Connecting through digital channels has become intrinsic to our society. Consuming content through social media and getting information from influencers is already a habit for many.
With this scenario established, what strategies should brands adopt to be part of this daily routine ?
To talk about this, we called Charles Sperandio , CMO of Movida Aluguel de Carros , a professional with over 20 years of experience in marketing to share his knowledge and experience on the subject.
The chat is amazing and in this post you can check out the best moments from this episode, which was #24. Listen to the full episode here .
👉LUCAS – Movida has been gaining media attention for its results, its market value, and its rise to prominence as a top-of-mind . Can you share a little about Movida's trajectory over the past few years?
👉 CHARLES – Movida is the youngest rental company in Brazil, founded in 2006 and now part of 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 plane that needed kerosene to fly across Brazil, and the investment came from the Simpar Group.
Since then, in almost eight years , we've elevated the car rental experience in Brazil. We've expanded the car mix in Brazil. Previously, each rental company had 10 to 8 rental car groups, but today, it's typical to have 25 to 28 groups.
A very important point is that we have a Champion versus a follower positioning, which is to dictate trends, unlike other rental companies.
We introduced luxury cars and the possibility for people with lower incomes to rent luxury cars. This was really cool, because, in a way, we democratized access to these cars in Brazil.
Movida jumped from 9th place in the market to 2nd place as a rental company. Today, Movida is second in market share and also top of mind, behind only the segment leader.
In 2013, it was a brand with a top of mind of 0.5% vs. the leader with 86% . And today, Movida is a brand with a top of mind of 30% vs. the leader with 56% .
We have 2,800 regional rental companies in Brazil, a market share that remains quite fragmented. If you add up the three major rental companies in Brazil, you have almost 50% of the rental market.
And I believe the foundations for this were: a strong point of sale , with a mapped customer journey and experience , and a strong digital presence . Offline media needs to be in the right place and at the right time for a qualified audience. And online media uses performance media to generate the right revenue, within the company's budget, and with a healthy acquisition cost .
branding strategy , which makes the brand increasingly present among Brazilian consumers.
👉 LUCAS – Digital transformation has completely changed the customer purchasing journey, and today, the consumer is the master of the conversation. How did digital transformation unfold, and what impact has consumer empowerment had on Movida?
👉 CHARLES – This digital transformation practically encouraged and made that 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 precisely at the consumer. So, what dictates what you'll launch, what products and services you'll create, is the need and the experience you'll deliver to the consumer .
PRICE has become COST to get the cost right to have an affordable price for your consumer.
And ADVERTISING and PROMOTION have become COMMUNICATION . So we have to communicate with consumers and no longer launch campaigns to generate GRPs (Gross Rating Points). It's no longer just distribution. You need to build empathy with the consumer. Create engagement in line with your product and brand purpose.
And the POINT OF SALE has become CONVENIENCE . And "digital" is totally that: total convenience. Today, you have a digital journey where you can use WhatsApp to make a payment or you can handle all your customer service via WhatsApp.
👉Check out: #020 – The consumer is now phygital – with Bruno Guimaraes from Amigos do CX
You also have a data-driven CRM with BI ( Business Intelligence ) applied and you can know exactly what your consumer wants and when they need it.
The point today is to know who your consumer is, what experience they want, and which 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 the way he needs, at a cost that fits his budget and, most importantly, so that he can identify with the purpose of your brand .
LUCAS – Still on the topic of communication, Charles, what is the role of influencers in this content process? Do you see them as an indispensable strategy for improving relationships, engagement, and brand presence?
CHARLES – Absolutely. The poster boy, or the guy who did merchandising or a TV commercial, today that guy is the "digital poster boy" or the digital influencer .
We started working with them in mid-2014 and it was very interesting because we captured the entire evolution of this digital influencer market.
And they're extremely important because you can reach several different audiences, both qualified and unqualified. So you can have strategies solely for brand and product distribution to build brand awareness.
Or, you may have niche strategies for sales and product knowledge in a specific region or niche segment.
Another important point is that measurement tools have evolved significantly in recent years. Today, you can measure not only the number of followers, but also the engagement and even the influencer's qualifications.
You can use a score to determine whether an influencer is a good or bad fit for a strategy you want to implement. You can also segment and niche influencers.
Today, working with micro-influencers, which used to be very complex, is now super easy for you to create an 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 , for branding , for brand activation, they were extremely important.
Today, we have a platform with 68 permanent influencers and 108 seasonal or job-based influencers, and we always qualify each of them based on their niche.
We have influencers structured by niche segments, we have influencers with 50,000 followers and below, who are micro influencers, we have influencers with 100,000 to 500,000 , who are intermediate influencers, and you have influencers with 1 million and above.
So the main lesson I've learned from these seven years of working with digital influencers is this: an influencer with 100,000 followers performs much better than one 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 engagement , so you have fewer haters and people who will add value.
At Movida, we have influencers with 100,000 followers who bring more results than influencers with 20 million.
There's an influencer with over 20 million followers, but half of their base is made up of haters . Why would I advertise with this guy? It's literally not only a waste of investment, but also a misplaced positioning of the brand . You have to be very careful.
👉Check out: The new experience marketing: total focus on the customer
LUCAS – Sensational, Charles! Hearing you say that smaller influencers often deliver much better results than influencers with millions of followers, see if you agree with me: I think this happens because smaller influencers are more, let's say, "people like us."
He's the guy I can look at and identify with more deeply, often than with a very big influencer.
For example, I see the commercial there with Reynaldo Gianecchini, it's very distant, right?!
LUCAS – So, as much as 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 just a "trip"?
CHARLES – Totally! Let's say you take a well-known celebrity with over 50 million followers. Then they post about themselves 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 is the main point: people are increasingly “people 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 best suits them .
So if the guy has a "cargo" feel, it'll be a Fiorino or a Jumper. If the guy has a "luxury feel," it'll be a luxury car. But if he has a more entry-level feel, it'll be an economy car.
LUCAS – You have to be consistent, right?! I often see that one of the biggest problems when we talk about customer experience is that in most companies, marketing makes an ad promising something so disconnected from reality that 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 having integrity and consistency, both in your communication and in your delivery .
Charles, when we think about digital influencers, we can take into account that each consumer is also a potential brand , even if in a family circle, that is, they also exert a certain influence in that circle.
I don't know if there is anyone, even today, who, before buying or consuming any product, doesn't do some research on the internet, doesn't go on Google to read the reviews, which greatly influence the consumer's purchasing decision.
LUCAS – Do you think that, in some way, these reviews are more powerful than traditional advertising itself?
CHARLES – Yes. I think that the opinion of not only the consumer, but also the company's own employees, is extremely important.
Because, increasingly, employees are consultants for your product. And if you don't give your employees a voice and don't listen , you'll be completely biased in your communication with your customers. This feedback is extremely important.
We also have a great concern for review platforms, such as Reclame Aqui, and we are always seeking to understand all 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. So you think, "There must be a lot of suppliers looking for you?" Yes!
But at the same time, the amount of consumers who give positive and negative feedback, and I use that to improve our experience, is priceless .
We also use the NPS® as an extremely important tool in all our stores. I also emphasize Simpar Group's own positioning, which comes from its founder: " understand to serve ."
If you want to serve, 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 meet your customer's expectations.
LUCAS – It's great to hear you say that, Charles, because we know you really do this and live 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 through which we 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 been able to achieve through this channel.
You grew the number of Google views by over 115% and increased conversions by over 64 % . This is proof that you can use customer feedback not only as a relationship channel, but as an acquisition channel as well.
Because when you respond to a customer publicly, you're not just responding to that particular customer, you're responding to all those 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; it speaks volumes about the company's culture .
LUCAS – Charles, tell me a little about this NPS® issue. Have you been measuring it for a long time? How do you usually measure it?
CHARLES – We've been measuring NPS® since 2017. Our average satisfaction rate today is 92-93. And in the last year, we've evolved and implemented eNPS , which is the internal NPS®, measured among employees, across departments.
I think that if you have a low eNPS among departments in a company, imagine the NPS® among the consumer.
LUCAS – Charles, do you think brands should stop talking and start interacting more?
CHARLES – Totally! Not just brands, but influencers too. During the pandemic, influencers who had no value, who practically just stuck to that lifestyle , showing a life no one believed was real, completely lost their voice .
And this has led to maturity in consumers, especially in the consumption of content and information on social media, and especially in the case of brands.
Brands that don't connect will certainly disappear, .
You just caught the highlights from episode #24 of our client-to-client podcast. To listen to the full episode and learn about Charles's reading and content tips, click the link → .
See you next time!
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