What can Brazil and the UK learn about effectiveness from each other?

The UK and Brazil. One speaks English, the other Portuguese. When it’s winter in one, it’s summer in the other. One has pints, the other has the litrão (a one-litre beer designed explicitly for sharing).

Yet, despite these differences, having lived and worked in both, I’d argue we have far more in common than you might think. A deep-rooted football culture. A shared penchant for politeness and avoiding direct confrontation. A royal family (yes, Brazil is the only country in South America to have its own royal family).

Above all, we share a culture of producing highly creative — and inherently effective — work. Both nations fundamentally believe that selling is an art of seduction, not merely a rational delivery of facts, as some other markets do.

However, stepping from London’s methodical, evidence-driven boardrooms to São Paulo’s frenetic, high-energy atmosphere was (and still is) a profound cultural shock.

When the IPA invited me to write this, it was a no-brainer — a subject I could talk about for hours. But it is also important to say that this is my personal opinion, drawing from my dual-market experience. So, take these observations with a pinch of salt — and perhaps a slice of lime.

Three things the UK could learn from Brazil about effectiveness

The strength of the integrated model. Unlike most global markets in the 1980s, where creative and media agencies decoupled, Brazil kept its structure completely intact.

Embracing social media commerce. Over 140 million Brazilians utilise social media daily, not just for chatting, but for booking medical appointments, closing deals and purchasing items. Insider, a fashion brand, sold £300k in its first month by utilising AI to turn sales assistants into digital micro-influencers, sending curated, highly personalised shoppable links directly to their client base.

And Zé Delivery, a direct-to-consumer app, delivers cold beer in under 30 minutes, driven by real-time social listening, providing hyper-contextual promo codes on platforms like Instagram and X at the exact second a cultural conversation peaks. There are highly profitable brands being built around social ecosystems, delivering effectiveness at scale.

Preserving a 'gut feeling' culture. Reliance on pre-testing in Brazil is remarkably low. Very few brands rigorously pre-test their campaigns, and those that do use the data for minor tweaks rather than letting it dictate the final decision. It leaves room for intuition and creative leaps that algorithms simply cannot replicate.

However, if you think the grass is greener on the South American side, think again. There are also cons that I’d like to talk about.

Three things Brazil needs to learn from the UK

Marketing science awareness. Whilst econometrics, the 60/40 rule of thumb for balancing spend on brand building and activation marketing, the importance of investing in share of voice to grow market share and the teachings of Byron Sharp, Les Binet, and Peter Field are common parlance in UK marketing departments, the same cannot be said for Brazil.

Too many Brazilian marketers are still prioritising Return on Ad spend (ROAS) — evaluating and optimising campaigns based on revenue generated per real (or pound) spent on advertising — and pouring 80-90% of their budgets into performance marketing. Econometrics and MMM remain niche, sophisticated tools used only by a select few. Brazil needs a serious injection of British rigour.

Consistent brand platforms. The UK offers a masterclass in sustaining brand platforms over the long haul. Look no further than recent IPA Effectiveness Award winners like Cadbury’s “There’s a glass and a half in everyone”, McCain’s “We are family”, or all-time classics like “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” and Compare the Market's meerkats. Keeping the core idea consistent whilst refreshing the execution pays off massively — a lesson in patience Brazil has yet to fully grasp.

The IPA itself. I write this not to flatter my hosts, but to recognise that the IPA is not an institute, it is an institution that many markets — not just Brazil — could learn from. To me, the IPA is a bedrock of effectiveness. Everything I know about the subject, I’ve learnt through its courses, awards, events, and literature. It stands as a brilliant lesson in commitment and consistency to this topic, personally my biggest passion, and why I decided to open my Strategic Brand Consulting business in Brazil.

I’ll be flying from São Paulo to London this October solely to attend the IPA Effectiveness Conference on 7 October. It will be my fourth year going, and if I were you, I wouldn’t miss it. If you’re around, let’s grab a coffee, a pint, or a litrão.

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and were submitted in accordance with the IPA terms and conditions regarding the uploading and contribution of content to the IPA newsletters, IPA website, or other IPA media, and should not be interpreted as representing the opinion of the IPA.