1. PROMOTION
Brazil’s economy is surging upward,
fueled by the vitality of its domestic market,
newly discovered oil resources and major
infrastructure development as the country
prepares to host soccer’s 2014 World Cup
and the 2016 Olympic Games.
With economic growth predicted to be
above 5% this year, business opportunities
will benefit from the creativity and flair for
design and innovation that are ingrained in
the Brazilian national character and
enhanced by the country’s newfound
financial fitness, telecoms talent and entre-
preneurial energy.
Brazil has a long-established status as a
cultural icon. The exuberance of its multi-
ethnic citizens; the magic of its music,
from samba to bossa nova; and the organ-
ized chaos and color of its Carnival — all
of these express Brazilian brilliance.
These days South America’s boldest and
most ebullient nation is making its mark on
the global economy.
Fashion weeks in São Paulo and Rio de
Janeiro now rank among the world’s pre-
mier fashion events alongside those in New
York, Milan, London and Paris.
Foreign prejudices against Brazil have dis-
appeared in the past three years, says
Mario Spaniol, the founder of Carmen
Steffens, which sells its handcrafted shoes,
handbags and accessories in 23 foreign
countries. “These days we are proud to say
that we are a Brazilian brand, and we have
180 stores worldwide.”
The increasing global reach of the Carmen
Steffens brand and the optimism Spaniol
expresses typify the current mood of Brazil’s
business community. Signs of growth in the
U.S. and Chinese economies are boosting
confidence in Brazil because they are the
South American country’s second-largest
export markets.
With the nation preparing to host the
World Cup soccer competition in 2014 and
the Olympics in 2016, the government’s
Growth Acceleration Program has pumped
$250 billion into infrastructure projects.
Foreign direct investment is set to jump
a whopping 48% this year to $38 billion,
according to the median forecast of about
100 economists in a central bank survey car-
ried out in February.
The recent discovery of huge offshore oil
deposits near Rio de Janeiro will further pro-
mote future growth, transforming Brazil into
one of the world’s biggest oil producers.
As domestic demand for steel rises,
Usiminas, Brazil’s largest producer of flat
steel, is boosting investment 33% this year
to ramp up output, and may revive plans
to build a mill in the Minas Gerais state.
With all these developments in the
pipeline, utilization of industrial capacity has
been increasing every month. Further, merg-
ers and acquisitions are forecast to rise as
much as 40% this year, as the buoyant con-
sumer market and the government’s steps to
foster homegrown conglomerates increase
the attractiveness of corporate combinations.
Both the government and independent
Continued on next page >>
creatively coming out ahead
BRAZIL Reprinted from the May 10, 2010
issue of Forbes magazine

2. 2 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
analysts forecast that even before the oil
starts to flow, Brazil’s $1.3 trillion economy
— the most dynamic in Latin America and
bigger than those of India and Russia — will
expand by 5.5% this year. Guido Mantega,
the Brazilian finance minister, says last
year saw the creation of nearly a million
jobs, and a further 1.6 million are expected
this year. He adds that, proportionately,
Brazil is creating more employment than
China.
Furthermore, he says, Brazil has “growth
with quality,” because the economy is
expanding in an environment of controlled
inflation, stable macroeconomic indica-
tors, job creation and increasingly equitable
income distribution.
One of the South American nation’s
attractions is certainly its increasing number
of relatively affluent consumers. In the past
seven years, more than 32 million of the
country’s population of 198 million have
attained middle-class status, while another
20 million have escaped a state of poverty.
Aldemir Bendine, the CEO of Banco do
Brasil, the country’s oldest bank and the
largest in South America by assets, says the
key factors that have enabled Brazil to with-
stand the global financial crisis and emerge
from it stronger are the strength of its
domestic consumption; the central bank’s
effective monetary policies, which have
given it large international reserves; and the
rapid response of the government, whose
prompt and effective action maintained the
liquidity of the monetary system.
Banco do Brasil actually benefited from
the global crisis, says Bendine: “Our agency
in New York had capital of around $400
million, and this jumped to $4 billion dur-
ing the crisis, evidence of the level of trust
that investors have in our institution.”
Banco do Brasil is currently involved in
240 corporate finance projects, and this, says
Bendine, reflects the pace of change in
Brazil’s infrastructure: “We believe it will
increase much more. In five years we will
become the world’s fifth-largest economy if
that investment in infrastructure continues.”
At the time of press, the currency conversion rate
was R$1 (Brazilian reals) = US$0.566 (U.S. dollars).
All monetary figures stated are U.S. dollars unless
otherwise indicated.
Director: Lucas Montes de Oca
Managing Editor: Beverley Blythe
Editor: Michael Knipe
Art Director: Lisa Pampillonia
Project Managers: Florence Lilti, Matthew Harris,
Lauren Denny and Fadrique Alvarez de Toledo
Commercial Director: Carolina Mateo
Cover Photos: São Paulo, Paulo Fridman/Corbis;
Bridge Detail, Pulsar Imagens/Delfim Matins; Museum
of Contemporary Art, Rio de Janiero, Alamy; Fashion
Week, São Paulo Sebastiao Moreiras/epa/Corbis
This special advertising feature was produced by
Insight Publications, a division of
Impact Media International Ltd.
150 East 55th Street, 7th Floor, NY, NY 10022, USA.
Tel: +1 212 629 1936 Fax: +1 212 629 1938
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<< Continued from previous page
Photo:LaurenDenny
Left: Celebrating the victory of Rio de Janiero’s
bid for the 2016 Olympics, from left to right:
Eduardo Paes, Mayor, City of Rio de Janeiro;
Sérgio Cabral, Governor, Rio de Janeiro State;
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President, Olympic Bid
Committee; Lula da Silva, President, Brazil and
Orlando Silva, Minister of Sport.
Top left: Sand sculpture dedicated to the Rio
2016 Olympic Games; Above: Christ the
Redeemer looks over Rio de Janeiro.
AceStockLimited/Alamy
CarlosMagnoRodriguesdeFigueiredo

3. 3BRAZIL = PROMOTION
Rio:
Soaring to
New Heights
T
he announcement this year of the dis-
covery of huge oil deposits off the
coast of Rio de Janeiro has further
boosted the soaring economic prospects of
the state and the city.
With preparations already under way for
the staging of soccer’s World Cup in 2014
and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the prom-
ise of 65 million extra barrels of recoverable
oil is adding luster to both the city’s and the
state’s attractions.
As well as being Brazil’s preeminent
tourist destination, Rio is an important
industrial, manufacturing, financial and
commercial center. It is second only to São
Paulo in economic terms and provides the
headquarters for Petrobras, the state oil
company, and Vale, the world’s largest pro-
ducer of iron ore.
Sérgio Cabral, the state governor, says
new investment is pouring into the state’s
economy.
“The China Development Bank is open-
ing an office and is already investing in
Petrobras; Electrobras, the predominantly
state-owned power utility; and Oi, the
telecoms operator,” he says.
Eduardo Paes, Rio de Janeiro’s mayor,
points out that by staging the Olympics in
1992, Barcelona transformed itself econom-
ically and socially. He regards the Catalonian
capital’s experience as a template for Rio.
“We have a modern, creative industry
cluster and one of the most qualified work-
forces in the country,” he says. “Ahead of
the Olympics we are working to make Rio
more business friendly and also providing
incentives and support for all those who
intend to do business in Rio.”
A strategic plan to attract and facilitate fur-
ther investment has been drawn up by Rio
Negócio, a private agency controlled by the
Commercial Association of Rio de Janeiro,
in partnership with the city administration.
It is devoted to five areas — energy, cre-
ative industries, tourism, infrastructure and
innovation industries, says Felipe Goes, the
secretary of development in the city of Rio.
In the energy sector, in which Rio is an
established R&D center, the city is bidding
to host the World Energy Forum in 2015.
In the creative industries sector of media,
entertainment and sport, Global Village
Telecom (GVT), a fixed-telecommunica-
tions carrier, will invest $170 million over
the next two years.
To meet additional demand in the tourism
sector, 16 hotels are in the process of
being licensed, and the number of hotel
rooms will double by the time the Olympics
begin in 2016. Among infrastructure proj-
ects, revitalization of Rio’s port facilities and
expansion of the subway system are under
way. The mayor is heading a campaign to
encourage companies to come to Rio, and
is devising tax incentives to attract innova-
tion industries such as biotechnology,
electronics and computer software.
Known as “Cariocas,” Rio’s citizens are
famous for their intense loyalty and iden-
tification with their home community. The
lifestyle they enjoy has led Rio to be con-
sidered the world’s happiest city. It attracts
around 3 million tourists a year, account-
ing for 40% of Brazil’s tourism revenue.
Cabral says hosting the world’s two top
sporting events is providing the best pos-
sible opportunity to tackle Rio’s problems,
which include crime and a dire shortage of
basic amenities in certain areas, such as
water supply, sanitation and proper roads
and lighting.
The first benefits are already evident, he
says, in five of the favelas — the hillside
shantytowns that are home to an estimated
25% of Rio’s inhabitants. Peacekeeping
units are maintaining a permanent presence
in these communities, and a force of 3,300
officers will be operating in 100 more fave-
las by the end of this year. Officials say these
efforts have reduced crime by as much as
85% in some areas.
“The Rio Olympics will leave an environ-
mental legacy,” adds Cabral. “We have
engineers studying sanitation and the reha-
bilitation of lakes and forests. We want the
first-ever Olympics in South America to be
a green Olympics.” v
“The Rio Olympics will leave an
environmental legacy. We have
engineers studying sanitation
and the rehabilitation of lakes
and forests. We want the first-
ever Olympics in South America
to be a green Olympics.”
Sérgio Cabral,
Governor,
State of Rio de Janeiro

4. 4 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
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largest country
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Distributing solutions, innovating relationships.
A Flair for
Originality
E
quipped as they are with rich diver-
sity, natural flamboyance and creative
free spirits, Brazilians have a flair for
pushing boundaries.
Whether they are designing dresses, mak-
ing music, manufacturing cosmetics or
creating interior décor, Brazil’s homegrown
enterprises frequently manage to bring to
their business an extra element of original-
ity or individuality that ensures their success.
Cosmetics company Niely has devel-
oped a range of shampoos, conditioners and
hair color that is challenging the products
of multinational giants Unilever, Procter &
Gamble and L’Oréal. Home products
retailer Tok&Stok collaborates with Brazil’s
internationally renowned designers to pro-
duce original home accessories and furniture
at affordable prices. Carmen Steffens man-
ufactures a widely diversified range of
handcrafted women’s shoes, handbags and
accessories that offers Italian quality at a
third of the price.
Daniel de Jesus, the founder and president
of Niely Cosmetics, describes as possibly
“foolhardy” his decision in 2000 to launch
his own hair-coloring line to rival those of
L’Oréal and Wella Professionals, multi-
nationals with more than 50 years of expe-
rience in the Brazilian market.
“The two dominated the market and
were very competent, but in the past ten years
we have become the sales leader,” he says.
“Our success now is challenging the big
multinationals in both the color and sham-
poo sectors.”
Niely is continuing to grow, he explains,
because the Brazilian market today is
becoming more demanding.
“Customers in the less-advantaged eco-
nomic groups have grown more prosperous
and no longer want to buy the products they
bought before. They want better-quality
products, and we manufacture quality
products,” he says. “Niely today is the bride
that everyone wants to marry. It has two
lines, Niely Gold shampoo and Cor&Ton
hair coloring, that are dominating the mar-
ket, while most companies strive to have just
one strong brand.”
De Jesus attributes his company’s success
to its investment in its high-standard research
facilities and manufacturing plant. Its com-
petitive advantage, he says, lies with the
quality of its products, its speedy decision-
making and its investment in media publicity.
Niely achieved sales of $226 million
last year and expects a 25% increase this
year. The company has invested $28 million
in a new factory that will be fully opera-
tional in four or five years’ time.
“I spent 15 years investing in infrastruc-
ture,” de Jesus says. “Decisions here can be
taken fast. The Brazilian market is hot now,
and I can multiply by five the sales of the

5. 5BRAZIL = PROMOTION
A fast recovery from
www.tba.com.br
it | agribusiness | energyandseaportInfrastructure
Gold line today as the market expands, and
the coloring line by twice that.”
Fast Fashion in Furniture
Tok&Stok is Brazil’s largest network of
stores dedicated to one-stop shopping for
décor. Customers can visit a store, select the
complete furnishings and decoration for a
room or office, and have it delivered and
assembled in a day.
This “fast fashion in furniture” concept
requires a capacity to offer clients constant
innovation in color and raw materials, as
well as trade know-how and an extremely
effective system of logistics, say Régis and
Ghislaine Dubrule, the husband-and-wife
team that founded Tok&Stok. They devel-
oped their system in 1978, and now, 32
years later, they have a presence in every
major Brazilian city, with a total of 27 stores.
“The material of our products can be
wood, glass, chrome tube, aluminum or
plastic. The material may vary, but we will
always have a great design,” the Dubrules
agree.
The sale of decorative items has grown
faster than that of furniture and today rep-
resents 40% of Tok&Stok sales.
“Brazilians are consumers,” says Régis
Dubrule. “If you give them a way, they will
consume.”
“We are not a showroom, we are a super-
store,” says Ghislaine Dubrule. “Superstores
are a new element in the retail sector in
Brazil and an important factor in the
structure of the store. We launch ten prod-
ucts a day, and that attracts many people
into our stores.”
Important factors in the success of
Tok&Stok, say the Dubrules, are its
extremely organized retail management.
“We have a good management system.
We have been pioneers in logistics, in
computing and in developing our own sys-
tem of storage.”
Having achieved an annual growth rate
of 25% between 2005 and 2008, the cou-
ple was preparing for an IPO, but has put
that prospect on hold until the time is right.
A Franchise Ready for Expansion
Carmen Steffens, Brazil’s fastest-growing
franchise within the women’s shoes, hand-
bags and accessories sector, is another
company contemplating an IPO or a part-
nership in order to expand.
With 170 stores worldwide, the company
has entered into a partnership with singer
Mariah Carey to promote the company’s
expansion in the U.S.
“Our brand is fashion,” says Mario
Spaniol, the company’s founder and pres-
ident. “We serve a woman who wants a
little more attitude, a little more daring and
extravagance.”
When he decided to create Carmen
Steffens, Spaniol studied manufacturing in
Italy, brought his machinery from Germany
and invested $4 million in the first four years.
“After my wife took charge of the design,
the brand suddenly became a success,” he
acknowledges. In a year the company had
ten stores, and he decided to create a fran-
chise department with professional
management and a training profile.
“We require effective operators for this
business to be successful,” he says.
“Franchisees will obtain expected results,
or I guarantee they can take back the money
they invested.
“Unlike other brands, we have great
diversification and small volumes,” says
Spaniol. “Other brands need 5,000 pairs to
make a line. I make a line with six pairs.
What is crucial for women? Beauty, com-
fort and exclusivity. This is the focus of our
business.”
The partnership with Mariah Carey is
aimed at promoting the Carmen Steffens
brand, as well as the singer’s image and her
charitable foundations.
“Mariah knew of our own social proj-
ects,” says Spaniol. “We have volunteers
working in partnership with the municipal-
ity, and each year we help 700 working
children return to school.” v
Daniel de Jesus,
Founder and President,
Niely Cosmetics
Above: Models take to the catwalk during the
2010 Fashion Week in São Paulo; Left: Featuring
quality and design, Tok&Stok stores cater to
Brazilians’ increasingly sophisticated taste level.
SebastiãoMoreira/EPA/Corbis
BrunoDomingos/Reuters/Corbis

6. 6 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
Building a
Brighter
Future
s Brazil prepares to expand its oil pro-
duction industry and to host the
world’s two top sporting events,
massive infrastructure construction projects
are under way. Road, rail and subway
routes, sporting venues, hotels, shopping
malls, apartment complexes and houses are
either being built or being readied for
development.
The country is already in the third year
of the federal government’s $250 billion
four-year growth-acceleration plan, and the
administration plans to launch another
similar plan before national elections in
October. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
instigated both programs to boost the
country’s economy by encouraging public
and private sector investment in infra-
structure projects.
As soon as Rio de Janeiro was chosen to
stage the 2016 Olympic Games, OAS,
one of Brazil’s leading civil engineering and
construction companies, had a plan of
action ready.
“I dedicated myself to this eventuality a
year ago,” says Adelmário Pinheiro, the
company’s president. At his direction,
OAS carried out a case study on how
Norway and Canada handled the develop-
ment of their hydrocarbon industries, and
another on how Barcelona prepared for the
1992 Olympics.
“The support base for the oil discoveries
might be built partly in Rio, partly in São
Paulo and also in Espírito Santo,” says
Pinheiro, or Dr. Léo, as he is more gener-
ally known. “The same thing will happen
with the World Cup and the Olympic
Games. Construction projects will develop
many business sectors, and we have drawn
up strategic plans for OAS to take full
advantage of these opportunities.”
Founded in 1976, OAS has immense
experience in such megaprojects. Through
a strategy devoted mostly to huge business
and infrastructure projects, it has completed
60 petrochemical plants and 16 shopping
malls. The company is currently participat-
ing in a $4 billion hydroelectric project in
Peru and the construction of Rio’s subway,
which will be able to carry a million pas-
sengers daily.
OAS is committed to its social responsi-
bilities. Its school of productivity provides
low-skill workers with basic education, and
the company runs classes at each construc-
tion site so workers can obtain the education
they couldn’t get when they were younger.
“We also have a business school for
higher education and a program called ‘The
Work of the Future,’” says Pinheiro. “This
is my new passion. It is a huge training pro-
gram for management that is very important
for our future.”
Poised for New Growth
Another prominent construction and
engineering company, the Niplan Group,
describes itself as an entryway for large for-
eign companies that want to work in
Brazil. Niplan provides engineering services,
construction and industrial maintenance
services in the oil and gas, chemical, steel,
petrochemical, food and pharmaceutical
A
The Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge
spans the Pinheiros River in São Paulo.
DannyLehman/Corbis

7. 7BRAZIL = PROMOTION
sectors. Since its founding 20 years ago, it
has achieved sales figures of $227 million
per year and has attracted Petrobras,
Volkswagen, Unilever and Bayer as clients.
“Within our planned growth, we want to
achieve $567 million in annual billing dur-
ing the next two or three years,” says
president and founder Paul Nishimura. “We
are growing at a rate of between 20% and
30% a year with our capital structure. Our
international plan is to work first in Latin
America, especially in the Mercosul countries
(Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).”
Nishimura believes Brazil’s economy will
grow solidly over the next ten years. Local
and foreign groups interested in investing in
Niplan have approached the company, he
says, but he is in no hurry to follow up on
their interest.
“If one day we can make an IPO, there is
no doubt we will do so,” he says.
Nishimura intends to grow Niplan through
a partnership or joint venture with a well-
established foreign technology company.
A Focus on Customer Service
One Brazilian company that is seeking a
partnership and additional capital to finance
its expansion plans is Cotia Foods.
Cotia Foods distributes national and
imported chemical products. These include
a wide array of acids, glucose, nitrates and
sulphates, which it imports in bulk, pack-
ages, and distributes to different industries,
from soda production to oil and gas to fer-
tilizer companies.
Alexandre Bien, founder and general
manager, created the company with his
brother in 1999. He says Cotia has achieved
an annual billing of $120 million for the past
few years but expects growth of at least 20%
this year.
“We work with commodities that anyone
can buy and sell, so the difference is the cus-
tomer service we provide. So it is important
for us to understand our customers’ needs,”
says Bien.
“We offer technical assistance. We buy in
large quantities, store the product and
deliver it in any quantity directly to the
client’s factory with the necessary technical
assistance to improve its use. We create an
entire solution for the customer.” v
The country is already in the third
year of the federal government’s
$250 billion four-year growth-
acceleration plan, and the
administration plans to launch
another similar plan before
national elections in October.

8. 8 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
B
razil’s economic growth over the past
seven years has transformed nearly
half the population — around 90 mil-
lion people — into middle-class consumers,
and business sectors ranging from supermar-
kets and sporting goods suppliers to
insurance and fruit juice companies are
reaping the benefits.
Life insurance provider Capemisa has
experienced exponential growth by selling
insurance to families in the lowest economic
classes, people who formerly could not
afford insurance. The company’s client base
has been growing by 60% a year and is
expected to exceed a million this year.
José Augusto da Costa Tatagiba,
Capemisa’s president, says the company has
achieved this increase by introducing a pol-
icy that gives full coverage for a cost of only
$3 per year. Having invested in efficient
technology, Capemisa can reach a mass
market while keeping costs to a minimum.
“Personal insurance in Brazil accounts for
only 2.7% of GDP, compared to 8% in the
U.S. or Europe,” says Tatagiba.
The company relies on advertising to
reach a low-income market segment of new
consumers, whose families are at high
risk if the main wage earner dies.
Individuals can take out coverage up to the
age of 80, says Tatagiba.
To help the uninitiated visualize the
value of a lifetime benefit, the company
automatically enters all clients into a lot-
tery with cash prizes.
Capemisa also offers themed insurances
such as samba or football insurance that
sends 10% of profits to samba schools or
a soccer team, and “pink insurance” for
women, with a logo that boosts cancer
awareness. Capemisa also seeks to help
entire families by operating an outreach
program that enables children to study or
to receive medical treatment.
Says Tatagiba: “Technology nowadays
enables us to work with low costs and with-
out the need for intermediaries. I can
reach anywhere in Brazil from here with-
out high costs of communication.”
The company is preparing for a stock
exchange listing to raise capital for future
initiatives.
Energy in a Bottle
Viton 44, which produces high-energy
drinks from 34 different types of Brazilian
fruits, is one of the companies whose sales
have benefited from the growing number of
consumers. Created in 1999, the company’s
business strategy is to produce and promote
an extensive range of such drinks, and it is
the leader in Brazil’s soft drink sector.
The first drink it offered was Guaravita,
made from juice extracted from guarana,
an energy-boosting Amazonian fruit the size
of a coffee bean with about twice as much
caffeine. Guaravita was followed by
Guaraviton, which, in addition to guarana
extract, contains taurine, ginseng and
other herbs and coloring.
Guaravita and Guaraviton are cheaper
than other high-energy soft drinks, says
Neville Proa, the founder and president of
Viton 44.
“We have drinks for any taste, and all of
them are alcohol- and CO2-free and safe to
consume,” he says. “They are made from
natural produce with a composition of
incredible quality, and prepared in our
own labs.”
Viton 44 doesn’t export its drinks, which
are distributed in glass containers, to the
U.S. because of their limited shelf life. But
Proa is considering the possibility of sell-
ing them in the U.S. in syrup form.
The company has three production
plants, in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and
Minas Gerais. Franchises supply the rest of
the country. Proa’s aim is to expand Viton
44, ideally with a partner who has in-depth
knowledge of the soft-drink sector.
Clear Results
Grupo Europa, the country’s market
leader in producing and supplying water
purification systems, has achieved double-
digit growth every year since its creation in
1984 and expects to achieve close to 15%
this year.
Múcio de Souza, the group’s founder and
president, attributes its success to its policy
of using top-of-the-line technology and
Middle-Class Growth Fosters
New Opportunities
Shopping Leblon,
Rio’s newest mall,
offers an elegant
shopping experience.
LonelyPlanetImages/Alamy

10. 10 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
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manufacturing its products to the highest
national and international standards.
“We use hollow fiber technology
imported from Japan and ultraviolet
light technology from Holland and
Hungary,” says de Souza.
A key element of the group’s strategy
has been to establish a presence in every
one of the country’s state capitals and in
every important city. It now has 352
offices, 176 stores and 171 kiosks
throughout Brazil. The six companies in
the group manufacture 20,000 water
purifiers a month and have the capacity
to triple production without installing
additional facilities.
Despite its name, Grupo Europa is an
entirely Brazilian concern.
“When we started the group, we chose
the name Europa because the continent has
an image of solidity and tradition, two key
factors that we wanted our group to pos-
sess,” says de Souza. “The European
continent is well regarded for its technol-
ogy, and therefore it symbolizes the three
pillars of the group: solidity, tradition
and technology.
“We show one of our purification fil-
ters being cleaned after 15 days of use,”
says de Souza. “People can see the immense
amount of pollutants that have been
extracted. The water is dark, muddy
brown. Our systems extract chlorine and
bacteria, leaving clean, crisp water.”
Going for Gold
Another enterprise that has flourished
thanks to the burgeoning ranks of the mid-
dle class is Grupo SBF, the leading
sporting-goods chain in Latin America.
For the past decade SBF has expanded at an
average annual rate of 35%, and it now has
125 stores operating under the brand names
Centauro, By Tennis and Almax Sports.
“We doubled our network size in the
last two years, and the group now has
almost 6,000 employees,” says Sebastião
Bomfim Filho, the group’s founder and
chief executive.
SBF began operating in cities with a mil-
lion inhabitants and then spread to
population centers ranging from 250,000
to 750,000. The By Tennis and Almax
brands have a presence in shopping malls
that target higher economic sectors, while
its Centauro chain targets lower economic
sectors.
“As soon as the lower economic classes
“We chose the name Europa
because the continent has an
image of solidity and tradition,
two key factors that we
wanted our group to possess.”
Múcio de Souza,
Founder and President,
Grupo Europa
Noblesse HF Inox:
Pure water 24 hours a day

11. are able to develop and practice more
sports, we will have a great opportunity to
expand our business,” says Bomfim. “The
group has an expansion plan in readiness
to meet this increased demand.”
SBF’s competitive advantages, he says, are
its logistics network, which extends
throughout the country; its focus on the
quality of the products it sells; and its eth-
ical sales policy, which is built upon merit,
transparency and profitability.
In addition to selling global brands such
as Nike, SBF has its own brands that fill in
niche markets.
“For example,” says Bomfim, “the
Brazilian woman prefers a different fit of
clothes [compared] to European women.
Foreign manufacturers have difficulty in
adapting to this, so our brands enter these
areas in an efficient manner.”
Bomfim plans to open an average of 50
new stores per year, with the aim of having
400 premises by 2014, along with signifi-
cant income growth.
“In 2014, the year of the World Cup in
Brazil, we will be one of the ten largest
global players in sports products,” he says.
“Internationally, the market is starting a
new phase of great events, incentives and
investments, which will make the years
between 2010 and 2020 a golden decade.”
Uniquely Carioca
The higher sales of grocery products also
reflect the increased spending power of
lower-income groups.
Prezunic, a Rio de Janeiro supermarket
chain that achieved the country’s seventh-
best profits last year, opened its 30th store
in November last year. All of them are
located in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
“When we opened the company in 2001,
we had no idea that by the end of the
decade we would have inaugurated 30
stores,” says Andréa Cunha, the com-
pany’s president.
Prezunic’s well-defined business strategy
incorporates optimized shelving spaces,
impressive in-store hygiene, stores that
don’t exceed 27,000 square feet in size, and
an average of 20 checkout counters per
store. It has achieved annual sales of just
over $1 billion in 2009, an increase of 18%
over 2008. The company provides friendly,
local customer service that is reflective of
the warm and outgoing Carioca personal-
ity creating a close-knit connection with the
community.
Prezunic provides its 6,700 employees
with health plans and opportunities to
study. It also offers work to people with
physical disabilities and senior citizens.
“Our people are very creative and caring,”
says Cunha. v
11BRAZIL = PROMOTION
“Internationally, the market is
starting a new phase of great
events, incentives and
investments, which will make
the years between 2010 and
2020 a golden decade.”
Sebastião Bomfim Filho,
Founder and Chief Executive,
Grupo SBF

12. 12 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
Connecting a
Continent
I
n the world’s fifth-largest coun-
try by area, with 5,000 cities and
many more remote communities
still in the early stages of develop-
ment, logistical expertise in the
movement of goods is a vital
requirement.
Grupo Beta, a Brazilian enter-
prise consisting of five independent
companies, provides that expertise,
specializing in storage and distribu-
tion by air, road, sea and river.
“In a region like Belém or
Manaus, it can take four days by
boat to deliver goods,” says Michel
Atie, the company’s president.
He estimates that logistical busi-
ness has tripled in Brazil in recent
years and is continuing to grow.
Grupo Beta is planning to expand
its operations into nearby countries,
and is seeking a partner willing to
invest in transforming the company
into the continent’s best and largest
logistics operator.
Headquartered in São Paulo,
Grupo Beta has a modern opera-
tional management and control
headquarters, 16 branches, its own
fleet of cargo aircraft and light vehi-
cles, more than 2,500 square feet of
storage space, and 85 operating
bases covering 1,200 cities.
“We have made a six-year-long
investment in developing a strong
and smart system of operations that
is the best in Brazil,” says Atie.
With annual earnings of just over
$100 million, the group is aiming for
annual growth of between 20%
and 40%.
Atie anticipates expanding Beta’s
operations into Bolivia, Peru,
Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina
and Chile, as well as the U.S.
“There is space for us to make, at
the very least, two or three flights a
week taking freight to and from the
U.S., if we can establish reciprocity
with the U.S. market,” he says. v
Setting the Standard
for Healthcare
An exclusivity contract with the electronics pow-
erhouse Siemens ensures that Hospital Moinhos de
Vento obtains the most advanced medical technol-
ogy, such as the latest nuclear imaging equipment,
before it is available anywhere else in Brazil.
The hospital — located in Porto Alegre, the cap-
ital of Rio Grande do Sul, the country’s southernmost
state — is also the only one in the area whose high
quality is certified by the Joint Commission
International, the body that sets the global bench-
mark for healthcare facilities.
Founded 82 years ago by German immigrants,
Hospital Moinhos de Vento achieved billing of more
than $130 million last year and expects growth of
12% this year.
Among the innovative measures proposed by João
Polanczyk, the hospital’s CEO, and the hospital gov-
ernors are the creation of a sister hospital that would
provide cost-free care to patients requiring it, and
the founding of a medical consortium with other
leading hospitals in Brazil. The latter plan, Polanczyk
believes, would benefit from the hospital’s acquir-
ing international partners — “especially insurers,”
he says.

13. 13BRAZIL = PROMOTION
B
razil’s banking sector is expected to
continue recording sizable growth
over the next four years, thanks to
its cautious credit policies. And Banco do
Brasil, the country’s oldest financial insti-
tution, plans to capitalize on the situation
by investing $40 million to create more
offices in the U.S.
Having begun operating in 1808, the
bank is a 202-year-old institution that keeps
modernizing every year, says Aldemir
Bendine, its president and chief executive.
“We are working to consolidate our
position in the Brazilian market, but we want
to grow on the world stage as well,” he says.
Banco do Brasil has a long-standing tra-
dition of maintaining offices abroad, and
has a presence in 23 countries. In Japan,
approximately 140,000 members of the
350,000-strong Brazilian community are
clients of the bank.
“There are about 1.4 million Brazilians
living in the U.S., the largest community of
Brazilians living abroad, and we want to
replicate that success there,” he says. “Our
first move is to wait for authorization from
the Federal Reserve to open a bank in the
U.S., where we will be able to help
Brazilians and Brazilian companies and
stimulate trade exchange.”
The bank has agencies in New York and
Miami, and plans to open others in New
Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts,
where there are also large Brazilian com-
munities. It is also considering expansion
in Latin America. Banco do Brasil is
already South America’s largest bank.
“Banks cannot survive without scale,”
says Bendine, explaining why his institution
will continue to seek acquisitions both to
increase its scale of operations and to
enter niche markets.
Through the acquisition of Nossa Caixa,
Banco do Brasil became the biggest bank in
São Paulo, while it entered a partnership
with Banco Votorantim specifically to gain
access to the domestic car-financing market.
Bendine aims for his bank to be present
wherever else in the world Brazilian com-
panies have established themselves.
“I’ve thought about Banco do Brasil
becoming the largest bank in the
Americas,” says Bendine. “Maybe it will
not happen in my term, but I want to leave
seeds for my successors to do it in the
future.” v
Ready for
the World
Stage
Aldemir Bendine,
President and
Chief Executive,
Banco do Brasil

14. T
he founder of Microsoft was attend-
ing a meeting on the 24th floor of a
building in Brasilia in 1996 when,
looking idly out of a window, he spotted a
plane displaying a sign: “Welcome Bill
Gates, TBA.”
Being Bill Gates, he asked to personally
meet whoever was responsible for the sign.
And that is how Cristina Boner, the founder
of Grupo TBA, became a business partner
of Gates and Microsoft.
Today Grupo TBA is one of the top infor-
mation technology (IT) companies in Brazil,
providing a comprehensive range of network
infrastructure. With sales of $227 million in
2009, the group is aiming to double that fig-
ure within two years and, in the longer term,
to become a leading multinational technol-
ogy group active in the mobility, cloud
computing and software markets.
“In the past, technology was a business
of low volume and high price,” says Boner.
“Today’s technology is high volume and low
price. This is a radical change that is affect-
ing all our lives. Geographically there is an
annual market of $240 billion that is not
being served.”
Currently, says Mauro Muratorio Not,
TBA’s CEO, the group caters to Brazil’s
internal market, but it is opening an impor-
tant window onto the foreign market.
“While Microsoft, Oracle and IBM con-
tinue to develop technology, they require
companies like TBA to pass this technology
on to users,” he explains.
The penetration of broadband and per-
sonal computing services is still relatively
low in Brazil, but with the upward mobil-
ity of consumers, use of IT equipment is
increasing among the general population
and small businesses at the bottom of the
economic pyramid.
From 1948 until 1992, the government
banned the import of IT. This policy had
some benefits, says Muratorio Not. Brazilians
had to improvise or develop their own
technology, and it made them more creative.
“Because of the country’s history of
inflation, the banking system had to be very
agile, and technology was the key element
to making that happen,” he explains. “So
Brazil developed a good technology for
automation.”
There are two specific lines of growth for
the future, he says: cloud computing and
telephone mobility.
“This will bring down the final barrier for
people and small businesses to enter the dig-
ital world. Much of our investment is focused
on cloud computing, data software as a serv-
ice and an area of mobility and e-storage. The
more people use the Internet and the cloud,
the more they will need storage.”
The Country of the Future
“For the last two decades, Brazil was
[regarded as] the country of the future,” says
Jaques Scvirer, president of Medidata,
another leading systems, data and voice
communication network. “Today that
future has arrived.”
Medidata has been active in the IT mar-
ket since 1976. Scvirer says his company’s
best quality is its ability to reinvent itself in
accordance with the ongoing evolution of
digital technology.
During the period of the IT import ban,
when everything except mainframe comput-
ers had to be developed and manufactured
in Brazil, Medidata transformed itself into
a systems house, using available IT compo-
nents such as disk drives, video terminals,
printers and tapes to add internally devel-
oped application software.
“The resulting computer system had a
better performance, supported more termi-
nals and processed applications much faster
than the computers offered by the original
manufacturers,” says Scvirer. “We suc-
ceeded in acquiring important customers,
The
Future
Is Now
14 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
ChadBaker/GettyImages

15. 15BRAZIL = PROMOTION
domestically and internationally, including
Shell and Exxon.”
Medidata implemented online billing
for the gas and oil warehouses situated
around the country.
“We started as a systems house and
became a system integrator with open-
architecture products,” Scvirer says. “We
closed our manufacturing facility and
transformed our development staff into
integrator engineers. We are now one of the
largest integrators in Brazil, with expertise
in both IT and data communications.”
With 60% of its business coming from
São Paulo and 30% from Rio de Janeiro,
Medidata has a roster of clients that
includes large companies like Telefónica,
Vivo, Oi, Petrobras and Itaú Unibanco as
well as medium-size enterprises. Having
achieved annual sales of around $210
million in 2008, Medidata’s goal is to dou-
ble the size of the company every three or
four years.
It plans to expand in the Brazilian mar-
ket by a process of diversification. “We
want to acquire businesses that have syn-
ergies with our own and that are operating
in markets in which we are not present,”
says Scvirer.
Pillars of Success
Grupo Ação, another technology firm,
has 22 years of experience in Brazil’s IT sec-
tor. It has followed up on its success by
acquiring Aktio, a company that distributes
IT solutions in Argentina and Uruguay. It
now intends to expand its operations into
Colombia, Paraguay, Chile, Venezuela and
Mexico.
The secret of its success, says Enio Issa,
Ação’s president, is that it gives client com-
panies a complete solution for their various
IT demands.
“For our clients, taking product solutions
from several companies becomes increas-
ingly complex and expensive,” he explains.
“As company CEOs become increasingly
focused on their own business activities, they
have less time to devote to their technology.
“We offer all IBM solutions that can be
customized to the needs of the customer,
and we aggregate all the tools and assume
the risk in any project. We have a project
manager who manages everything. If it
doesn’t work for our clients, they do not
have to pay.”
The three pillars of Ação’s approach are
planning, commitment and hard work. In
the South American market, detailed plan-
ning is not very common, he says.
Commitment for the long term is also vital,
as is hard work. Ação achieved a revenue
of $284 million in 2008 and aims to
achieve $570 million in five years.
Issa sees no geographic restriction on the
company’s expansion plans.
“We want to expand operations in Latin
America, increasing Ação’s portfolio of part-
ners and customers and connecting with
businesses in neighboring countries,” says
Issa. “In addition, we have a wider range
of offerings for the entire Hispanic market.”
He sees large- and middle-market oppor-
tunities in Russia, India and China, and
believes there would be space for Ação in
the more mature middle market of the U.S.
Ação has received IBM prizes for inno-
vation and best distribution, and on four
occasions has won distinction as the largest
distributor of Oracle in Latin America.
Innovative Strength
Brazil’s leading exponent of Internet
hosting, Locaweb, has half a million hosted
domains and more than 1.7 million e-mail
account clients. Its corporate clients include
energy companies and financial institutions.
Locaweb has demonstrated its innovative
strength by the manner in which it has har-
nessed the cloud computing concept.
“We launched a cloud product that any
business can understand,” says Locaweb’s
founder and president, Gilberto Mautner.
“Our site has a video explaining what cloud
computing is, how it can be used, how
much it costs and how it can be bought. We
explain it in such a way that clients who
have no technical background can under-
stand its benefits.”
Locaweb already has 22% of the host-
ing market. Locaweb’s mission, he says, is
to facilitate its clients’ access to innovation,
so that they can succeed through technol-
ogy that enables a reduction of costs and
a means of gaining more business. v
Locaweb’s Data Center

16. 16 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
Innovative
Telecom Sector
Offers Growth
Potential
T
he acquisition of GVT, Brazil’s fastest-
growing fixed-line telephone and
broadband carrier, by the French
media conglomerate Vivendi has focused
attention on the potential for growth in the
South American nation’s telecommunica-
tions sector.
The move is expected to intensify com-
petition between GVT and the other major
player, Net Serviços, Latin America’s largest
multiservice communications company. In
a deal valued at $4.2 billion, Vivendi
trumped a $4 billion bid from Telefónica of
Spain to land GVT.
“This was an opportunity not to miss,”
says Jean-Bernard Lévy, Vivendi’s CEO
and now also chairman of GVT’s board of
directors. “We are very excited with GVT’s
business model. It is very innovative and has
efficient technical solutions coupled with
very sophisticated marketing tools.”
Broadband penetration is not high in
Brazil, he points out, and this gives GVT a
significant competitive advantage. “We
feel we can leverage this over the years by
increasing penetration,” he says.
The French company has opened up a
credit line worth $350 million to sustain
GVT’s expansion and investment plans.
These aim to extend the company’s presence
and increase its broadband reach in the
northeast and southeast areas of the coun-
try, particularly in nine key cities and
throughout the Rio de Janeiro and São
Paulo states.
Levy says that Vivendi’s involvement
with GVT and Brazil should be viewed as
permanent. “The fact that Vivendi has a
long-term vision for GVT will be an essen-
tial success factor,” he says.
Emphasizing that Vivendi pursues a
decentralized form of management, he
explains: “GVT will remain an independ-
ent company, with decisions made in Brazil
by the people who are as close as possible
to the market: consumers, customers, com-
petitors, regulators and other stakeholders.”
GVT is revolutionizing the telecoms
industry by offering the most up-to-date
technology at a fraction of the prices its
competitors charge, says Amos Genish, the
company’s CEO.
A recent survey named GVT one of the
25 most innovative companies in Brazil.
“The pursuit of innovation pervades
GVT in all management aspects and is a key
fundamental of our business model,” says
Genish. “This kind of recognition shows
that the efforts of all our team towards
innovation are being noticed by the mar-
ket as a whole.”
GVT’s net revenue is forecast to rise by
26% this year and its earnings before tax
by 30%.
In the competition with GVT that lies
ahead, Net Serviços’ current advantage is its
network. The company, which offers tele-
vision, broadband Internet and cable
telephone connections, already has a pres-
ence in 93 Brazilian cities and has a 50%
market share of themed television and a
38% market share of broadband, serving
10.7 million homes.
In 2009, the company’s Pay TV client base
rose by 20% to 3.6 million over 2008.
Broadband penetration increased by 30% to
2.8 million and telephone lines in service
increased by 42% to 2.5 million, while net
revenue rose by 25% to $2.6 million.
“For a subscription of R$39.90 (US$23)
per month, Net offers telephony, Internet
connection of 100 kilobits per second,
and a TV signal through cable in every cor-
ner of the house, providing free-to-air and
must-carry channels,” says José Antonio
Guaraldi Félix, Net Serviços’ CEO.
The network is available to homes in
every economic sector.
“The challenge is to find a product that
a lower-income audience wants and, more
important, that meets its needs,” says
Félix.
He believes that, given the current eco-
nomic developments in Brazil, those
belonging to less-advantaged economic
classes will improve their purchasing power
and move up.
“I believe that human behavior is aimed
at improvement and that the upward mobil-
ity is out there,” says Félix. “In the future,
everyone will have more or less the same
ability to do things, the same bandwidth and
content. What will differentiate companies
will be the level of service. So we have a
great focus on operational excellence. We
want to be the best provider of multiservice
in the country.”
He has no thoughts of expanding Net’s
activities elsewhere in Latin America,
because Brazil offers sufficient opportunity
for growth. However, he believes the com-
pany would benefit from an American
technological partnership to maintain its
competitive edge. v

17. 17BRAZIL = PROMOTION
Powerhouse Focuses on
Corporate Responsibility
Vale, Brazil’s second-largest company
and the world’s largest producer of iron
ore, is projected to grow at an annual
average rate of 12.6% over the next
four years.
Its investment budget for this year
includes expenditure of $12.9 billion
dedicated to sustaining existing opera-
tions and promoting growth through
research and development and project
implementation.
The minerals the company mines
provide the components for products
that are essential to everyday life,
including electronic equipment, cars,
computers and construction materials.
In addition, Vale has earmarked
nearly $1 billion for investment in cor-
porate social responsibility this year,
including $829 million for environmen-
tal conservation and protection and
$170 million for social projects.
Vale believes that responsible mining
activities that are committed to sustain-
able development provide one of the
best opportunities for communities to
reach their full socioeconomic potential.
Through the Vale Foundation, the
company develops programs in part-
nerships with nongovernmental
organizations, local government
authorities and community groups to
promote the social, environmental
and economic development of every
location where it operates.
Vale also invests in environmental
conservation programs to rehabilitate
native plant species typical of the
Atlantic rainforest and Cerrado and
Amazonian eco regions, and makes use
of advanced reforestation technology
to revive the forestry cycle in five of the
seven Brazilian biomes.
With assets of more than $100 billion,
it is the country’s largest contributor to
the Brazilian balance of trade and has
a workforce of 100,000 people.
In addition to its iron ore mining
activities, the company is a leading pro-
ducer of nickel, copper concentrate,
bauxite, alumina, potassium, kaolin,
manganese and iron alloys. It is also
Brazil’s biggest provider of logistical
services, having developed intercon-
necting railways, ports and its own sea
terminals. v

18. 18 BRAZIL = PROMOTION
T
he decision of two international mer-
chandising companies to extend their
multi-million dollar sponsorship of the
FIFA World Cup to include the 2014 soccer
competition in Brazil is the latest testament
to the huge influence sporting events have
on global trade and commerce.
Continental, the leading German manu-
facturer of tires for cars and trucks, and the
Brazilian-based global food supplier Seara,
have both taken this step in recent weeks.
Although the precise cost of the extended
sponsorship has not been disclosed, it will not
have come cheap. Continental is reported to
have paid around $10 million for the spon-
sorship of this year’s FIFA World Cup,
which kicks off in South Africa in June.
“We are convinced that we will be able
to boost our brand awareness considerably
through the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, espe-
cially in the currently growing regions of
South America and Asia,” says Nikolai
Setzer, an executive board member of
Continental. “For us, professional football
is perfectly suited as a central communica-
tion platform through which we have
considerably increased awareness of our pre-
mium tire brand.”
Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos, the
chief executive of the Marfrig Group which
owns Seara, expresses a similar view.
“Football is a great passion worldwide and
helps to improve the quality of life and bring
people together,” he says. “This is perfectly
aligned with our communications strategy
for the Seara brand, which offers healthy,
delicious and high-quality food to con-
sumers worldwide.”
BP-owned global lubricants brand Castrol
launched a 12-month business-to-business
marketing campaign in support of its status
as an official sponsor of the competition, tar-
geting customers in its aviation, industrial,
marine and energy sectors. The company is
using its “more than just oil” theme to com-
municate business performance and product
benefits in the context of soccer.
“The B2B sector is a huge, global market
for the BP Group and using sponsorship
with this audience is a first for us,” says Paul
Lowther, Castrol’s global marketing com-
munications manager. “Our aim is to use the
opportunity of the World Cup to reinforce
The Business of Sport
Branding their names on the
world stage – sports sponsorship
is a win-win game.
Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, due to host
the 2014 World Cup Final and the 2016 Summer
Olympics.
Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa of
Scuderia Ferrari at the Shanghai International cir-
cuit in April
AdalbertoRiosLanz/SextoSol
CatherineIvill/AMA/Corbis
FranckRobichon/epa/Corbis

19. BP and Castrol’s B2B brands, building
brand awareness and the understanding of
our expertise in our B2B sectors, in a fun
and engaging way.”
As world communications become ever
more integrated, so do social and cultural
contacts. Sport, in particular, has become
a catalyst for nation image enhancement,
for business branding and for big business
investment opportunities.
Ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandising
and other commercial revenues, along with
the sale of television rights, corporate hos-
pitality and non-match-day events at
sporting stadiums have become big business.
Sportswear brands Adidas, Nike and
Puma are the most recognizable soccer
sponsors in the top five European markets,
according to a recent survey. Companies
that have most recently become top spon-
sors include Samsung, UNICEF and
MasterCard.
As Brazil prepares to host both the
FIFA World Cup and then, two years
later, the Summer Olympic Games, the
country is attracting international attention
on an unprecedented scale. Like other
host countries and cities on previous occa-
sions, it is preparing itself for the glare of
the global spotlight.
The Brazilian government is spending
around $890 billion upgrading the coun-
try’s infrastructure ahead of the World Cup
and Olympics, with more than $600 billion
being invested in the construction of roads,
railways, ports, waterways and airports, as
part of a plan that will also include a fea-
sibility study for three new bullet-train lines.
Soccer is by far the world’s most popu-
lar team sport. The FIFA World Cup
competition is staged at four-yearly inter-
vals and the previous one, hosted by
Germany, had a total television audience of
over 26 billion.
The final of the Champion’s League, in
which the top teams from each European
nation compete in a knock-out competition,
was watched last year by 500 million
viewers worldwide. And as global commu-
nications become more integrated, the
sums being paid by commercial organiza-
tions for the privilege of sponsoring
sporting events continue to increase, as do
the turnovers of companies making and sell-
ing sporting goods.
Rival apparel brands Adidas, Nike and
Puma compete fiercely with their respective
sponsorship of the teams and players
involved in the various tournaments. In
2008, Nike paid a reported $64 million a
year to acquire the sponsorship of the
French national team from 2011 to 2018.
This was four times what Adidas paid for
the same sponsorship in a previous contract.
The 2006 World Cup competition gave
Adidas a huge sales surge. The company
sold 15 million soccer balls around the time
of the competition. Pre-sales for 2010
have already exceeded that figure.
With South Africa hosting the competi-
tion this year, Jochen Zeitz, chief executive
of sports goods maker Puma, says that the
company is preparing to significantly
increase its sales, production and sourcing
in Africa in the coming years by using the
World Cup as a focal point.
Puma sponsors 11 African teams and the
continent’s star player in Europe,
Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o. It is also a
supporter of the “Cotton made in Africa”
initiative which aims to improve the living
conditions of African cotton farmers.
Famous soccer players such as Brazil’s
Pele and Argentina’s Maradona originally
brought Puma’s brand name to interna-
tional attention, and current sporting stars
such as the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt
keep the company in the international
spotlight.
Puma also has a motorsports division
which backs the Ferrari and Red Bull F1
teams and makes clothing for two
NASCAR racing teams while sponsoring
and supplying the Ducati Corse MotoGP
motorcycle team.
Germany’s soccer league, the Bundesliga,
adds more than $6.6 billion to the German
economy, according to a report from
McKinsey, the global management consul-
tancy.
The world’s richest soccer clubs for the
past five years have been Spain’s Real
Madrid and Barcelona. Last year, Real
became the first team, globally, to see its
annual revenues top $532 million. It was
helped by the sale of television rights that
guaranteed the club more than $1.4 billion
over seven seasons.
The combined revenues of Europe’s top
20 soccer league clubs was over $5.2 bil-
lion last year, up from $34.6 million the
previous season.
In terms of players’ incomes from their
sport, the English premier league was
ranked as the richest soccer league in the
world, but only fourth in all sports.
American basketball’s NBA, cricket’s Indian
premier league and major league baseball
in the U.S. all paid more to their players.
Baseball’s New York Yankees pays the
highest wages of any sports team in the
world, according to a new survey. The
club’s first-team players receive an average
of $139,158 a week. v
19BRAZIL = PROMOTION
Soccer
favorites
Brazil’s star-studded soccer team is
one of the betting public’s favorites to
win the World Cup once again this
year. Brazil is the only country whose
teams have participated in all 19
World Cups and to have won the com-
petition a record five times. The
Brazilian cup squad will, as usual, be
packed with international renowned
players.
Goalkeeper Júlio César has partici-
pated in 18 World Cup qualifying
games and his safe hands continue to
be a fundamental facet of the team’s
success, while striker Luis Fabiano,
who was the top scorer with five
goals in the 2006 competition, two of
which helped his team defeat the U.S.,
is again expected to be among the top
scorers.
These two pages were prepared specifically for this reprint and did not appear in Forbes magazine
“Our aim is to use the
opportunity of the World Cup to
reinforce BP and Castrol’s B2B
brands, building brand
awareness and the
understanding of our expertise
in our B2B sectors, in a fun and
engaging way.”
Paul Lowther, Global Marketing
Communications Manager,
Castrol
Brazilian national soccer team goalkeeper
Julio Cesar during a training session.
MarceloSayao/epa/Corbis

20. www.desenvolvimento.rj.gov.br
US$ 123 B NEW INVESTMENTS BY 2012
THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING FOR THE RIO DE JANEIRO WE ARE BUILDING.
THERE IS MORE TO COME.
The state of Rio de Janeiro is one of the principal drivers for Brazil’s growth. With investments
in infrastructure, petroleum exploration and production, steelworks, and services, Rio is becoming more
attractive to national and international capital. The state of Rio de Janeiro has the second largest GDP
in Brazil. Now, with the 2016 Olympic Games, Rio will have everything to consolidate as a global metropolis
and a major business center in the country. Much of this is because of efficient public management,
which works with transparency and the combined forces of the federal and municipal governments.
This guarantees the institutional security necessary for those interested in investing in Brazil.
Accept this invitation from Rio: come invest in a state that is growing.