Reaching out to new consumers, either the previously impoverished or the extra-national is key for São Paulo agencies, at least one of which, DM9 DDB, has recently undergone a serious shakeup.

CD Sergio Valente returned to DM9 (where he worked for seven years) in March 2002 after a nine-month stint with São Paulo's Salles D'Arcy. Lured there last year by the dual opportunities of re-building the struggling D'Arcy franchise and working with renowned creative Lee Garfinkel, Valente was enticed to return to DM9 with a similar remit. His recall coincided with the return of agency founder Nizan Guanaes - who promptly laid off 60 employees and founded NGI, a Brazilian agency network.

The challenge to rebuild internally coincides with new business opportunities. Valente says stability and inflation control are opening new, previously impoverished consumer segments to the agency's marketing schemes.

"Many Brazilian families at the lowest levels of the economy [earn] more, so we have to study them more than we used to," says Valente, who plans to draw from his experiences in the presidential campaigns of 1994 and 1998 to reach poorer potential customers for brands such as Honda and Itau Insurance. "I believe we have to sell to people we used to only ask for votes. We have to put more family standards in our communications and tap into their aspirations and dreams. We can't communicate with the same strategies and ideas to the upper classes and the lower classes. With these new consumers, we have to be less global and more local."

This need to communicate with both ends of Brazil's economic spectrum has impacted on agencies' media and creative choices.

"When the Germans broke down the Berlin wall they had to focus either on the West Germans (experienced consumers) or East Germans (inexperienced consumers)," says Fabio Fernandes, president/CD of F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi. "German advertising became crap because they tried to talk to both groups. We are trying to do the same thing here, getting poor people to participate in consumer culture. If you are advertising BMW in Brazil, you would probably use more print and billboards, with some direct mail and Internet and once in a while you could have a spot on TV to sustain the magic and the image of the brand. If you are selling beer, the way to reach the most people is TV."

For Skol beer, F/Nazca went the populous route. Rather than push the fact that the suds are easier to drink than the competition, the eventual sell-line became "Skol: goes down round," slang conveying the beer tastes smooth but is 'hard'. "We did P&G-style commercials with demos making ridiculous comparisons," describes Fernandes. "We had a round arrow with our logo that passes smoothly down a drinker's throat, while another guy drinks a square arrow rattling painfully as it goes down. Another man gets a [non-Skol] square caught in his throat and complains to his doctor, who warns, it's going to hurt on the way out."

Recent Skol work has a bikini-clad girl who, via body language, asks a fellow down the beach if he wants to drink with her. The man fails to discern what she wants and over the course of several spots and a specially designed Web site, hilarity ensues. Shot by Jose Pedro Goulart of Porto Alegre's Zeppelin Filmes, the work helped Skol take a 34% share of the beer market.

That said, the mass-market targeted Skol work is diametrically opposite F/Nazca's annual spots for conservation group, Fundação SOS Mata Atlantica. Directed by Zero Filmes' Sergio Amon, the spots feature knotholes resembling eyes and trees shaped like human forms, reminding conscientious (and no doubt wealthy) viewers that destroying forests kills more than just trees with the slogan, "You Are What You Cut."

Across the industry however, it is production budgets that are being cut. "We are producing 5% to 10% fewer commercials," says Marcello Serpa, co-chairman/CD of AlmapBBDO. "Average budgets range from $100,000 to $120,000 US."

But all agree that tight production budgets and time frames do not necessarily hobble solid creative ideas. AlmapBBDO recently worked with director Clovis Mello on "Fare Play" for Skol-rival Antarctica Pilsen, a spot beginning with the sexy 9 and 1/2 Weeks montage of a man pouring beer on his girlfriend. He sensually licks the beer away and soon finds himself taste-testing his bicycle seat, lamp shade and coffee table after coating them with Antarctica. Beyond the Brazilian market, AlmapBBDO produces international work for clients Pepsi and Audi.

"Greetings," a Pepsi World Cup spot directed by Andrucha Waddington of Conspiração, shows footballer Roberto Carlos using a formal Japanese bow to sneak a shot over the defencemen's lowered heads. And working through Polo de Imagem, Argentine director Pucho Mentasi (repped by Palomar in the US) produced Audi Quattro "Slot Car," for air in Europe.

"We have the possibility to work with international directors on international projects," says Serpa.

Globalization goes both ways.

Webfiles:
DM9 DDB> http://www.dm9.com.br
F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi> http://www.fnazca.com.br
Almap BBDO> http://www.almapbbdo.com.br