One of the richest, most diverse and symbolic territories in the world, the Brazilian Legal Amazon gains, for the first time, its own official brand. The result of a partnership between RAI (Integrated Amazon Routes) and Embratur (Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion), the Amazon brand is created to enhance the region’s business potential — comprising nine of the country’s 26 states — as well as to strengthen it as a national and international tourist destination, highlighting and giving prominence to its people and everything they produce.
The initiative, launched on the website visiteamazonia.com.br, positions the vast Amazon territory as the center and origin of a transformative experience, and an active agent with the power to influence, teach and provoke internal change. The idea is to present a vibrant, integrated, diverse and accessible Amazon that offers a broad impact to those who visit, while generating real and sustainable development for those who live in the region. Home to the largest tropical rainforest on the planet, the Brazilian Legal Amazon corresponds to approximately 60% of Brazil’s territory and is home to 28 million people.
“The Amazon brings together all the attributes needed to establish itself as one of the most relevant tourist destinations in the world. Tourism, in this context, is a strategic tool to drive a sustainable development model based on job and income generation for local communities. From the forest to the cities, the entire territorial chain benefits. In addition, initiatives like this help position the region at the center of the global bioeconomy and strengthen the internationalization of Amazonian micro and small entrepreneurs,” highlights Bruno Reis, Director of International Marketing at Embratur.
A living brand
Signed by FutureBrand São Paulo, the project was co-created based on a series of studies and direct engagement with residents, workers, artists and other representatives from the nine states that make up the region. Having been worked on for years with fragmented aesthetics and positioning, the states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon now share a single brand as their foundation, which will help feed the entire business and tourism ecosystem, fostering the region’s sustainable economy and attracting visitors and investors from Brazil and around the world. This makes it possible, for the first time, to unify the communication efforts of its states — Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins — while maintaining each one’s identity.
“Across the world, many of the most visited and desired tourist destinations have strong, well-established brands. The Amazon has always had this potential, but it had never brought together, in a structured way, all those involved to join efforts toward building it. Now, we present a solid brand that clearly illustrates the richness, diversity and vibrancy of the Amazon, bringing together its main elements and the power of the entire region through a single concept and design,” explains Arnaldo de Andrade Bastos, Partner and Chief Design Officer at FutureBrand São Paulo.
To develop the brand, specialists relied primarily on the Amazon’s natural patterns. Using real coordinates from the Amazon River and its tributaries, the entire alphabet was found in satellite imagery, forming the Amazon logo with the actual curves of the basin’s 25,000 kilometers of navigable waterways. Acting as a living brand, it is not limited to a single application: instead, it brings a range of predefined colors and elements, allowing it to transform according to region and occasion, while highlighting its fauna, flora, environment and culture.
Ensuring a stronger sense of belonging and regional essence, the project also involved a number of professionals and artists from different parts of the territory as collaborators, such as illustrators Cristo, Winy Tapajós, Malu Menezes and Beatriz Belo; photographers Ori Junior and Bob Menezes; and Instituto Letras que Flutuam, with letterer Odir Abreu. The audiovisual production presenting the project was led by Marahu, from Pará.
Multiple applications
More than establishing the destination as a tourism hub, the new Amazon brand also aims to become a powerful asset in generating business for companies, entrepreneurs and artisans in the region, as well as ensuring the generation of income and revenue that supports its preservation. To this end, the “Feito de Amazônia (“Made of Amazon”) seal was created, which can be applied to a wide variety of local products, certifying their Amazonian origin and strengthening the brand both within and beyond Brazilian territory.
“We are talking about a powerhouse in art, music, gastronomy, culture and the production of hundreds of items for different industries. And it is precisely this richness that the world can now fully experience: the Amazon as a sensory and transformative experience, revealed through the flavors, sounds, colors and knowledge of the forest. A journey that impacts those who visit, but also strengthens those who live and produce in the region, generating value, pride and a future for the Amazon,” emphasizes Bruno Reis.
“The goal is to organize experiences, tourist destinations, licensing and the seal of origin under a brand that is desired and recognized worldwide. We want to reinforce the invitation for Brazilian and international tourists to come and experience the Brazilian Amazon,” adds Gilvan Pereira, Secretary of Tourism of Rondônia.
