Interview with Newton Fleury Filho on "What makes a brand relevant to the modern consumer?" Source: Estadão

1) What is the biggest obstacle to building a brand in the current scenario?
Audience fragmentation. With so many platform and format options, with interactions with content taking less and less time, it is very difficult for a brand to stand out with a relevant message, at an appropriate frequency with relevant reach. It was much easier in the days of 30-second films on Fantástico, but that time no longer exists.

2) Considering the strength of communities on platforms, is Influencer Marketing the main communication strategy today?
Firstly, it is necessary to differentiate between followers and communities, which are completely different things. Most of the so-called social platforms are very little “social”. An influencer on You Tube, Til Tok and Instagram can command large audiences, but this experience is still one-sided and, in fact, very similar to the traditional media broadcast experience.

To talk about communities, it is necessary to create conversations and relationships between members based on a content or brand narrative and none of these platforms are prepared for this. Hence our choice of Discord, whose main function is to create connections between people in massive communities or small groups of friends. It turns out that agencies are not prepared to work with this, as it requires courage and skills that are not so easily available on the market. As far as I know, Warlocks is the only company on the market focused on strategy and building communities, combining technology for building Social apps and managing communities.

3) Looking at the new generations and the growth of e-sports, will those who are not in games be out of the game?
I think e-sports are not that different from traditional sports as a communication platform. What we see are repetitions of traditional models such as sponsorship of teams and leagues, broadcast insertions, etc.

I think that to connect with the gaming audience, first of all, you need to be a natural part of their journey and here, once again, Discord is a fundamental piece, as it is the main platform for this audience. That's where he starts his journey, meets, talks and plays with his friends and spends most of his time. warlocks manages to lead the brand to have its official space on the platform and, more importantly, establish contract points in communities of interest and groups of friends, establishing relevant points of contact in the gaming public's journey in innovative ways, generating engagement and value in the your experience rather than interruption 

4) What is the biggest opportunity for brands with the massification of Artificial Intelligence and Web3?
Web 3 is about decentralization of experience and digital assets, empowering user organizations as opposed to the traditional model with all the power of distribution and ownership of assets in the hands of the platform. Artificial intelligence helps to democratize the construction of digital assets, meaning it is a tool that enhances the creativity of these users. 

The serious opportunity here is for the brand to position itself no longer as someone who communicates directly with an audience, but rather as an “enabler” of relevant social experiences for user communities. 

5) What makes a brand relevant to the modern consumer?
The modern consumer wants to be the protagonist of the digital experience. He no longer wants to consume one-sided content and is increasingly less content with being a mere follower of influencers repeating advertisements from those who pay the most.

The brand that manages to produce environments and experiences that empower communities, creating meaningful bonds between interest groups or reinforcing existing connections will be the ones that stand out in this new era of digital life.