Initially, Together will focus on four areas identified as ‘passion points’ for Brazilians: Carnaval and So Joo, backcountry circuit, World Cup and Games
Ambev made another move in the strategy of positioning itself as a platform in the beverage market. The company is launching Together, a business unit that will have the role of connecting companies and partners with events across the country.
Initially, the division attacks four areas identified as ‘passion points’ for Brazilians: Carnival and So Joo, backcountry circuit, World Cup and Games, with the GGWP.
In the speech, he wants to contribute to the professionalization of the sector so that new experiences are created for consumers. Furthermore, with its financial and bargaining power, it intends to “debureaucratize” relationships to enhance conversations.
With the move, the new arm of the company begins to negotiate exhibition and activation spaces in certain assets where it is present. Thus, other brands can be plugged in and create actions that Ambev would not offer from its product portfolio.
For example, a partner brand can develop beauty actions at the Barretos Festival, where the company bought all the rights – some brands sponsoring the event, with longer contracts, are still at the festival. Or, when acquiring the rights for the carnival in certain cities like So Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, closing deals with other brands.
The model began to be tested in 2018, still as an MVP (Minimum Living Product), and until 2020, when the pandemic began, it even entered into partnerships with brands such as Trident, iFood and Uber. The last two years, according to Daniel Wakswager, VP of marketing at Ambev, were used to reinterpret and re-understand what the model would look like in the resumption.
“For us, the world of entertainment and experience is very important because it is part of our DNA. We have many years of history learning, developing and working with the biggest platforms in Brazil, but we are going through a new phase as a company which is very special, where we are working to become a platform. And when you become a platform, one thing changes that collaboration and connection with other partners, which is something very transformative for the Brazilian market”, says the executive.
According to Wakswager, the company realized that people who go to events have other demands and needs and that only the connection with other companies would be able to build better experiences for these consumers.
For each of the pillars of action, Together has an agency that helps to promote the partnership. The Sertanejo Circuit, which includes editions in six cities, is with Diverti; the World Cup, for which Budx was developed, an activation that promotes music and lifestyle, and the N1 Arena, focused on popular culture, is with Octagon.
J Carnaval and So Joo stayed with Dream Factory; and Games GGWP, with Black Duck. According to the company, the idea with the So Joo platform, designed for cities in the Northeast, is to find partners to help build and structure the business model together. He wants to use the knowledge gained from Carnival and the backcountry circuit to develop a similar model in the region.
“So Joo will have a part of negotiation with the local governments, which, on average, are smaller and where the parties are very relevant, which is very cool because we have the opportunity to develop the economy even more, generate more jobs and professionalize even more the location. And, at the same time, transforming it into a circuit. This will be done if it is very surgical”, explains Dan Belaciano, head of Together.
The prospect, according to the professional, is that the project will take place in two or three squares in São João in 2023 and will grow over the years until it becomes a circuit. According to him, some municipalities have already shown interest in the model created by the company.
