron gratamente que las cosas estaban relativamente bien organizados y que la seguridad no era un problema. Además, todas las formas de pruebas (Evaluación de la FIFA, la prensa y entrevistas con residentes brasileños y visitantes internacionales) mostraron que Brasil demostró tener los recursos y la capacidad de organización. Una de las características principales de Brasil, que dejó el evento, fue la certeza de que el país puede combinar la eficiencia operativa con un ambiente de celebración festiva especial al espíritu brasileño.

Sin embargo, no se puede negar que Brasil como país también está cautivado en un momento de diálogo interno del cambio ya que el país esta determinando la vía de desarrollo que tomará. La ascensión de Brasil como la septima mayor economía mundial también provocó un debate interno sobre lo que significa ser brasileño y está llevando a cabo esta construcción nacional de identidad brasileña.

A pesar de la negatividad inicial en torno al evento, una de las principales razones de que fue parcialmente un éxito se debe en gran parte al hecho de que la may-oría de los brasileños estaban orgullosos de acoger la Copa del Mundo y estaban contentos que su país es capaz de albergar un evento tan importante. El impacto de los medios sociales y las 3.429.873 personas que asistieron a los partidos en



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Brasil, directa e indirectamente también influenciaron las percepciones del país anfitrión a través del boca a boca y las redes sociales. La Copa del Mundo fue el evento deportivo que mas se habló en la historia de los medios sociales y, según lo estimado por el Dr. Nikolaus Eberl, un adicional de 150 personas están indi-rectamente influenciadas por la percepción de la persona que asistió el evento. En cuanto a las entrevistas locales, la mayoría de los encuestados consideró que la gestión del gobierno de Brasil de la Copa Mundial superó las expectativas. Hay, sin embargo, ciertos problemas de infraestructura preexistentes que no fueron resueltas según lo prometido por el gobierno, por lo que algunos residentes bra-sileños señalaron que estaban decepcionados pesar de que el evento se ha eje-cutado correctamente. Todos los participantes internacionales respondieron que iban a regresar a Brasil para vacaciones y negocios. Sin embargo, las respuestas no fueron tan positivos para las futuras inversiones en el país y esto se relacionó con los disturbios civiles, la delincuencia y la falta de fiabilidad del gobierno.

recomendaciones previas al evento para el gobierno brasileño

A medida que el país continúa creciendo, se debe tener en cuenta las lecciones aprendidas de la Copa del Mundo de 2014 para así poder definir con el mayor detalle posible lo que es la identidad brasileña y cómo esto se puede visualizar durante los Juegos Olímpicos de 2016. Por ejemplo, el gobierno debería:

•Asegurase de que cumple con las promesas nacionales antes de la asignación de fondos públicos para eventos futuros

• Fijar metas y plazos realistas y adherirse a las fechas estipuladas. Esto ayudará a prevenir una prensa negativa para el evento en cuestión

•No ser demasiado ambiciosos con objetivos propuestos (es decir, no hay necesidad de construir 12 estadios cuando 6 son suficientes)



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• Informar a los residentes de la tarea en cuestión y hacer que participen en el proceso

•Comprender los posibles puntos débiles y tratar de mejorarlas antes del evento (por ejemplo, en el caso de Brasil: la hospitalidad, seguridad, transporte, alojamiento, etc.)

•Crear una marca país creíble, coherente que el público identifique y se sienta representado en la etapa previa y durante el evento

La construcción de una marca país toma tiempo y tiene que ser estable, de manera que puede mejorar su posición sostenidamente. Por otra parte, los atrib-utos positivos de Brasil: la hospitalidad, la creatividad, la energía, una población dinámica y diversa, y los paisajes deben estar mejor coordinados y comercial-izados.

•Asegurar de que la marca de su país recibe la exposición de una manera que beneficie a su país y asegurar de incorporar todos los destinos interesantes

•Aprovechar la cobertura de prensa de la mejor manera posible para obtener una cobertura positiva para las zonas menos conocidas por el público internacional. En el caso de Brasil, que necesitan cómo comercializar y crear branding de una mejor manera de todo el país, no sólo de Río

Más específicamente, los turistas que asistieron a la Copa del Mundo y viaja-ron por todo el país fueron capaces de experimentar la diversidad de culturas y paisajes de Brasil. Sin embargo, el público internacional viendo los partidos en casa sólo vio una vista aérea de los estadios y repitió escenas de la playa de Copacabana. Brasil perdió una gran oportunidad para seguir promoviendo sus ciudades anfitrionas durante el evento.



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durante el evento, el gobierno debería:

• Llevar a cabo entrevistas, encuestas e investigaciones en todo el evento para reunir datos completos que se pueden utilizar después del evento para comprender mejor las percepciones del público y comentarios relacionados con el evento

•Analizar las características demográficas, la afluencia de turistas, los países de origen y sacar provecho de este mercado para las futuras campañas de marca país

recomendaciones post-evento

•Capitalizar el éxito del evento y seguir invirtiendo en mega-marketing global turístico y centrarse en los destinos que son relativamente desconocidos

•Centrarse en las personas que visitaron la Copa del Mundo y atraerlas a volver

Los países de Latinoamérica enfrentan el gran desafío de crear las condiciones y “assets” de desarrollo sustentables en economías abiertas con el mandato de generar ventajas competitivas dinámicas y a su vez lograr inclusión social.

Esta nueva conciencia puede generar “mark up” de beneficios económicos amplios y de larga duración. Más allá del “retorno” económico en términos de inversión, empleo etc., las grandes inversiones en eventos deportivos también pueden tener un efecto en la “imagen” a nivel internacional del país en su con-junto, que no es otra cosa que la marca país.


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Context

What is a country brand?The term ‘country brand’ is defined as “the idea of the brand as a country’s asset” (Anholt, 1996). As globalization has sparked heightened competition between countries to attract tourism, talent, investment, events, and the like, the country brand has emerged as an important element in a country’s economic, social, and cultural development, becoming an integral part of the country’s strategy for competing in the global market.

Brand is an asset that represents the sum total of the associations that influence preference—and it must be carefully managed. Just like products or services, countries are known by association, including language, images and media, as well as first-hand experience and peer recommendation. Brands are, in a word, a collection of perceptions.

(Future Brand Country Index 2011 – 2012)

In certain cases, a country can be unfairly perceived in a way that does not fully represent the true reality (identity) of the country or its expressed design.

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What a place really is

IdentIty Image

How a place is perceived


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Rather, the country’s image is the natural result of its perceived history, the rela-tionships it has developed with other countries, the exportation of its culture and products, and the messages that haves been transmitted—voluntarily or invol-untarily—throughout two or three generations. Certain stereotypes are formed, which can dominate perceptions and tend to persist over time.

For example, general perceptions of Brazil (before the World Cup) were related to insecurity and high levels of crime and preceding the event, there was consid-erable discussion related to security concerns, crime and violence. However, the international public was largely unaware that the Brazilian government worked to intensify police and security operations for many years leading up to the event. The overarching goal was to assert control over lawless areas of the city by occu-pying and then “pacifying” the slums ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Although the security situation in Brazil technically improved and represented an enormous undertaking for the Brazilian government, there were still many people worried about security right up until the beginning of the event.

Why is a strong country brand so important?FutureBrand astutely defines the importance of the country brand in the intro-duction to its 2011-2012 Country Brand Index:

By continually measuring the perceptions of a country brand’s audience, from business professionals to global travelers, we can begin to understand the impact that news events, cultural undertakings—and even a country’s own marketing efforts—have on an individual’s decision to choose that nation over another. That can include a decision to invest, visit, emigrate, work, study, consume that country’s goods or become interested in its culture. In short, a choice to let one country play a significant role in our lives and livelihood.

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How are country brand stereotypes and perceptions formed?

The various channels that can influence the country brand are outlined below:

•Direct personal experience (travel and time spent abroad for business, vacation, studies, etc.)

•Third party references, including the press (local & international)

• Existing stereotypes

•Cultural and sporting events and other forms of pop culture

• Images transmitted by movies, documentaries, television, literature and music

•The quality of local brands and , international companies

•Ambassadors abroad; local and international politics; political events, international relations and public diplomacy(Belloso, 2010: 4-5)

The channels outlined above are important factors that individually and together can influence the country brand. However, the central objective of this report is to evaluate the Brazilian country brand’s evolution throughout the 2014 World Cup process.

Tourism

Personal exPerienCes

CulTure

CulTural & sPorTing evenTs

images TransmiTTed

media

loCal Brands

inTernaTional & loCal PoliTiCs

PuBliCiTy


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International sporting events & how they influence country brandingTwo of the main factors that influence a country brand are direct personal expe-rience and international sporting events (ISEs).

In general, host countries of international sporting events have a greater potential to influence their country brand through leveraging the experience of the event itself. The international reach of the event provides millions of international trav-elers and spectators a profound immersion and complete experience in the coun-try’s culture.Furthermore, ISEs offer the opportunity for an authentic experience with a focus on the host country, creating a space that projects the country brand with real, relevant, and unforgettable content about the host country.

ISE Offers

authentIc experIence

Focus on the host country

huge global audIence


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Many countries see these events as a way to elevate their status in the interna-tional scene and consolidate, strengthen, or improve their country brand. In this sense, the intense press coverage before, during, and following the event is a form of publicity that can likely attract tourists who would not have considered visiting the city or region if not for the media attention related to the ISE. Moreover, the extreme importance of the World Cup or the Olympics and the international attention that these events garner cannot be underestimated. While the media coverage undoubtedly draws attention to these events, members of the interna-tional community are already highly interested in participating in them, whether as spectators attending the events themselves, via television, or engaging in the events through various forms of social media.

International Sporting Events

Country Branding

personal experIences•Travel and time abroad for business,

studies, etc…

publIcIty• Mechanism that resolves asymmetrical

information.

medIa• News, Media, Social Network

• Globalization, new form of power much easier to distribute

• Shock (positive or negative)


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In today’s highly interconnected world, one cannot deny the important role that social media plays in shaping perceptions and forming opinions. For example, Dr. Nikolaus, Eberl, a country branding expert, estimates that for every World Cup visitor, an additional 150 people will be indirectly influenced by that one individu-al’s perception of the host country through word of mouth, including social media. These kinds of brand advocates are key in indirectly increasing tourism to the country after the event and spreading the word on what the country’s really about.

The successful realization of an international sporting event can also strengthen or improve the country brand and this success can be transferred to its image on an international scale. The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney were important in helping to create a positive perception of Australia abroad. Germany discovered through the 2006 FIFA World Cup that hosting such an event was an effective way to communicate its warmth and national depth. Canada, as host of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, organized an event that helped promote its brand as a friendly, safe, and fun world-class country.

Brand Advocates

X 15


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However, the successful execution of an international sporting event is not enough to positively shift a country brand, nor is it exempt from risks. For example, at the beginning of 2008, China was seen as an emerging world power and throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics in Pekin, the country demonstrated its confidence and newfound economic prowess. But issues of inequality, human rights, gov-ernability, and a poor environmental record still presented complications once China had the stage, undermining China’s country branding efforts to reposition its country brand. From a public relations’ point of view, there are still many chal-lenges for China to overcome in order to achieve a country brand on par with its economic strength. China’s experience thus demonstrates that having the world’s second largest economy does not guarantee a strong country brand.

In India, the poor management of the 2010 Commonwealth Games prompted negative press coverage related to sanitation and security issues that in turn damaged its country brand. The FutureBrand classification of its position at 18 in 2009 dropped to 23 the following year. In the case of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the successful execution of the event was often overshadowed by the polemic issues of homophobia, terrorism, and human rights violations.


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research methodologyThis study mainly focuses on direct personal experiences during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and documents the local and international perceptions of Brazil before and after the event. The interview questions were designed to explore the com-ponents of a strong country brand to assess the informants’ associations with Brazil’s country brand and the impacts of the World Cup on their image of Brazil.

analysis

Part 1: Country brand before the World CupBefore delving into the specifics of the 2014 World Cup and the associated impact of the event on Brazil’s brand, it is essential to have an understanding of Bra-zil’s existing country brand leading into the event. This will enable the accurate measurement of changing perceptions during and after the event. With these goals in mind, I conducted interviews with Brazilian residents a few days before the initiation of the World Cup in an effort to better understand their perceived image of their country. The findings below are a consolidation of responses from Brazilian residents.


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Q. what would you say are the positive / negative attributes of brazil’s country brand?

brazIlIan resIdents

Positive attributes:

• It’s a happy place with warm and engaging people that enjoy hosting, which creates a fun and positive atmosphere.

•There’s a strong emphasis on the warm hospitality of the Brazilian people.

•Brazil is a vast territory with strong diversity in terms of its vibrant cultures and beautiful landscapes.

•There is great potential for the future with its young and energetic vibe.

•Brazilians believe that they have a certain level of creativity and improvisational skills for dealing with problems, referred to as jeitinho Brasileiro. Many interviewees acknowledged that this jeitinho Brasileiro also carries over into how things function in both the private and public sectors.

Negative attributes:

•A general sense of disorganization, insecurity and corruption.

• Lack of follow-through on promises and engagements.

•A strong police presence.

Q. how is the brazilian country brand perceived at the international level?

brazIlIan resIdents

The Brazilian country brand, projected on an international level, has always put forth an image of a beautiful and sexy place. It is home to some of the world’s


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most spectacular beaches and boasts a strong allure of samba and feminine beauty. However, these seemingly positive attributes can in many ways limit the Brazilian country brand, causing the country to solely be seen as a holiday desti-nation. According to Andres Oppenheimer, a Latin American news correspondent and syndicated foreign affairs columnist, “In general, Brazil is well perceived as far as culture, the people, and landscapes are concerned but it has a negative image in relation to its products and services.”

Another weak point of Brazil’s country brand has been its image as a country wrecked with violence and insecurity. For example, the violence and poverty of slums in and around Rio have been particularly visible in movies like “City of God.” The press has also shed light on these issues as the government has attempted to crack down on drug traffickers that control many of the city’s slums. The process has not always gone smoothly and street battles have claimed many lives over the years. Internally, Brazil’s government has recognized that this is an important area of improvement and many security measures and controversial operations have been implemented, with varying degrees of success, since 2008. While the security situation has improved in the last few years, the country brand has not improved at the same pace. For example, in the Global Competiveness report published by the World Economic Forum, Brazil improved its security ranking from position 130 in 2009 to 75 in 2011. Despite this significant improvement, the international public still generally deems Brazil a dangerous place.

In order to gain a general sense of Brazil’s image from a non-Brazilian perspective, I also interviewed international visitors.


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Q. what associations and perceptions come to mind when you think of brazil before the world cup?

InternatIonal vIsItors:

There was a general sense that Brazil, despite its role as the fifth largest econ-omy in the world, is still a developing country grappling with internal issues. For example, Diego Filmus, an international cooperation specialist, highlighted that:

Brazil is a country of stark contrasts, an inward looking emerging power with unfulfilled potential; A sleeping giant about to be awakened, that continues to struggle with the internal issues of inequality, insecurity, disorganization, lack of infrastructure and professionalism.

Many people doubted Brazil’s capacity to successfully host the World Cup and in general did not consider Brazil a reliable and responsible country. Brazil also grapples with the superficial stereotypes of samba-dancing, futbol-playing, hap-py-go-lucky people. This image is also promoted by Embratur, the Brazilian Insti-tute of Tourism and as a result, Brazil’s country brand has been largely limited to a fun-loving, relaxed and laid back nature and it is not yet taken seriously in relation to its product and services.

brazIlIan resIdents:

The same question was then asked to Brazilian residents. Brazilians are indeed aware of the inequalities within their country. According to Alexandre Almeida, Marketing Operations Manager with FIFA, with the intense media coverage lead-ing up to the World Cup, Brazil was finally being recognized for what it really is: “a large country with issues of poverty inequality and lack of infrastructure.” There is a general sense of political disorganization and many had questioned Brazil’s

“


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ability to spearhead such an important international event. Preceding the World Cup, there were many protests that reflected citizens’ ongoing discontent, par-ticularly among the younger generation.

According to interviews with locals, the Brazilian government never properly explained or set the expectations for the costs and public’s involvement in the event. The public discontent and anger over many outstanding social issues such as healthcare, education, and security were demonstrative of this disconnect between the government and the local population. As a result, when Brazil had the world stage, their domestic issues were put under the national and interna-tional spotlight. In June of 2013, there were urban riots nationwide objecting to Brazil even hosting the cup. Public support fell from 80% in 2007, when the cup was “awarded” to Brazil, to less than 50% in April of 2014.

While urban bus fares were being raised, millions of dollars were vanishing into corrupt building contracts. Demonstrators shouting “There will be no World Cup” fought police. The protests continued sporadically and the army had to invade some of Rio’s favelas to restore some semblance of control

(Simon Jenkins, The Guardian, 23 April 2014).

Interviewees worried that if the protests got out of hand, violence could also be an issue and public safety would be jeopardized during the World Cup.

Other interviewees remarked that there is no defined or solidified country brand that everyone can truly identify with. According to Joy Fagundes, a Rio de Janeiro native and former Head of Marketing for the Rio Times:

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The current concept of the Brazilian country brand comes from a national construction of “diversity,”—that we’re a country of “equality”. The idea that Lula came from a lower socio-economic class and could rise to become President goes along with this social construction of our national identity.

An interview published in Jornal daz Dez with Simon Anholt, the expert who coined the term “country branding,” highlighted the problems with Brazil’s current country brand.

The entire world already knows Brazil as place of great parties. This image is okay for a third world country, but Brazil is already trying to convert itself into an important actor in the political and economical world order. Therefore, Brazil’s current country brand is wrong; it is simply a decorative and touristic image. Brazil does not need this kind of image, rather it should create a country brand based on improved fundamentals with respect to its institutions, industries, economy, and the capacities of its population.

In this defining moment in its history, can Brazil move past its prevailing image of parties, beaches, and samba? Can a modern, more serious image accompany what Brazil has accomplished as the 5th economy in the world?

“

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Part 2: Brazil’s experience: Was the 2014 FIFA World Cup a success? According to the FIFA evaluation, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was considered a success and Brazil’s score of 9.25 out of 10 was higher than the 9 awarded to South Africa in 2010. But what does “success” really mean? Great futbol, high-scoring games, intense and dramatic overtime play? Is this what Brazil aspired to or did they want to take away something more?

reaction to FIFA’s evaluation

Taking into account all of the negative press that the Brazilian government received preceding the event, Brazilian government officials, in spite of pre-event tension with FIFA, were the first to praise FIFA’s positive post-event evaluation. According to Luis Fernandes, Brazil’s Deputy Sports Minister:

There was a spirit of pessimism within the Brazilian media representing a lack of confidence and disbelief in the success of the event. However, Brazil overcame the difficulties and challenges. One of the principal characteristics of Brazil, left by the World Cup, was the certainty that the country can combine operational efficiency with an environment of festive celebration, integration, spontaneity and this was a contagious spirit felt by international visitors and Brazilians alike.

FIFA also applauded Brazil for the security measures implemented during the event. FIFA President Sepp Blatter stated that, “Security was one of our greatest worries, especially after the protests during the Confederations Cup but fortu-nately during the World Cup everything was excellently executed.”

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Following the event, President Dilma Rouseff criticized the press for their negative coverage preceding the event:

The prognostics that they made about the World Cup were terrible. They started with “there will not be a World Cup” or “we will have a World Cup of chaos” ...”We would not have airports and we were not capable of receiving millions of tourists.” So finally, without a doubt, we proved the critics wrong with an immense and marvelous contribution from the Brazilians, this was the “World Cups of all World Cups.”

She also praised the various sectors of government involved in the event and thanked the Brazilians for their kind treatment of tourists and their measured reaction to the Brazilian defeat. Aloizio Mercadente, Brazilian Chief of Staff, also praised Brazil for its performance as a host. “We lost the trophy, but Brazil won the World Cup...the entire world admired us. Brazil knows how to win, how to lose, how to celebrate in a highly receptive climate--that charmed the world over.”

Impact of media coverage

As demonstrated in other international sporting events, the success of the event not only depends on if the event was well organized and had no major implemen-tation issues; it also relies on the type of media coverage that the event receives. All three of these success factors play off of one another. If the event is not well organized and if there are internal problems, the press will expose these issues, which can provoke deeper negative outcomes, including political embarrassment and a weaker country brand (Westhizen, 2010, 20).

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Preceding the event, Brazil was subject to negative press coverage over the failure to meet FIFA deadlines for the construction of stadiums and failing to complete many infrastructure projects amid charges of corruption and mismanagement of funds. Public outrage was manifested in protests throughout the country. Luckily, many of the pre-World Cup fears did not materialize, but this negative coverage left a lingering effect on Brazil’s reputation and country brand. Clearly, the par-tiality of the press provides a channel for the formation of perceptions, which in turn affects the demand for goods and the country brand abroad (Cage and Rouzet, 2011).

In spite of the general success of the event, the initial press coverage reinforced a negative image of a disorganized country, internal conflict, and links to corruption that still lingers in the public perception.

Therefore, if a country chooses to leverage a sporting event, like the World Cup, to support country branding, it is essential that the country consider these two planning points: a) the country branding campaign needs to have a long-term vision that is articulated and marketed to the local population, and b) all efforts must involve a high level of organization and collaboration among the public and private sectors.

medIa InFormatIon shocks (Negative or Positive)

Formation of the country brand abroad


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Impact of social media

The huge amount of media coverage and the 3,429,873 people that the attended the 64 games in Brazil directly and indirectly influenced perceptions of the host country through word of mouth and social media. As Dr. Nikolaus, Eberl estimated, for every World Cup visitor, an additional 150 people are indirectly influenced by that one individual’s perception of the host country. Therefore, given that 3,429,873 people attended the 64 games in Brazil this means that 514,480,950 additional people were directly or indirectly influenced as a result of knowing someone who attended the event.

The 2014 World Cup was the most talked about sporting event in the history of social media in its decade of existence. There were 1 billion posts and comments about the World Cup on Facebook during the first half of the tournament alone. The 2014 World Cup involved 350 million Facebook users and the “conversation” about the World Cup unfolded through a combination of 3 billion posts, com-ments and likes. 26% of all Facebook activity took place in Brazil, followed by 10% in the USA and Indonesia with 6%. There were also an estimated 2 billion Google searches related to the World Cup during the event (O Globo, 15 July 2014).


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Part 3: Brazil’s country brand during and after the eventApart from the FIFA evaluation, the Brazilian government’s glowing report, and a general sense of approval from the press, to complete the analysis I interviewed Brazilian residents and international visitors, assessing if their perceptions about Brazil had changed after the event.

Q. what associations and perceptions come to mind when you think of brazil after the world cup? has your perception changed?


Many perceptions and associations remained the same as before the event but in general people were pleasantly surprised that things were relatively well orga-nized and that security was not an issue. Brazil proved to have the resources and organizational skills to pull off the event. The first-time visitors found it less dangerous than they expected and enjoyed the fun-loving ambiance, which is an inherent element of the Brazilian culture. Although service is often an issue in Brazil, most visitors mentioned that the welcoming hospitality of the Brazilians was a positive element of their visit.


Brazilians are known for their warm hospitality and the Brazilians were proud that international visitors recognized this. They were also pleasantly surprised about the overall organization of the event and that everything went well without any serious incidents (both inside and outside of the stadiums).


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Q. has brazil’s handling of the world cup met or exceeded your expectations?


According to all interviewees, the Brazilian government’s handling of the World Cup exceeded expectations. There was a lot of talk that Brazil would not be prepared by the start date, but the stadiums, subway, and airports were in good condition. It was easier than anticipated to fly into Brazil and commute within the country. Certain respondents anticipated a very strong police and military presence and expected the citizens to rebel against the authorities by causing civil unrest and participating in disruptive demonstrations. There was also talk that the protests would negatively dampen the mood, or even put the tournament in danger, but none of these scenarios came to fruition. One respondent attended various games throughout the tournament and noticed improvements. One of the first matches he attended in Rio was Argentina vs. Bosnia, during which there were security issues and the Chilean fans broke down a gate to illegally enter the stadium. The interviewee noted that in the following matches certain measures were implemented to prevent these kinds of issues and he did not witness further incidents.


According to all interviewees, the Brazilian government’s handling of the World Cup exceeded expectations. Before the event, Brazilians always used the expres-sion, “Imagina na Copa / Imagine how things will be during the World Cup” think-ing that the precarious state of public transport and poor airport infrastructure


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would not sustain the demand of the event. Fortunately, the planning and execu-tion of the event were a success. There are, however, certain pre-existing infra-structure issues that were not resolved as promised by the government, so some noted that they were disappointed. Certain respondents commented that the government squandered their resources on building stadiums instead of investing in improvements on infrastructure. Also, customer service did not improve during the event and this is still a major issue within Brazil.

Q. was the event a success? If yes, how so? did your experience with the event positively or negatively affect your image of brazil?


Yes, it was a success for the sport and for the country. Many participants found Brazil to be a very interesting and diverse place. According to Diego Filmus, “The event was a success because a majority of Brazilians were proud to host the World Cup (I encountered thumbs up and smiles everywhere on the street, bars, beach, etc.)”

Emmanuel Burgio, President of Blue Parallel, a luxury travel company, felt that “Everything relating to transportation to and from the stadiums, the games, the incredible atmosphere after the games (especially in Rio), the eco-friendly ‘beer cups,’ the right level of security in and around the stadiums, all provided for a memorable world party.” The stadiums were modern and world class and the infrastructure was satisfactory. Bob McDonough, a security expert, stated that

“the law enforcement personnel and military assets clearly had a traffic model and a security plan, and they executed their operations effectively. My overall experience was positive, but it was clear to me that the government’s show of power and force suppressed any thoughts of public protest.”


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Yes, it was a success. Everyone thought that there would be issues with the sub-ways and with access to the stadiums, but there were no transportation issues. Furthermore, Pamella Lima, a sports journalist, was worried that visitors would be unsatisfied with the level of accommodations and mobility within the cities and the results were contrary to the expectations. Brazil showed that it has the conditions to host such a high-level event.

In the short term, the Brazilian government was able to smooth over the tense pre-event conflict and prevent any potential situations related to public discon-tent.

As highlighted earlier, preceding the event there was quite a lot of internal dia-logue and conflict regarding the government’s mismanagement and allocation of public funds. Therefore I asked Brazilian residents:

Q. did this internal dialogue and conflict affect the hosting of the event and the international public’s perception of the country? now that the event is almost complete, will this internal dialogue continue?


The riots for the first match in Sao Paulo were very public. However, the protests did not have a theme or an organized plan. They lost their momentum because the opposition was not well organized. According to Pamela Lima:

The problems of disorganization and poor government management are cultural and political problems. We have rich resources and the conditions necessary to thrive, however we are unable to advance because of our political incapability to articulate

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the changes necessary to do so. I conversed with many foreign visitors throughout the event and they told me that before the event they were wary about their visit to Brazil because they received alerts from their governments and saw negative coverage from the international press. After their experience in Brazil, they were pleasantly surprised that there were no incidents during the event. The debate will continue because it s part of a larger internal debate that was present even before the World Cup.

Q. would you return to brazil for vacation? For business? would you invest in the country?

International visitors: All participants responded that they would return to Brazil for vacation and business. However, the responses were not as positive for future investment in the country. A few respondents stated that it would depend on the kind of investment project. The majority said they would not invest due to civil unrest, crime, and poverty and the government would need to make significant improvements before he or she would even consider investing. Other respon-dents cited the “unreliability” of Brazilians as a deterrent for investment.


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Part 4: Brazil’s country brand management moving forwardQ. what can be done to capitalize on the success of the event and how can brazil benefit from the world cup experience?


The successful organization of the event should be translated into a better per-ception abroad. The pre World Cup media hype was focused on the ineptitude of the government with a strong emphasis on poverty, street crime, and civil unrest. It’s important that Brazil makes certain that the world witnessed the successful celebrations, particularly at the stadium venues and the Fan Fest locations. There was clearly successful law enforcement operation and the safety statistics should be publicized so that the international public understands that they will be safe if they visit Brazil.

According to James Dinkin, Coca Cola’s Managing Director of Sports Marketing:

Brazil needs to make this event more about the country, culture, and vast opportunity that exists in the country rather than just focusing on the sporting event. The danger in making it just a sporting event is the negative backlash the country received from their own fans and media when the Brazilian team lost.

It is important to capitalize on the success of the World Cup and to utilize the positive stories and experiences during the event and publicize this information as a means to attract more visitors to the 2016 Olympics.

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As far as what could have been done differently, some Brazilian residents thought it would be better to have less public money invested, less authoritarianism, and more public transparency. The line frequently used during the World Cup was “at any cost, at any price.” The 2016 Summer Olympics is an even greater challenge and there are already many accusations of corruption and illicit activity. There are still serious structural problems related to transportation, infrastructure, and lodging. The World Cup has left a positive legacy but there is still much to be done to prepare for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio as well as improving daily life for the average Brazilian.

Q. based on what we now know about the local and international perceptions of brazil (before and after the event) how can brazil work on its current image and project a more truthful and captivating country brand? If you could define or design a captivating and truthful country brand for brazil, how would you do so?

According to Julia Michaels, an American author living in Brazil for over 30 years:

Brazil is even more of a “Rainbow Nation” than South Africa and the country does not capitalize on this. It s also a great place for rapid social transformation so Brazil should focus on this and engage the public more in the process and set itself up as a model for other emerging countries.

According to Pamella Lima:

The credibility gained by the successful execution of the event is huge. Today there is a confidence that “we can do it.” This confidence is external and internal and without it nothing can be constructed. It would be great to host other international events whether it be sporting, political (Rio + 20), religious (World Youth Conference), etc.

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Q. what would you have liked to see done differently? Any lessons learned for the 2016 olympics in rio?


According to Bob McDonough, a security expert:

The government continues to publicize Brazil s continued economic and social development, while not ignoring what is left to be done; otherwise the protests will justifiably return and grow.

It’s also important to continue improving on transportation, accommodations, and hospitality. According to Emmanuel Burgio:

During the World Cup, all of the accommodations were blocked by FIFA and space only opened up at the last minute. So improvements definitely need to be made on the lodging front. Currently, there is a lot of pressure on the hotels in Rio. There is limited supply and high demand therefore many of the accommodations were highly overpriced and the value of what you get does not correspond to the market. This has a bad impact on the overall experience and negatively affects the country brand.


According to Amit Kumar, a financial advisor who has been living in Brazil for many years, the issue with the lack of satisfactory accommodations could be solved by using private residences. The government could implement a kind of Airbnb entity, which also would tax the private residences. This would open up more supply for foreign visitors without having to unnecessarily construct new hotels or overcharge visitors for poor accommodations due to lack of supply. It is essential that in 2016 Brazil have it together. It is their chance to prevent negative

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press and once and for all show the world that they can be organized both before and during the event, which will in turn help to further strengthen and consolidate a positive country brand.

General Conclusions & ObservationsAlthough I was familiar with country branding theory and had a strong grasp of the methodological framework employed in previous work, the direct personal experiences captured in interviews with both Brazilian residents and international visitors shed light on how people’s experience with the 2014 World Cup effected their perceptions of Brazil.

As highlighted by the pre-event media coverage and pre-event interviews with Brazilian residents, there was a general sense of pessimism and negative cover-age related to delays with deadlines and lack of preparedness by the government on the building of stadiums and infrastructure improvements. This negative press was further heightened by the Brazilian public’s discontent and anger over the exorbitant amount of public funding used for the event when many Brazilians felt that this money should be invested on initiatives such as healthcare and education. The press further propagated these negative issues and divulged this information to the international public. Therefore, most international press coverage before the World Cup was highly negative and doubtful of Brazil’s abil-ity to successfully pull off the event. Furthermore, pre-existing stereotypes and perceptions of Brazil as a disorganized and insecure country strife with poverty and crime struck a chord in the international public as these preconceptions were widely held before the event.

As noted in my post event interviews with international visitors, most of them were pleasantly surprised that things were relatively well organized and that security was not an issue. All forms of evidence (FIFA evaluation, the press, and


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interviews with Brazilian residents and international visitors) showed that Brazil proved to have the resources and organizational skills to pull off the event.

Perhaps, if the Brazilian government would have properly explained or set the expectations for the cost and public’s involvement in the event, the process may have gone smoother. However, there is no denying that Brazil as a country is also enthralled in a moment of internal dialogue and change as the country moves forward and determines the developmental path it will take. Brazil’s recent ascen-sion to the 5th largest world economy is also causing internal debate onto what it means to be Brazilian and this national construction of Brazilian identity is under-way. In spite of the initial negativity, the event was partially a success because a majority of the Brazilians were proud to host the World Cup. Brazilians have a very strong sense of pride in their country and were content that they were able to positively showcase that their country is capable of hosting such an important event. As the country continues to develop it must take into account the lessons learned from the 2014 World Cup and also further define what is their identity and how can this be displayed during the 2016 Olympics.

Lessons LearnedIt is very important that Brazil maintains its international presence, which it will have the chance to do during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, in order to prolong the effect of the country brand established during the 2014 World Cup.

The 2014 World Cup was a fascinating example of how a large international sport-ing event impacts a country’s brand. For Brazil’s specific case, it was a moment for growth. Although there is still room for improvement, overall Brazil delivered, and that will have positive effects on Brazil’s country brand going forward. In


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preparation for the Olympics, Brazil needs to implement certain measures and engage its population in the process.

Pre-event recommendations for the brazilian government

• Ensure that the government delivers on domestic promises before allocating government funding for future events

•Have realistic goals and deadlines; be organized and stick to the due dates. This will help prevent negative press leading up to the event.

•Don’t be over ambitious with goals (i.e. no need to build 12 stadiums when 6 are sufficient)

• Inform residents of task at hand and involve them in the process

•Understand potential weaknesses and try to address and improve them before the event (For example, in Brazil’s case: hospitality, security, transportation, accommodations, etc.).

•Create a believable, consistent and straightforward country brand that the public identifies with and that is visible and represented, leading up to and during the event.

The construction of a country brand takes time and it needs to be stable so that it can slowly improve its position. Furthermore, the positive attributes of Brazil: hospitality, creativity, energy, a dynamic and diverse population, and landscapes need to be better coordinated and marketed.

• Ensure that the country brand receives exposure in a way that benefits the target country and make sure to incorporate all interesting destinations.

•Harness the press coverage in the best way possible to get positive coverage for areas less known by the international public. In Brazil’s case, they need to figure out how to better market the whole country, not just Rio.


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More specifically, the tourists that attended the World Cup and traveled through-out the country were able to experience the diverse cultures and landscapes of Brazil. However, the international public watching the games at home merely saw an aerial view of the stadiums and repeated footage of Copacabana Beach. Brazil missed a big opportunity in further promoting its host cities during the event.

For example, Brazil could have further maximized on this event by showing a 5 to 10 second shot of: the famed Meeting of the Waters outside of Manaus; a local tribe in the Amazon; the Pelourinho, a colonial historical neighborhood in Salva-dor; the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ouro Preto just outside Belo Horizonte; the modernist architectural wonders of Brasilia; and a panoramic view of the Sao Paulo city skyline—one of the world’s largest cities and economic powerhouses.

event recommendations

•Conduct interviews, polls and research throughout the event to bring together comprehensive data that can be used post-event to better understand the public’s perceptions and feedback related to the event.

•Analyze demographics, inflows of tourists, countries of origin and capitalize on this market for future country branding campaigns.

Post-event recommendations

•Capitalize on the success of the event and invest in mega global tourism marketing and focus on destinations which are relatively unknown

• Focus on the people that visited the World Cup and entice them to come back


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acknowledgmentsA special thank you to the following experts & opinion informants

Alexandre Almeida, Marketing Operations Manager, FIFA

Antonio Martins, General Manager, CBV Incoming

Joy Fagundes, Head of Marketing & Communication, The Rio Times

Aarti Waghela, HouseinRio Capital, Real Estate Investment

Charlie Crocker, Independent Real Estate Management

Jamie Shadd, Social Business Entrepreneur

Emmanuel Burgio, President & CEO, Blue Parallel, Inc.

Bob McDonough, Security Expert

James Dinkin, Managing Director of Sports Marketing, Coca Cola

Jared Embick, Head Coach - Men’s Soccer, University of Akron

Andres Gil, Consultant, Deloitte

Diego Filmus, International Cooperation Specialist, Organization of

Ibero-American States

Luciano Lorenzetti, Lawyer, Patricios, Lorenzetti & Associates

Amit Kumar, Financial Advisor

Prashant Lal, Marketing Director at Reckitt Benckiser

Julia Michaels, Journalist, Blogger & Author

Pamella Lima, Sports Journalist


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secondary sources

BBC Brasil ministerio de Turismo Carta Capital ernst & young Folha de s. Paulo Future Brand o globo la nacion nyTimes reuters rio negocios simon anholt The guardian “This Time for africa—The role of international sporting events in country branding: The south african experience and lessons learned for Brazil.” Hallie neumann, Buenos aires, november 2012.

editorial team & contact Info

Author: Hallie neumann Editors: meredith Puleio & sophia sadinsky Graphic Designer: Jeremy Tinianow

For more information, please contact Hallie neumann at [email protected]

the brazil country brand & the 2014 world cup

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