Some rights reserved by Phillie Casablanca
Some of you may know that I was fortunate enough to have my honeymoon in Brazil at the end of last year. Wow, what an amazing country it is… my visit there made me realise a) how I have been missing out on South America all this time and b) just how much more we are likely to see and hear about Brazil in the next couple of years, as it is hosting some of the sporting calendar’s biggest events – the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.
Something else I came to understand about Brazil and Brazilians in general is that sense of ‘mañana’ – there is no apparent rush to get ready for anything, including these huge international events, and lots still needs to be done. But along the way, what an opportunity there is for printing and marketing in general.
Everywhere we visited – even the bumpy, sand roads in the middle of nowhere in the Pantanal, had huge billboards of some description dotted along them at regular intervals. And when I say ‘some description’ that’s exactly what I mean. The billboards themselves were old fashioned and …well, just old! The posters on them were pasted up in bitty sections and there didn’t appear to be any particular consistency. With the major influx of visitors, and therefore potential targets, expected in the next four years I can see that the big brands must be rubbing their hands with glee on the one hand, but also scratching their foreheads on the other as they survey this mammoth task (in every sense).
So, I firmly believe that the associations and exhibition organisers who have already earmarked Brazil as a target are spot on, and suppliers and PSPs alike should jump on the bandwagon sooner than later as there is scope to reach out to millions of people. Who knows, when I next get a close up view of Brazil – although sadly this will most likely be on my television set –maybe I will see some of the latest technologies for colour management and wide format print staring back at me through my screen!