IN THE PRESS
March 23, 2019
Read the full interview in Portuguese with Panorama Mercantil.
"Executive Tatiana Pacheco is currently Co-President at RAPP Brazil. With an integrated vision of the communication ecosystem (Digital, CRM, Promo, ATL), she adds value to big brands’ strategies through marketing and communication actions that the agency develops for its clients. She acts in the most varied segments of the market, with leading brands such as Mastercard, Vivo, Itaú, Locaweb and Pepsi, which increases her ability to promote cross-experiences between her clients. She has a degree in Communication and Marketing, with an MBA from FIA and Omnicom University – SMP Boston in 2011. “Tatiana is a brilliant executive, she represents a new generation of executives with a digital-based vision of data. She deeply understands the agency’s culture, and our clients’ culture also in this new moment of the industry,” says Abaete Azevedo, founding partner and CEO at RAPP Brazil. “In many situations, we feel like we’re different from brands. We are not. We have shareholders, financial reports, we worry about profitability and billing. We develop business plans, career plans for our employees, and other initiatives to strengthen our work environment. This is what we aim for at RAPP, and, then, I believe the second step is to revisit our business model due to the digital transformation our society has been going through,” says Tatiana.
Tatiana, what is fundamental for a communications agency to survive?
Communication agencies must, first, see themselves as the companies they are. In many situations, we feel like we’re different from brands. We are not. We have shareholders, financial reports, we worry about profitability and billing. We develop business plans, career plans for our employees, and other initiatives to strengthen our work environment. This is what we aim for at RAPP, and, after all this, I believe the second step is to revisit our business model due to the digital transformation our society has been going through. Talking about transformation means not only saying we understand technology and innovation. It means reconsidering our working model: operation, products/services, processes, people and the tools needed so this new ecosystem can be reinvented. It’s a painstaking process of learning and evolution.
How do you create experiences that are relevant, intelligent and personal nowadays?
The formula from the past still works: data and emotion. Without these, we have no means to create real experiences with consumers. It isn’t new. Publicity is creative and emotional. The challenge for every campaign is to emotionally connect to a consumer, so it must make sense. The difference now is that the amount of data brands have access to is absurd - there are so many options that communication is not linear anymore. The brand is not in charge anymore, it’s the consumer who’s in charge and setting the tone. They have many options and ways to externalize what pleases them or not - just look at social networks.
What values do you believe RAPP Brazil has brought into the market throughout the years?
Our deep knowledge about data. Identifying the right data we need and what we want and can do with it. (Data Science).
Being an agency guided by data was always our goal, that’s the base of CRM. Now, the perspective has changed. We talk about assuming that the one controlling the brand-consumer relationship is the consumer, and, from that, we work on the journey, identifying the pain points and recommending the right communication, be it online or offline. It needs to be relevant and adherent. We talk a lot about Smart Data internally, we shouldn’t have data just for the sake of it.
Do you believe these values are in the essence of the organization - or they were born from your daily operation?
They are in the essence, but, for sure, they were improved (and will always be) to answer the communication ecosystem we have today accordingly.
Can we consider the digital marketing applied by big Brazilian companies ideal?
I understand what people call digital marketing, but I don’t think the expression is correct. Marketing is marketing, it has always been, and it hasn’t changed. What changed was the way brands connect to their consumers. Consumers don’t distinguish it anymore, especially the new generations. The digital environment has exploded in the last 15 years, and there’s more to come if we consider all the technology developed by mankind. But, overall, I see some good work on the digital environment, especially from brands who do not differ print and online because they manage to have a single view of the consumer experience. I know this is a challenge for brands, because not all organizations have an organizational structure that helps seeing and controlling all touch points in the same operation.
How do we create a consistent communication with elements that are interesting and successful both for the audience and the clients?
With a good brief - one that has a good product or service behind it. The communication agency must understand the challenge and the goal behind the business, understand why that offer/product/service makes sense for the target it wishes to work with. The agency must, together with the client, determine exactly where they want to act and how that communication plan can be developed to answer the needs that were stablished. It’s fundamental to have KPIs and ways to measure them. And, obviously, always think of data.
And what is the role of innovation in this scenario?
Innovation is inherent. It must be used whenever it is necessary. It is the means, but it shouldn’t be the solution to all problems. One thing that cannot happen is using it just to say you’re “up to date.”
What is the future of CRM?
It’s the present. The base of CRM is knowing the consumer and act according to their journey with the company. There’s nothing more current than that. The difficult part is that people understand CRM as Directed Communications or, worse, as a channel. “It’s the email, the direct mail, the communication in the bill…”. CRM is a business strategy, it’s timeless.
What can retain a client nowadays?
The agency-brand relationships are becoming smaller every day. A recent Scopen study indicates that brands are, on average, with their agencies for only 4.6 years. Which is a pity if we consider that, for building a brand, four years go by so quickly. When it starts to take shape, the relationship ends. But brand today want, most of all, cooperation and commitment. They want agencies that take over their businesses as if they were theirs.
Once they’re retained, what can these clients expect from an agency like RAPP Brazil?
Quality work, with efficiency and results."
