Indie / Filmmaker / Q&A
Spotlight - Travel Brasil Interview
Brazil
Brand/Agency
Embratur, Visit Brasil
Filmmaker
Sam Kolder
Video
Sam Kolder in Rio de Janeiro and Búzios | #HappyByNature

Quick Intro: This summer, travel vlogger Sam Kolder collaborated with Embratur and Visit Brasil to create a visually stunning tour of South America’s largest gem: Brazil. #HappyByNature follows Kolder along the coast and over Rio de Janeiro as he describes what makes Brazil worth the trip. According to Walter Vasconcelos, Embratur’s Marketing & PR Director, the campaign has already captivated viewers from all over.

“The visual appeal [of] tourist destinations, and the happiness and friendliness of the Brazilian people are even more highlighted when [shown] in a video,” Vasconcelos told the Travel Video Awards.The audience’s mouth can water [when they see] a traditional dish, or even, they may feel like they’re basking in the sun on a Brazilian beach. Such sensations turn into the desire of coming and experiencing everything from up close.”

The #HappybyNature experience provides viewers with a detailed, more personal look at all Brazil has to offer, and Vasconcelos gave us a glimpse at how Kolder and Embratur’s missions go hand-in-hand:

So what was the approach and goal of the Sam Kolder “Happy By Nature” video? How does it interact with the larger Visit Brasil brand as a whole?

WV: “In all contents produced by Sam Kolder, the interaction between him and nature stands out. Based on this feature, we gathered two great attractions for the foreign audience – ecotourism and adventure – and the two most visited destinations – Rio de Janeiro and Buzios.

The language he uses as a filmmaker highlights interesting aspects to announce Brazil as a tourist destination. Thus, the idea here is to show Brazil through his eyes *[of]* a tourist, stressing not only the natural *[beauty]*, but mainly the happiness, charm*,* and friendliness of the Brazilian people.”

Who is the target audience for your digital content?

WV: “The 21-plus audience who are particularly interested in travel, ecotourism, family travel, couples travel, solo travel, sun and beach, nature, sports, vacation, culture, cruise travel, Tourism, summer…”

If you are involved in the development, how do you find and decide on the stories you tell in your content?

WV: “We followed Sam Kolder during his stay in Brazil. We prepared a schedule and a guide including tourist attractions and great experiences to be explored. We prepared a flexible itinerary, leaving Sam free to create and explore different angles and moments [for] each place and experience.”

What kind of trends do you see in how and where people travel?

WV: “I’ve noticed many people traveling alone. People are open and [are] looking for new things, they want to meet new people, [see] new places and have great experiences. Traveling alone provides you with a lot of great new experiences. I see a lot of interest in the sun, beach, and ecotourism industries.”

What is your selection process like when choosing partners to work with? Are you involved in the development of the video itself?

WV: “Content created or supported by digital influencers are closer to the audience, since people [can] see themselves in them, look up to them and like their personality. Besides, influencers give credibility and multiply the reach of the content. Whenever we choose a partner, we look for profiles that, besides following Visit Brazil and Embratur’s action guidelines, create content with visual quality and use attractive, engaging language and storytelling.”

How do you measure and track the success of a video?

WV:According to the KPIs of [the] campaign, the video performance [was measured by] the views and the reach was monitored by [a] data analysis tool […] buzz caused by the content [is evaluated from] the comments on social media, [which is] captured by the monitoring tool.”

What were the KPIs and results of this campaign?

WV: The KPIs defined for this campaign were aimed to measure the Visibility and Efficiency of the content exhibited. Measurements such as reach, impressions on social media, sessions on the hotsite, traffic source, post engagement and new followers. This campaign reached over 5 million people on Facebook and Instagram, while [on] Twitter there were more than 38 million impressions on posts. The hotsite developed exclusively for the campaign received 65 thousand visits during the period evaluated. The videos received around 13 million views and all the campaign contents received almost 7 million interactions in total. The Visit Brazil social media [page] reached 9,500 thousand new followers. The target audience was successfully reached and the campaign results were positive by means of the contents exhibited as well as the promotional activities in Russia.”

How are consumers interacting with your brand?

WV: “In general, our interaction with users is positive. They show interest in traveling to Brazil and usually share the experience they had when they visited Brazil and always say they’d like to come back again.”

[This interview was edited for clarity]