Does Big Brother Brasil draw attention for money or digital influence?

Everyone knows that influencer marketing has grown a lot in recent years. But many people don’t realize how much this function reflects on one of the most watched programs on Brazilian TV: Big Brother Brasil (BBB).

Even for those who aren’t fans of the reality show, it’s impossible to say they don’t follow it. This is because social networks do not allow you to lose information about what is happening – whether you like it or not. And now, right at the beginning of another edition, the reflection was sparked: is the real prize of the program really the almost R$3 million?

In fact, this value is highly desired, but today it may no longer be the main objective of people who accept to participate in the program. And influencer marketing explains this. Participants don’t just want to leave with money, but with a community. In other words, they aim to be digitally relevant. The monetary reward is important, yes, but the image built can give even better results.

In the case of BBB, half of the participants are anonymous (Pipoca), and the other are celebrities or influencers (Camarote). And everyone has the opportunity to advance their careers through influencer marketing. But how is this done?

Creating content for the internet has long ceased to be just a hobby. Many people achieve great results simply by exerting influence. In other words, content creators literally become a “communication vehicle”.

Humanized content – ​​which is nothing more than putting yourself in your customer’s perspective and using social media as if you were their best friend – is often more effective than traditional advertising. Brazilians are exposed to hundreds of advertisements every day, something that attracts attention, even if indirectly, it can be more effective. Therefore, this market is a success.

The biggest example is the lawyer, makeup artist and great BBB 21 champion, Juliette. She was a true reality show phenomenon and gained a legion of fans on social media. She entered with just over 4 thousand followers and left the program with 24 million.

Yes, she won the cash prize, but despite that, she knew how to take advantage of the influence she gained. In an interview with presenter Tatá Werneck, on the Lady Night program, Juliette informed that she had already earned more than ten times the value of the prize, which at the time was R$1.5 million). And Juliette, in these two years, continued with the same relevance, or even greater.

But not all “ex-BBBs” can achieve this. From 2020 onwards, most reality participants leave the program with followers in the millions. Visibility is inevitable. However, this does not mean that they are already influential people, but that they are very well known. This means that gaining millions of followers is not enough to become a digital influencer.

To do this, you need to produce quality content and build an engaged community that can be influenced. Even with the need for this effort, leaving the “most watched house in Brazil” with millions of followers can be a gold mine.

*Nathalia Iunes is regional manager of Influencer Marketing for Brazil and Latin America at Globant, a digital native company focused on reinventing business through innovative technological solutions.