Relationships through digital channels have become intrinsic to our society. Consuming content on social media and getting information from influencers is already a habit for many.
Given this scenario, what strategies should brands adopt to become part of this daily life?
To discuss this, we invited Charles Sperandio , CMO of Movida Car Rental, a professional with over 20 years of experience in marketing, to share his knowledge and expertise on the subject.
The conversation was great, and in this post you can check out the best moments from episode #24. Listen to the full episode here.
👉LUCAS – Movida has been standing out in the media for its results, its market value, and for becoming a top-of-mind. Could you share a little about Movida's trajectory in recent years?
👉CHARLES – Movida is the youngest car rental company in Brazil, founded in 2006 and now owned by the Simpar Group. It was a brand founded with a focus on mobility, and this was very important for the beginning of Movida's trajectory.
In 2014, when I joined Movida, I found a very well-developed aircraft that needed kerosene to fly throughout Brazil, and the investment came from the Simpar Group.
From then until now, in almost 8 years, we have elevated the car rental experience in Brazil. We have increased the mix of cars in Brazil. Before, each rental company had 10 to 8 groups of cars for rent, and today it is normal to have 25 to 28 groups.
One very important point is that we have a Champion positioning versus a follower positioning , which is to set trends, unlike other rental companies.
We introduced luxury cars and the possibility for people with lower incomes to rent luxury cars. That was really great because, in a way, we democratized access to these cars in Brazil.
Movida practically jumped from 9th place in the market to 2nd place as a car rental company. Today, Movida is 2nd in market share and also top of mind, behind only the segment leader.
In 2013, it was a brand with 0.5 % top-of-mind awareness , compared to the leader with 86% . And today, Movida is a brand with 30% top-of-mind awareness , compared to the leader with 56% .
We have 2,800 regional rental companies in Brazil, in a market share that is still quite fragmented. If you add up the 3 largest rental companies in Brazil, they account for almost 50% of the rental market.
And I think the foundations for this were: a strong point of sale, which has the customer journey and experience mapped out , and a lot of digitalization. Precise offline media, in the right place and at the right time for the qualified audience. And online media that delivers based advertising performance- to bring in the right revenue, within the company's budget and a healthy cost of acquisition.
And at the same time, an online branding strategy that makes the brand increasingly present to the Brazilian consumer.
👉LUCAS – Digital transformation has completely changed the customer's buying journey, and today, the consumer is in control of the conversation. How did digital transformation happen, and what was the impact of consumer empowerment within Movida?
👉CHARLES – This digital transformation practically encouraged and accelerated the migration from the 4 P's to the 4 C's of Lauterborn.
In the 4 C's concept, you no longer just look at the product; you look directly at the consumer. Therefore, what dictates what you will launch, what products and services you will create, is the need and the experience you will deliver to the consumer.
Price has become cost . You need to have the right cost to have an affordable price for your consumer.
And advertising and promotion became communication. So we have to communicate with the consumer and no longer launch campaigns to create GRPs (Gross Rating Points). It's no longer just about distribution. You need to create empathy with the consumer. Create engagement aligned with your product and brand purpose.
And the POINT OF SALE became CONVENIENCE. And "digital" is entirely about that, it's all about convenience. Today you have a digital journey where you can use WhatsApp to make a payment or you can handle all customer service via WhatsApp.
👉Check it out: #020 – The consumer is now phygital – with Bruno Guimaraes from Amigos do CX
You also have a data-driven CRM with applied BI (Business Intelligence), allowing you to know exactly what your customer wants and when they need it.
The key today is knowing who your customer is, what experience they want, and what product will meet that demand, so you can launch that product or service at the right time and in the right place.
So that he can consume in the way he needs, at a cost that fits his budget, and, most importantly, so that he identifies with the purpose of your brand.
LUCAS – Still talking about communication, Charles, what is the role of influencers in this content creation process? Do you see them as an indispensable strategy for improving relationships, engagement, and brand presence?
CHARLES – Absolutely. The spokesperson, or that guy who did merchandising or a TV commercial, today that guy is the "digital spokesperson," the digital influencer.
We started working with them back in mid-2014, and it was very interesting because we witnessed the entire evolution of the digital influencer market.
And they are extremely important because you can speak to several distinct audiences,qualified or not. So you can have strategies just for brand and product distribution to raise brand awareness.
Or, you can have niche strategies for sales and product knowledge in a specific region or segment niche.
Another very relevant point is that measurement tools have evolved significantly in recent years. Today, you can measure not only the number of followers, but also engagement or even the influencer's rating.
You can get a score to determine if an influencer is good or bad for a strategy you want to implement. You can also segment and niche the influencers.
Today, working with micro-influencers, which used to be very complex, is now super easy for you to shape opinion in a neighborhood, a city, a country, or the world.
So, at the beginning of our work, we worked with influencers a lot for top-of-mind awareness, for branding, for brand activation; they were extremely important.
Today we have a platform with 68 regular influencers and 108 seasonal or project-based influencers, and we always qualify each of them based on their respective niche.
We have influencers structured by niche segments; we have influencers with 50,000 followers or less, who are micro-influencers; we have influencers with 100,000 to 500,000 followers, who are intermediate influencers; and then you have influencers with 1 million or more followers.
So the main lesson I've learned in these 7 years of working with digital influencers is this: an influencer with 100,000 followers performs much better than an influencer with 40 million. In other words, qualification and engagement are much more important than the number of followers.
When I see in some articles that influencer "so-and-so" now has 40 million, 50 million followers, man, that's worthless. What matters is having engagement, so you have few haters and people who will add value.
At Movida, we have influencers with 100,000 followers who bring in more results than influencers with 20 million.
There are influencers who have over 20 million followers, but half of their base is made up of haters. Why would I advertise with that person? It's literally not just throwing investment away, but mainly positioning the brand in the wrong place. You have to be very careful.
👉Check it out: The new experiential marketing: total focus on the customer
LUCAS – Fantastic, Charles! Hearing you say that smaller influencers often achieve much better results than influencers with millions of followers, see if you agree with me: I think this happens because the smaller influencer seems more like, let's say, "one of us".
He's the kind of guy I can look at and identify with more deeply, many times, than with a very big influencer.
For example, I see the commercial with Reynaldo Gianecchini, it's very distant, isn't it?!
LUCAS – So, even though he might be a good image for the brand, I connect much more easily with that influencer with 50,000 followers because he's more "accessible," so to speak. Does that make sense, or do you think it's "far-fetched"?
CHARLES – Absolutely! Let's say you take a well-known celebrity with over 50 million followers. Then she makes a post where she's eating frozen food from brand "X".
Do you really think she's going to buy a frozen lasagna to microwave and eat?! That's not reality.
And that's the main point: people who are increasingly "just like us," where the consumer can identify with the communication.
For example, at Movida there is also a concern to work with the correct group of cars for the influencer that is most suitable.
So if the guy has a "cargo-oriented" drive, it'll be a Fiorino or a Jumper. If the guy has a "luxury" drive, it'll be a luxury car. But if he has more of an entry-level drive, it'll be an economy car.
LUCAS – You have to be consistent, right?! I see a lot of problems when we talk about customer experience in most companies. Marketing makes promises so detached from realitythat the customer arrives with extremely high expectations , and when they actually experience the product, it's nothing like that.
So I would say that the 80/20 (Pareto principle) of customer experience is simply about having integrity and consistency, both in your communication and in your delivery.
Charles, when we think about digital influencers, we can consider that each consumer is also a potential brand, even if only within a family circle; they also exert a certain influence within that circle.
I don't know if there's anyone who, even today, before buying or consuming any product, doesn't do some research online, doesn't go to Google to read reviews, which greatly influence the consumer's purchasing decision.
LUCAS – Do you think that, in a way, these reviews are more powerful than traditional advertising itself?
CHARLES – Yes. I think that the opinion not only of the consumer, but also, and I'll go further, of the company's own employees, is extremely important.
Because, increasingly, employees are becoming consultants for your product. And if you don't give your employees a voice and don't listen to them, you'll be completely biased in your communication with your customers. This feedback is extremely important.
We are also very concerned about review platforms, such as Reclame Aqui, and we are always seeking to understand all the feedback.
Let me give you an example: on LinkedIn, all the company's top executives, including the president, have their cell phone and email addresses available. You might think, "There must be a lot of suppliers contacting you?" Yes, there are!
But at the same time, the amount of feedback consumers give, both positive and negative, and I use that to improve our experience, is priceless.
We also use NPS® as an extremely important tool in all our stores. I would also like to highlight the Simpar Group's own positioning, which comes from its founder: "understand in order to serve".
If you want to meet your needs, you need to understand what the customer wants. "Understanding" has a lot to do with "listening," using feedback, and so on. And that's how you'll be able to meet your customer's expectations.
LUCAS – It's great to hear you say that, Charles, because we know you guys really do this and live and breathe it. Movida has been a Harmo client since 2018, and your commitment to this public feedback is impressive.
And speaking of Google My Business, the channel we use to help you manage your online reputation, the consistent work you've been doing with us since 2018 is impressive, as are the results you've achieved through this channel.
You grew your Google views by over 115% and increased conversions by over 64 %, which proves that you can use customer feedback not only as a relationship channel, but also as an acquisition channel.
Because the moment you respond to a customer publicly, you're not just responding to that particular customer; you're responding to millions of other consumers who will read that review and the response you gave to that customer. This shows how much the company cares about its customers and relationships, and it speaks volumes about the company's culture.
LUCAS – Charles, tell me a little about this NPS® thing. Have you been measuring it for quite some time now? How do you usually measure it?
CHARLES – We've been measuring NPS® since 2017. Our average satisfaction score today is 92-93. And in the last year, we've evolved and implemented eNPS, which is the internal NPS®, measured among employees, across different areas and departments.
I think if you have a low eNPS across departments within a company, imagine the NPS® among consumers.
LUCAS – Charles, do you think brands should stop talking and start engaging more?
CHARLES – Absolutely! Not just the brands, but also the influencers. During the pandemic, influencers who lacked value, who practically only focused on that lifestyle and showed a life that nobody believed was real, completely lost their voice.
And this has led to greater maturity among consumers, especially in the consumption of content and information on social media, and particularly in the case of brands.
It's no use advertising, saying you do "this" and "that" if you don't connect with your consumer. Without a doubt, brands that don't connect will disappear, even with extensive communication.
You just checked out the highlights of episode #24 of our client-to-client podcast. To listen to the full episode and find out what reading and content tips Charles shared, follow this link →.
Until next time!
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