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Brazilian tourism and the main Brazilian export products may now speak the same language, at least when the subject is the logo. With that intention, last week the "Made in Brazil" brand, designed by Kiko Farkas, from Máquina Estúdio, was released in São Paulo, the most industrialized city in Brazil.
The symbol is part of the Tourism Ministry's Aquarela (Watercolour) plan, which aims at placing Brazil among the 20 greatest tourist destinations up to 2007.
The first international test for the logo will be in March, in Berlin, Germany, during the ITB (Tourism Fair). The logo will be printed on the stand of the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur).
The event will take place between March 11 and 15. It is the first of the 60 that the country will actively participate in during the year of 2005, according to Tourism minister Walfrido Mares Guia.
For the Aquarela plan and for the actions for promotion on the foreign market, the ministry will invest around US$ 50 million up to the end of the year.
Development
Creation of the brand is an attempt to give a permanent visual identity to Brazil, like that of other countries, among them Australia, South Africa and Turkey.
For development of the symbol, the Tourism Ministry organized studies with over 6,000 people in 19 countries. Those heard included travel agents, people who have travelled to the country at least once, and potential tourists, who do not know Brazil.
"Those chosen answered questions about the colors that are characteristic of Brazil, the food, the reason for their trip and, last of all, a word to describe the country," stated Edson Campos, the Embratur Marketing director.
With regard to the colors, one of the most important items for the creation of the logo, most people answered that Brazil was colored, and that is why the colors white, blue, green, yellow, orange and red appear on the logo. So as to summarize Brazil, those interviewed answered that the word is happiness.
With the study in hands, 37 design offices were selected to create the symbol. Apart from the figures, they received a watercolor by landscape artist Burle Marx, made at the end of the 1930's.
The designers re-read the work and joined it to the Tourism Ministry's study. Kiko Farkas presented the victorious project. "The logo joins colors and illustrates what tourists think of Brazil. It is happy, luminous and modern," stated Farkas.
Use
Use of the Brazil brand by the private sector is still being studied. A group of representatives of the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex), the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), the Tourism Ministry and the Social Communications Secretariat (Secom) should meet in the first half of 2005 to establish the rules for use.
It is probable that companies will have to pay for use of the logo on their packages. The companies will also be certified. "The product will have to be good quality so as to use the symbol," stated Guia. Institutional use, on stands at international fairs, for example, should involve no cost.
Among the products to test the brand are furniture, jewelry, shoes, ceramics and even coffee, which already has a symbol that is consolidated on the foreign market.
The famous "Cafés do Brasil" (Brazilian Coffees) symbol, followed by a drawing of three green leaves and some coffee beans, should also be restructured. "The Brazilian brand is flexible, and may be incorporated to the one already existing," stated Edson Campos
Gifts
According to Guia, gifts with the Brazilian brand will be distributed at airports in the country. Women will receive cangas (kinds of sarongs) and men, baseball caps. The intention is to distribute six million items this year.
In 2003, over four million foreign tourists visited the country, according to figures in the Embratur 2004 Statistics. Argentina, the USA, Germany and Uruguay were the leaders, in that order, in the ranking of the countries that sent most tourists to Brazil.
Translated by Mark Ament
ANBA – Brazil-Arab News Agency
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