Creativity is one of the skills of the century and the key to today's challenges. Associated with the economy, it is a source of socioeconomic development, job creation, and technological innovation. The more technology advances, the more valuable human creativity becomes. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025 automation will eliminate 85 million jobs worldwide, while the new division of labor between machines, humans, and algorithms will create 97 million. More than ever, a creative perspective, which feeds on the world to metabolize new ideas, becomes necessary.
And when it comes to creativity, Brazilians shine.
We have creativity in our DNA. We were born from cultural syncretism and found our authenticity in anthropophagy. In a context of scarcity, we resort to creativity as a response to our problems. We are the country of improvisation and the "do it your way" culture.
Not surprisingly, the initial insights we have from the Branding Brasil research, an initiative we are launching in June aimed at investigating how Brazilians perceive the value of Brazil, indicate that creativity is the characteristic we recognize as a strength. "Brazilians are creative, they make lemonade out of lemons." This appears in both the simplest and the grandest things: Havaianas flip-flops repaired with a nail (a makeshift solution) and the inventiveness of our Carnival are cited as synonyms for Brazilianness.
Creative quality is also what drives our entrepreneurship and innovation. Last year alone, Brazil registered the opening of 3.9 million businesses. The Creative Economy, which encompasses the Consumer, Media, Culture, and Technology sectors, now represents almost 31% of our GDP and moves, on average, R$171.5 billion per year in the economy, generates 6.6 million jobs, and is composed of more than 140 million companies.
Today, Brazil accounts for 77% of startups and 70% of investments in Latin America – a region that currently has the fastest growth in venture capital volume in the world – already has almost 30 unicorns and is among the 10 countries that produce the most billion-dollar businesses, in addition to exporting innovation with young companies such as iFood, Nubank, Quinto Andar, Gympass, Loft and Ebanx.
This scenario signals the power we have at our disposal when our creative DNA and a business vision meet. While we are inspired, we also wonder: if creativity is a vital force for the global economy and such a strong aspect of our culture, shouldn't the Brazil Brand be more strongly associated with it? How long will we be recognized more for our commodities than for our intellectual property?
To give you an idea of this disparity, Australia and New Zealand, along with the US, are seen as the nations with the best environment for creating and maintaining new businesses linked to the creative industry, while Brazil ranks 28th. We could be better positioned.
We Brazilians have already identified creativity as a valuable asset of our identity and our distinguishing feature. But shouldn't it be more intentionally included in public and private incentives to influence the global business context? With so many complex problems to be solved in Brazil and the world, shouldn't we invest more in our creative capacity to find solutions that no one else sees?
Cannibalism, a hallmark of Brazilian identity, can serve as inspiration. Because, as Caetano Veloso said, Brazil needs to know how to eat and metabolize. The intention is to metabolize in order to create something original that can fuel the Creative Economy worldwide. After all, WE ARE CANNIBALS!
