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by Rosie Robbins

So a month or so ago, you’ll see from Tim’s post below, the consumer team here at OPR, have been working on Embratur. As a teenager, I used to leaf through the NME and dream about one day becoming a music journalist, and a decade later, our recent work for the aforementioned Embratur (Brazilian Tourist Board) enabled me to fulfil my long-forgotten ambition. Fifty years ago this year, the bohemian beach scene in Rio de Janeiro threw up its most enduring musical form – bossa nova– so to celebrate, we helped to put on a festival on the South Bank in London. The idea behind the exercise was to bring Brazilian culture to a new audience, so the bands hired to play at the show weren’t necessarily of Brazilian origin. We wanted to show that Brazil is a cultural superpower, and its bossa nova music – just like jazz in the USA - should be recognised as a timeless international genre, rather than dismissed as little more than elevator music. No one demonstrated this better than our headline act, Nouvelle Vague – the French band who are popular for their breathy covers of classic British punk songs, though few would identify the bossa nova inspiration. By ghostwriting a piece by them for  The Guardian (in amongst the copious amounts of other coverage the event received), we helped bring a little taste of Rio’s Zona Sul to the urban English music fan (and I rekindled a passion that really, had never gone away).

by Tim Whirledge 

Good news- here at Ogilvy PR in London, we’ve been selected as Agency of Record for Embratur, the Brazilian Tourism Board.

We’ve been chosen to showcase the diversity and affordability of Brazil as a holiday destination to Blighty holiday makers. The team will support Embratur’s consumer marketing and trade activities at key industry events including World Travel Market in November.

Chris Fuzinatto, Director of the Brazilian Tourist Office in London said, “Ogilvy PR London was a natural choice to implement and coordinate our UK activities because of their understanding of and passion for the travel sector as well as their proven experience in delivering results.  We look forward to sharing our story so that people can discover the many hidden wonders of Brazil.” 

Our very own Rosie Robbins added, “Embratur’s sponsorship of the London Bossa Nova Festival in early July will be a swinging start to our campaign”.

Rosie, (for those of you who aren’t travel and tourism journos!) is our travel and tourism specialist here in the Wharf and claims to be able to speak fluent Spanish and Portugese. She qualifies this having had “a bit of banter” during an earlier campaign for Embratur, with none other than Brazilian World Cup winning legend Carlos Alberto, listening to him talk through his 1970 ‘wonder goal‘! It’s a terrible existence hey Rosie; all that South American travel and fire-side chats with living football legends?!

The aforementioned Bossa Nova festival will celebrate fifty years of the chilled-out Bossa Nova sound this year and will play host to acclaimed international musicians bringing a little bit of Rio to the South Bank. Well, nearly.

Our MD Kerrin said; “Adding such an important and beautiful country to our growing travel portfolio strengthens our reputation for providing journalists with creative and interesting ideas for travel and lifestyle stories. Furthermore, our broadcast and digital specialists will bring the sights and sounds of Brazil directly to holidaymakers surfing the ‘net looking for exciting and adventurous new destinations.”