GBG Case Study

YouTube and Google Hangouts support Brazilian social enterprise to score big in World Cup year

About Imagina na Copa

• imaginanacopa.com.br • São Paulo, Brazil • Imagina na Copa is a social mobilization and communication project which used the World Cup 2014 to motivate Brazilian youth to initiate change in the country • 4 core staff plus 80 volunteers • Started in August 2012 with a crowdfunding campaign and launched officially in January 2013

“Imagina na Copa” means “Imagine [what things will be like] during the World Cup” in Portuguese. In the run-up to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, the phrase took on a negative meaning because Brazilians were not as excited about hosting the event as one might think. Not only were there lots of complaints regarding the expense of the World Cup—and how public money should otherwise be invested—but there were also concerns over the huge influx of people causing major issues for the country. For example, if traffic was bad, they would say “Imagina na copa”, to suggest it would be even worse when the tournament started. Imagina na Copa’s project used the World Cup 2014 to motivate Brazilian youth to go beyond complaining and initiate change in the country. The co-founders traveled around Brazil, filming the stories of young social entrepreneurs to inspire others. The results were impressive—75 stories were showcased on YouTube, accumulating over 330,000 views in just a few months. 400 pieces were written about the project in the media. And more than 80 volunteers were involved across Brazil’s 27 states. The Internet enabled the co-founders to build a network that could make their dream a reality and maximize its impact. The network gave them access to a wealth of young social entrepreneurs who they otherwise wouldn’t have met, and helped them recruit and manage volunteers online. Imagina na Copa’s YouTube channel was essential in keeping people informed about their latest activity. Within the enterprise, Google Hangouts proved to be an invaluable communication tool. It was used for interviewing potential young entrepreneurs, and keeping team members connected whilst working remotely in different parts of the country.

“We empowered people, instigated change and helped them make a positive social impact on our country.” — Mariana Ribeiro, Co-founder, Imagina na Copa

Over 50 people replicated projects in their home towns, after watching Imagina na Copa’s videos. This, as co-founder Mariana Ribeiro says, “is big proof that people can be inspired by seeing other people do things they cherish and value. We empowered people, instigated change and helped them make a positive social impact on our country.” Following the success of Imagina na Copa, the co-founders are now writing a book about their experiences. Now they are simply called Imagina, and have become a collective of social entrepreneurs, who work both together, and individually. © 2014 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Google and the Google logo are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.