Menu annual home share on Inside the decades-long strategic and creative partnership behind the Havaianas brand save article Initially unknown beyond its native Brazil and only popular for its affordability, Havaianas is now a global brand that embodies Brazil's fun, vibrant and spontaneous way of life. This is the story of how a local brand became a global success story, found itself on the feet of international supermodels and in the pages of glossy fashion magazines. Most of the brand’s ad and communications campaigns, and some colours and branding on the shoes themselves, were designed by its ad agency, lending to the success Havaianas enjoys today. AlmapBBDO & Alpargatas, who owns the Havaianas brand, won one of only two Collaborative Pencils at this year's D&AD Awards for their decades-long work together on Havaianas. We spoke to AlmapBBDO’s now retired co-founder and Creative Director Marcello Serpa about how his agency collaborated with client Alpargatas to give new life to Havaianas’ brand. Here, he talks about how the creative and marketing strategy evolved. Watch the video or get the takeaways below. Drawing a line from history to future Havaianas wasn’t a major brand for Alpargatas when Serpa’s team took an interest in its history. “It was a brand that had a very important past, but no future at all, and no present... We as an agency found out that this brand has an effective memory. Its DNA is somewhere in the Brazilian soul from scratch, from the 60s and 70s, because everybody was wearing Havaianas at that time,” says Serpa. Serpa goes on to say that a common mistake is that, “People try to create stories about brands out of nowhere sometimes,” adding that knowing the client’s history is a key aspect. “First, we have to understand that understanding the brand’s ins (and outs), not only knowing where the brand wants to go, but trying to find out where the brand comes from, and understand the history of the brand, understand the idea behind the brand creation. What was the beginning, the first DNA?” Havaianas, AlmapBBDO Working together on strategy from the start Working collaboratively from day one paved the way for longstanding collaborative success, according to Serpa, who says, “At that time, we were responsible for the strategy together with the client. We are sitting together on the same table and developing the strategy together. So, this symbiotic work starts in the beginning, from the strategy. We are responsible for the strategy, and the client is responsible for the development, the executive, the creative work and so on. Everybody’s connected. If you have this kind of relationship from the beginning, if you are successful, the chances that you keep the relationship are really good.” Putting Brazil at the heart of the brand Taking the brand’s history into account, both client and agency decided to put Brazil at the centre of the branding. Serpa says, “The client had a very nice idea. When we had a World Cup, in 98, we put the Brazilian flag on the Havaianas. So, Havaianas became a Brazilian standard, a Brazilian flag traveling all over the world. It was a Brazilian brand from the beginning. It happened organically. We didn’t plan it to work like that, but the brand became so powerful in the country that it spread the flag and the sandals all over the place.” Havaianas, AlmapBBDO Building trust with honesty “Trust happens when you tell the truth,” says Serpa. “If you look in the eye of the client, and say ‘I failed here. I made a mistake. Let’s correct that together,’ and the client has the same ability to talk to you and say, ‘I think this direction is not good enough or let’s change together.’ Trust is about honesty. We were very open. When we are successful, when we made a mistake, and we didn’t know exactly what to do, we would say, ‘I don’t know what to do exactly. Give me two days and I’m gonna figure it out and bring you a solution.’” Find the truth and stick to it Locating and staying true to the brand's message is key to ensuring the brand endures and remains recognised through the decades, according to Serpa. He says, “The most difficult part today is to convince a client that you have to be steady, you have to have one brand message. Because today, with social media, it’s so over the place, there are so many options to touch people, brands and agencies trying to get different messages for different kinds of groups, and in the end you have a messed up idea of the brand. Try to find the truth and stick to it.” We have placed cookies on your computer to help make this website better. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Otherwise, we'll assume you're OK to continue. I understand