Between one ROAS spreadsheet and another, there is a silence that no one hears, the silence of a brand that no longer echoes.
It's soft, almost poetic: it feels like a breeze, but it's a vacuum.
And at the same time, it cuts like a razor: it reminds the C-Level that, without relevance, every KPI becomes wind.
In the glassed-in corridors of Brazilian multinationals, I see CMOs tired of tightening screws on sales machines. We're pressured by short credit, the capricious exchange rate and the hungry quarter. In our haste, we exchange stories for discounts, identity for a 15-second ad-break, purpose for a board PPT. Results come, ephemeral, shiny, anesthetic. And the question throbs, sourly: what will be left when the glow of the week wears off?
Cultural relevance is not born out of a trend brainstorm. It requires conviction. That almost lyrical stubbornness of someone who insists on being different when everything is the same. It calls for a courageous rejection of the "more of the same" mold. It calls for poetry in strategy and acidity in execution: looking at the consumer as a subject, not a pixel; treating the brand book as a living bible, not a forgotten PDF.
When this is missing, marketing becomes a commodity in premium packaging. The consumer doesn't remember, the internal team isn't proud, the board doesn't invest, it just tolerates. The void is made.
But here's the provocation: what's left of the CMO when the brand no longer matters?
It's not about nostalgia for the great campaigns or jingles that marked the era. It's about understanding that cultural relevance can't be built with an influencer, a TikTok trend or yet another creative job. Relevance requires the courage of positioning, consistency and identity. And that is in short supply.
But there are beacons. In Brazil, there are powerful exceptions, brands that still manage to occupy conversations, inspire movements, create real bonds. But they are few. And in most cases, this happens not because of the system, but in spite of it. Because of leaders who support. Who say no. Who understand that growth and construction are not opposites, they are Siamese sisters.
The question that remains for the CMOs who now occupy their chairs is simple and uncomfortable: are you building something that will be remembered or just something that will be reported at the end of the month?
