Until July 2021, Lacoste had only one Instagram profile (@lacoste), with a global, single line of communications conveyed in English. The passion of Brazilians for the brand is so great that, even with only 5% of its population knowing how to communicate in English, Brazilians represented the majority of profile followers: 14%.

The decision to launch a Brazilian profile seemed obvious, necessary and urgent. But there was a major challenge: how to unify the different audiences of the brand and be able to speak to everybody, from the upper-upper class to the ghetto?

In addition to that challenge, there was a hurdle: the brand had just launched a new global positioning, “Crocodiles Play Collective”. What would be the connection that the new campaign could have with Brazilian audiences? None, especially with that of outlying ghettos, the most engaged in social media and strongly represented through rap, trap and funk singers.

Launching the Brazilian profile and ignoring the new global positioning campaign was not an option. The idea was TO PLAN FOR THE CRISIS that was to come, because the campaign did not represent and, consequently, did not connect with the largest audience - in number of people - of the brand in Brazil, that of the outlying ghettos. This plan was developed jointly with influencers from this specific audience, who knew how the brand could best represent them. And so a goal was set: to take advantage of this potential crisis and quickly turn it into a positive, long-reaching buzz around the launch of the profile.

Two months before the launch, Lacoste sought influencers related to rap/trap/funk musical styles, a cultural phenomenon with high engagement among the Brazilian ghetto population, in order to understand the main aspirations of these influencers and of the people that followed them regarding the brand. Two things stood out: acknowledgement of Lacoste as an international luxury brand by these influencers as well as by the general public, and the feeling that they received respectful and equal treatment. And that's what the brand did.

The brand planned a series of initiatives to value the culture of the ghetto through influencers/singers of the rap/trap/funk musical styles:

First pieces of content of the profile valuing Brazilian culture in all social classes;

Interactions (likes and comments) of influencers of the rap/trap/funk scene in the first posts;

Sending gift sets with the classic polo shirt customized with the @ (Instagram profile) of each influencer;

Sponsoring performances by singers of these musical styles;

First-hand access to new collections for these influencers.

Negative comments about the global campaign emerged right after the launch, but within a few hours the situation began to change, and 24 hours later the potential crisis had already been turned into a storm of positive interactions, as audiences noticed the overwhelming presence of influencers of the rap/trap/funk scene in the brand profile and communications, and started to follow them.

First, the buzz reversal drew attention: negative comments on the newly-released profile, which reached 50% two hours after the launch, fell to only 10% after 24 hours, a percentage that is considered normal for a brand with online sales.

Then, the increase in the number of profile followers was positively astounding: the goal of 120 thousand followers in 6 months was reached before the end of the first month. There were already 486 thousand followers after 3 months, and the 1-million-follower mark was reached, 100% organically, in just 6 months, with an engagement rate 2 times higher than that of the global profile.

But results were reaped beyond numbers: an international luxury brand was able to simultaneously connect with ghetto 'outsiders' and upper-upper class audiences. Early and bold planning, with no fear of negative comments, with a mix of global campaign and local influencers, proved to be a sound strategy.