Based in Novo Hamburgo, the agency highlights the effectiveness of using data to build a brand and detach itself from the image of a regional company
Agency in Novo Hamburgo, in Rio Grande do Sul, WT.AG reaches 20 years proving the effectiveness of its positioning: The brand + performance agency. One of the agency’s most emblematic cases, which shows how data can be used for branding, was the change of name of Unilever’s content and e-commerce hub, All things hair, which became Everything for hair, in Brazil.
People don’t speak much English in the country and we started testing something in the market. We started running two ads at the same time and it was clear that in Portuguese the site performed much better, people spent more time consuming in the store and bought more. Because of the performance analysis, we changed the brand and only in Brazil did it become Everything for hair, while in the rest of the world it continues as All things hair, explains Faberson Chequi, partner-director of planning.
Created in August 2003 by Lucas Feltes, CEO and founding partner, WT.AG also moves away from the image of a regional agency – it has also operated in São Paulo for five years. According to the executive, 50% of the agency’s revenue already originates from the São Paulo market.
2020 and 2021 were years in which we grew a lot. And the trend is growing more and more in the São Paulo market, highlights Feltes. An important aspect is that we do not have any client that represents more than 15% of the agency’s revenue. We are managing to balance this well. And, also, we are making a move to diversify the portfolio, to have clients from different segments, adds the CEO.
With digital first DNA, Feltes today translates WT.AG’s positioning as a 360 communications agency with a focus on branding and performance, which has data in essence and not in speech. We work for the client effectively through communication so that they can sell and generate more value for the brand, he summarizes, as an administrator by training and an entrepreneur by nature. I started creating blogs and websites for brands, he says.
Feltes highlights that the purpose today is to build the future of brands, through brand performance and people, balancing branding and data. When an account enters WT.AG, it must leave better than it entered. Our positioning is very much this: first we have to build a brand, but at the end of the day we also have to sell, he reinforces. We combine technology with creativity, because even today we have these two separate worlds, adds Chequi.
If in recent years brands have focused a lot on performance, Feltes highlights that the importance of good ideas, of creativity, is back.
There are clients of ours who invested a lot in performance and stopped investing in branding, and we noticed a drop in searches. This is because you are not investing in the brand. What also ends up happening is that brands often don’t realize that their audience is getting older and they need to find a new audience. We always have to feed this chain, says the executive.
We believe in long-term branding, always planting branding, and short-term performance, conceptualize.
Regarding awards, Feltes highlights that WT.AG is restructuring itself to participate in awards. We understand that awards are important to increase our reputation. Therefore, we are restructuring ourselves to be in awards shows too.
Read the full article in the October 23, 2023 edition
