When you think of the word “Brazilian,” you might think of rice and beans, churrasco, Rio de Janeiro, samba and beautiful women. But, what about the famous Havaianas? That is definitely a strong element of Brazilian lifestyle and routine. Havaianas has been on the market since 1962, inspired by the Japanese Zori sandals. They were created as a basic design of shoes for the Brazilian working class. But over the years, the brand managed to make their product a symbol of Brazilian culture, as consumers recognize important aspects of it in their sandals. Havaianas branding evokes feelings of happiness and simplicity, while still making the brand accessible for everyone. Their branding focuses on using strategies such as advertising, sponsorship of people and events, product packaging and buying experiences, in order to build loyal customers and spread the country’s spirit worldwide.
Havaianas branding strategy uses advertising to attract more buyers through relatable and funny ads that give more recognition to the brand. Since the creation, Havaianas has been introducing unique ads. The most successful ones are the TV commercials. They are funny, accessible and show Brazilian celebrities in them. One example is the campaign that brought to the brand legitimacy, they were composed of funny videos that presented the brand as “Legítimas, só Havaianas”, that means “Legit, only Havaianas”. Those ads were the beginning of Havaiana’s TV commercials, which had a strategy that focused on putting a stop on the dupes of the Havaianas’ sandals that were coming up at the time. Havaianas strategically presents the brand in the open TV because it has an extensive reach, especially for the lower class. Their commercials are most of the time relatable and present short stories that are catchy and memorable. They induce a good and affective memory to the audience.
Havaianas also introduced ads in women’s magazines, which were popular in the era. The brand always searched for transmitting inclusivity in their identity. For example, the campaign “Todo mundo usa,” which means “Everybody wears,” shows their goal to sell for all social classes and not differentiate people by any means. The TV commercials aim to break the stereotypes. Indeed, in their ad “Casais Havaianas” (translated, “Havaianas’ Couples), they present two famous couples in the Havaianas store, and instead of the women doing the shopping, the men were. The ad was hilarious, and still showed that Havaianas is not for women only, and that people can express themselves freely when buying Havaianas’s products. The brand includes people from all ethnicities and body shapes in their advertisements and social media pages. Their Instagram posts include not only white, but Black, Asian and Latin people as their models. One example is the Fashion Model Weslley Baiano, who posed in a collection of Havaianas with the transman stylist Issac Silva that is called “Cores da Bahia” (translated, “Colors of Bahia”). It is really important to include this variety of ethnicities in their ads because it gets more recognition to the brand and these people need to have a bigger recognition.
The brand even made a Pride month campaign, focusing on Instagram posts with the LGBTQIAP+ identity. They have a signature quote to the campaign “Love is love,” with a collection of clothes and shoes of which 7% of the profit is donated to the Alloutbr, that defends the queer community rights. This tactic was a smart move because nowadays the world has a need for inclusivity and representation in social media. However, the brand didn’t use it just for money, but also to support the cause, showing their true objective of spreading inclusivity and fighting for a world of respect. The brand is also eco friendly and made some adjustments to help the environment. They give details about their sustainability actions on their website such as that nowadays 97% of their sandals are already produced with approximately 40% of recycled rubber. Havaianas advertisements contributed to their success since they have authenticity. The brand constructed themselves an image of the Brazilian community and their lifestyle of summer, beach, relaxing activities and irreverence.
Havaianas uses sponsorships of people and events in many ads. Their partners include famous people that represent Brazil by their looks and their jobs. Some examples are Isis Valverde, Sandy, Douglas Silva, Thaís Araújo and Camila Queiroz, who are all attractive looking according to the Brazilian beauty standards, and also work on acting in the soap operas of Globo or singing. Those endorsements expand Havaianas audience, achieving more recognition and visibility. It was common for them to make a lot of advertising videos that were funny, trendy and cool but also helped a lot with sales. One example was an ad with Camila Queiroz and Klebber Toledo, where they were shopping in the Havaianas store, and she was choosing many pairs of flip flops, while explaining to him the reasons why she was buying each one of them. While she was justifying herself she mentioned that one of those flip flops would match her shorts. Using the opportunity, Klebber told her that if her mother in law saw her with those shorts, which he considered short, she would die in shock. Therefore, after that comment, Camila selected another pair of flip flops, which were black colored, and said that she’ll have to buy it cause it’s impossible to go to the funeral of her mother in law with colorful flip flops (havaianas). In this ad they present that there’s a model and color of sandal for every situation since the brand has a huge variety. Famous couples are really present in the campaigns, usually showing love and affection, but in this ad, they made a response to the sexist society that wants to dictate what a woman should wear. That act is important for the brand because it helps with their image and goal of inclusivity. Even nowadays they make many sponsorships with influential people like that ad with Weslley Silva that was mentioned before. By using those celebrities in their ads, they convey a good image for the brand and also a trend because if a famous person with a good reputation uses a product, everyone else does.
Havaianas not only sponsors people but also partners with companies, they have co-branded with Farm, Valentino and Swarovski. According to “The powerful benefits of Co-branding” two brands coming together establishes credibility because each company is able to highlight and reflect each other’s assets and thus strengthen their position in a given market. That means if a company like Havaianas partners with one like Valentino, it makes Valentino more available and Havaianas more interesting, since they have completely different public and objectives. In this example, the flip flop created by the 2 brands included both Havaianas format and the iconic Valentino spikes.
Another element of Havaianas’ branding is product packaging and buying experience, in order to help sell their products. Their goal is to make their store appealing for customers so that they buy Havaianas’ products and not from other companies. A good appearance is a huge point considered by consumers in order to favor a brand from another. According to the text “A importância da vitrine no ponto de vendas”, (translated, “The importance of the showcase at the point of sale”) most purchasing decisions are made at the point of sale, when the customer sees, for example, an advertising campaign showed in television or in the Internet, he expects to arrive at the advertiser’s store and find a good location and visual attraction. As claimed by the article if these factors are not evident, the purchase will probably not be made. That means when a consumer sees a good and harmonic image in an Instagram page or the website of the brand, they expect to go to a store that is as aesthetically pleasing. Havaianas has original stores all over the world that can attract clients by their thoughtful characteristics. Their stores are more open to the public, since they don’t have doors, so clients are able to go in and out freely, making them feel more welcome and at home. Their stores give more flexibility to the consumers because at any time they can get a flip flop that is displayed and try their size, with no pressure from the salesperson. The stores are designed, by specialists, in a modern style, having such a pattern of colorful and fun decorations in all the points of sales. They always have elements that portray their identity such as their signature flip flop tree and flip flop float. One of their biggest stores is the one located on Oscar Freire, São Paulo and it is a reference to the upscale Havaianas clients that are around the area. Havaianas is also really organized, requiring all of their flip flops to be color coded no matter if they’re selling in one of their stores or in a supermarket. No matter where it is located, a legit Havaianas sandal will always be noticed.
Havaianas is a huge leader at advertising, sponsorship of people and events, product packaging and buying experiences, constructing loyal customers and spreading Brazilian culture worldwide. According to Rui Porto, communication consultant at Alpargatas, “Havaianas advertising was a winner at all times”(meio&mensagem, author ‘s translation). Since 1962, they have used branding strategies to attract buyers and not just one time consumers, but loyal ones. Aside from that, the brand has also managed to make themselves different from other companies in the market through their advertising that evokes feelings of happiness, simplicity, summer and the Brazilian spirit in their buyers. A path to achieve this success was indeed their outstanding branding and marketing. Havaianas is an extremely successful brand that is recognized globally and is a symbol of Brazil internationally.
Works Cited
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Sustentabilidade Havaianas: Ações Para Reduzir O Impacto No Meio Ambiente. havaianas.com.br/sustentabilidade.html. Accessed 10 Nov. 2022
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“A Importância Da Vitrine No Ponto De Vendas.” Blog Free Shop, 21 Nov. 2018, www.freeshop.com.br/blog/importancia-da-vitrine-no-ponto-de-vendas. Accessed 18 Nov. 2022.
