I recently spent a couple of weeks on holiday in Brazil, I had a fantastic time discovering an amazing country.
Not only did I get the chance to visit somewhere that’s always fascinated me. I finally got to experience some hot sunny weather after the never ending winter here in the UK!
Before I went, I already I knew quite a bit about Brazil. I’d read books about the country, I’ve always liked Brazilian music, loved their footballers and been interested in the people and culture.
After spending 2 weeks in the country I discovered so much more about Brazil. I got a chance to get a real feel for the people and culture and soon realised how different Brazil is. I started to think that I didn’t know much about the country at all.
Looking back on my holiday, I started thinking about storytelling and how Brazil has this amazing opportunity to tell the world its own unique story.
Next year they’re holding the football World Cup and in 2016 the Olympics will be held in Rio. Millions of people will be visiting the country and the eyes of the world will be focused on Brazil.
If I asked you what your immediate thoughts are when you think of Brazil, you might think Rio, beaches, sun, samba music, crime, violence, favelas.
These images and ideas of Brazil are all true but there’s so much more to the country than these stereotypes.
When it comes to writing, creating content and telling stories, Brazil made me think about how we should try to tell stories that go beyond the cliches and expectations that we may already have about a particular thing or place.
What do you think the common perceptions or images are about you, your company, your brand or industry? What stories can you tell that might surprise people? Give them a new perspective? What are the things that really make you different or unique that your audience or customers don’t realise?
With Brazil I never understood how speaking Portuguese makes them different to everyone else in South America and the rest of the world. So many people assume Brazilians speak Spanish – they don’t! Apart from the Portuguese, Brazil has this language all to itself.
Then there’s the people. I knew Brazil had a diverse multi racial population, but I was still amazed by the incredible mix of people. Brazil is a mix of European, African and indigenous Indian influences and culture.
You see this with the population in that so many people are a mix of all these influences. People actually look different in that they could only be from Brazil.
I didn’t just spend time in Rio which is where most people’s ideas of Brazil come from. I also spent a week in the Northern city of Salvador, which is the real cultural and artistic capital of Brazil. Salvador was very Brazilian but not the Brazil people imagine.
Since I’ve been back in the UK, what I’ve enjoyed is telling family and friends about my experiences and telling them about the things I learned and discovered about the country.
When it comes to creating content to help build your brand or create better engagement with your audience, it’s important to tell those stories that go a little bit deeper. Stories that reveal something more about who you are, what your company or brand stands for or what’s going on in your industry.
I think Brazil has a great story to tell to the World over the next few years. It’s an emerging global power, it’s still got lots of problems but its up and coming and it’s an exciting place to be right now. People’s perceptions about the country are going to change.
If you’ve got untold stories about who you are, what you do, and where you come from start telling people, I’m sure they’ll be interested.