Activating a Brand Through Digital Marketing: The Case of ‘Os Bonitos’

With the emergence of the internet and the growth of social networks, consumers began to use them to communicate with each other spreading ideas and sharing information. Therefore, this has impacted the communication between brands and their consumers, who recognized the opportunity to use them to promote their products, establish closer relationships with consumers, add value to the brand, and increase awareness. So, brands are using digital media as a marketing and communication strategy, to engage consumers and provide greater diversity of brand experiences. Thus, social networks are considered empowering of a brand's digital activation, as they promote a more human customer relationship, increase recognition, notoriety, and loyalty, in addition to being cost-effective, easy to use, and intuitive. This study aims to understand how the brand ‘Os Bonitos’ used digital media as a brand activation strategy. Specifically, it is intended to understand the objectives and practices of brand activation, as well as understand the relationship between the brand's content and follower interaction. To this end, a case study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Data collection was done through a semi-structured interview with the brand's founder and an analysis of the brand's social media, particularly its Instagram. Document analysis and content analysis of its posts were conducted. The results obtained from the semi-structured interview concluded that the brand activation of ‘Os Bonitos’ through digital media aligns with the stages and practices referenced in the literature review. On the other hand, with the results obtained from the analysis of the brand's Instagram, it was understood how the brand communicates with its consumers, namely, which post have the highest interaction and what is the correlation between the brand's content and the followers’ interactions with it.