Couple tells propmark about their social media posts and how they balance married life and work partners
Flávia Alessandra and Otaviano are one of the most charismatic couples on the Brazilian arts scene. Married for 17 years, they established themselves on Brazilian television through soap operas and entertainment programs.
Currently, both have a strong presence on social media and have launched Agncia Family, which focuses on managing the couple’s career.
Together, they have more than 19 million followers on social media and dozens of advertising campaigns, both individually and as a couple.
To the propmark, Flávia and Otaviano talk about their beginnings on social media and how they balance married life and working partners. Read the full interview:
How did your relationship with the internet begin?
O: It started timidly, if we compare it to what we have today in terms of structure and thinking. But we very quickly detected that our presence was essential to mark the digital territory and enhance the connection with that large audience that was there. Our large audience, who sat there on that sofa, the biggest sofa in the world, as I joke, and noticed our work on open TV with them – because that was how they perceived us. We didn’t have any generation of content focused on digital, our work was on open TV. And there, on that big sofa with them, we had this feedback box of our work: they noticed how I presented, the soap opera that Flvia was playing, or the programs that we were on as a guest. And that was very interesting. But we also realized that it was necessary to keep up with developments, so we went to other social networks, with the emergence of new platforms, content and formats. We hired a team. Today we have a multi-skilled team, very powerful people who range from creation to management and planning of networks as a whole. We are on almost all social networks and there is an interesting thing that the brands, together with us, created a special connection to generate different businesses and today we have a very positive result. If you look at our history of relationships with brands in recent years, especially on social media, it is very powerful. Which demonstrates the strength and need for very professional thinking regarding the internet and social networks especially.
F: I remember that my relationship with the internet, in addition to being a new place for research, but closer to social networks, my first attraction was the proximity to the public, because in the beginning that was what we had . So, if I come from a time when letters were sent, the social network brought this closeness to the idol. I was able to spend time with more people, up close, and exchange with them. And after this fan base came another world, that of business. And yes, I think there was a repositioning of dedication. Being able to be there for the brands, to be present, to give my opinion, to understand who Flávia is, because people saw me a lot through the characters and they, at times, were distant from me. So, there I had the possibility of being Flávia.
You are one of the best-known couples both on the internet and in the television world. When did you start working on advertising together and how did you do this work?
O: Since we got married, regardless of our artistic and commercial individualities, which were already very powerful, as a couple, we quickly detected that a new opportunity was emerging for us to generate business with this image – said and done. As soon as we got married we started doing a lot of campaigns. Offline, national, regional campaigns, corporate events – it was at one of these events that I met Flvia. And it got bigger and bigger. Until the moment we understood that advertising was also migrating increasing investments to the digital environment. That was when we wasted no time and prepared to make this migration too. That’s when we built our own studio, to generate content. We founded our own agency, Agência Family, which is a management agency, but has an advertising mindset, because it has a multi-skilled team that goes from creation, to planning, on the commercial side of production. Everything to be able, together with agencies and brands, to generate thinking about format, strategy and content models, understanding our millions and millions of followers. Also going further, with a media strategy and generating awareness and branding, which is very cool for the brands we associate with. And the most interesting thing is that this capillarity that we have today in business and relationships with brands is very large. It ranges from a large supermarket chain to a large international hotel chain. It goes to the largest facial harmonization chain in Brazil, passing through a Coca-Cola, suddenly, it goes to an international brand of contact lenses, as well as a super traditional Brazilian watch brand, Condor, and so on. The portfolio of brands we have today is very powerful. In addition to the businesses that we founded, such as U-Treino, which is our newest online training and well-being platform, and a startup in which we are investing money out of our own pocket and which already has incredible brands on the lookout for us to join.
F: I think Ota has already said good things about us, but the curious thing is that we met working together. We were having an event where we both introduced ourselves, I didn’t know him, he didn’t know me. After that we got together, got married and never separated again. I don’t remember when we started working together as a couple, but in fact it was very organic and natural.
How did the idea of creating Agncia Family come about?
O: There in 2019 or so, faced with a very powerful reflection that we made about our career, image and business. Flávia and I thought of three questions that helped to clarify and gave us an insight into everything we have put into practice to date. The first was: what do we want to do?; second: who I wanted to do it with; and the last: how did you want to do it? And this last question led us directly to reflect on our career and business management, which until then was done by a talented and competent artistic agent who is our personal friend to this day. But, given our great concern and with the great expertise we already had, we had to make decisions alone and assume responsibilities so that our intuition was obeyed. And that was when we closed this beautiful cycle and founded Agncia Family. It was there that our cocoon was created to begin representing us, Flávia and I. And there the thought began to be elaborated. With the stadium already built, we assembled our team – which often thinks like advertising to meet a brand’s demand, to develop advertising formats, content and solutions. But, therefore, we placed Agência Family as our house for protecting and enhancing our image, business and career. And that’s how we are today.
F: I think that Agência Family has become a place to carry out projects, even more so now that I can fly to the world. The Agency became this ground for sowing and harvesting dreams. So, ah, I have a project that I dream of being able to present, ah, there’s another project with Ota for next year… and we’re going there, sowing. Let’s plant, where do we need to start? Are we going to be linked to a brand or not? Are we going to have an agency with us? We were able to think about the project, as a whole, to actually carry it out and get it off the ground. In addition to all our work on deliveries, proximity to customers, seeking our best results, there is this area of carrying out projects and making dreams come true, above all.
What do you take into consideration when closing a job with a brand?
O: I think we take a series of factors into consideration, but affinity and admiration are the first two things I look at. Affinity: does the product, the service, the brand itself, have any affinity with me? In my behavior? Would it be in my consumption? Would it be in my everyday life, in my everyday life? T, if not, do you have admiration? Wow, the brand is incredible, I’ve never worked with it, what a beautiful story, I love what they do, the products they launch, the services they offer, I think it’s incredible. Then, from this, we enter its reputational, historical environment to understand how it is seen by the general public on the networks. We take a good look at this. We also listen to other people, to get a second opinion. And we will understand if it is an OK company for us to associate with the image. And the third pillar, of course, is negotiation, conversation, the business model that emerges from that. But these are basically the factors.
F: this! First of all I need to believe. If there is a brand that I don’t know, and I may still not know, as there are so many incredible brands on the market today, the first thing I say: send me the product? Let me know, test, try, prove. And I really do that. I ask for time. It has already happened that I have lost several of these works, because I want to know, test and know how it works for me before speaking.
Do you participate in the creation of campaigns? If so, what is the process like?
O: Yes, we participate effectively when we have the demand, the need and the freedom for this to happen jointly with the brand, with the customer. And our creative team works collaboratively so that we design the best content format possible. Not only for the client’s networks, but especially for our networks. This is content carpentry work, as we like to call it, because our networks have a very clear behavior, we know what they like more or less. So we told the client to let us try something much closer to our content DNA, so that we could generate even greater and more identifiable engagement for the audience. Today we are increasingly seeking a maxim that cannot appear to be published on the networks, you know? It has to look much more like an organic thing than a 1980s merchandise. And we are in the process of talking a lot with the brands, who sometimes, some of them, still want to bet on something very traditional, which on the networks we You’ve already seen that it greatly reduces strength, interaction, and engagement.
F: this is the involvement process we have. Sometimes you get here with this type of advertising. To be able to develop and share with the client what are the important points that we cannot stop talking about, but to do so with our face, with our language, more and more. this place, right? No one wants to hear anymore: so, have you heard about this product? People want to see a story being told, they want to see the emotion, they want to laugh, and people want to know that product – which is already going to be incredible, because it’s a product that those who are signing down there are Flávia and Otaviano – Oops, they only do what they believe in. So on that basis.
What is the best definition of the Flvia and Otaviano brand?
Ota: Wow, it’s a difficult question, isn’t it? We look at ourselves and define our main values, artistic personal brand. But I would say confidence, good humor and family. Perhaps the three most obvious pillars for us, as a couple.
F: I think I ended up answering, but it’s curious because we understand that we are a brand too, Flvia and Otaviano. But, I think this is the confidence and it’s really cool to see that people are rooting for us, you know? When I’m going to the airport, to work, to the mall, people come up to me and say, oh, where’s Otaviano? I adore you as a couple, as a family. There’s a fan base for us, as a couple, and I think that’s very special.
