Coffee with Pedro Cadina, CEO of Vianews Agency — 40th Anniversary Special!

Vianews, founded in 1985, celebrated its 40th year this August. To mark the occasion, we spoke to Pedro Cadina, founder and CEO of the agency, and we’re sharing an extended Coffee With interview.

Collectivist: Tell me about the agency. What’s the overview or elevator pitch?

Pedro: Vianews is a communication and digital marketing agency focused on creating conversations around our clients’ brands, developing creative solutions to make this possible, and always with a focus on our customers and delivering tangible economical results.

Headquartered in São Paulo, Vianews has been operating in the Latin American market for 40 years—since August 1985. We currently manage communication and marketing campaigns for Dow Chemical, ABC Brasil, Panasonic, SIG, NovaAgri Toyota Tsusho Group, Softtek, DXC, Flex, and others.

Collectivist: What does your day-to-day role look like now, 40 years on? Do you drive new business or help with clients? What do you do in the business now?

Pedro: I’m the CEO of the agency, so you’ll probably find me looking at spreadsheets and reports, guiding employees, meeting with key clients and partners, or preparing a talk on communication. I also take part in prospecting for big clients—large companies. That’s my day-to-day work.

Collectivist: You mentioned new business. Do you still enjoy that role?

Pedro: Yes, I do; I mainly take part in the big pitches. I support my team in developing proposals, deciding on pricing, and finalising the proposal. That’s very important to me right now.

Collectivist: Thinking all the way back to 1985 (when I was six years old, by the way!), why did you start the business? What made you want to launch your own agency?

Pedro: We were founded out of a mix of opportunity and a desire for change. At that time, the technology sector in Brazil was growing fast, and there were no specialised PR agencies. So, it was a big opportunity for us. At the same time, public relations agencies worked more like advertising agencies. We wanted to change that – to send information to journalists in a journalistic, non-advertising format. We were the first PR technology agency in Brazil at that time. Within three or four years, we had 20 clients, and by 1989, the agency had a 20-person team.

Collectivist: Did it feel like an easy decision to launch the agency at the time?

Pedro: It was an easy decision, to be honest with you, because my father owned a business. My uncle also owned a business. My family had various businesses in Brazil, so it was part of my life.

When I started out as a journalist, I wanted to own a newspaper. And I tried it. Then, I tried owning a news agency. I tried that too. In fact, I was trying to be a business owner from the age of 19!

When I was 25, I founded Vianews with friends from university. In the beginning, I worked at the agency in the morning and at a newspaper in the afternoon.

Collectivist: Tell me about your clients now. What kind of technology do they cover? Are they software companies, AI, gaming, consumer? Is there a type of technology you really like or prefer?

Pedro: Most of our customers are B2B companies in various sectors of technology. For example, we work with manufacturing companies and companies that provide systems for legal or tax services. We also work with cybersecurity firms. It’s a very diverse client base. We work with all types of technology companies, but we always prefer those that are leading us into the future. When we started, that meant microcomputer brands. A few years later, it was social media companies. Now, we’re focused on companies with solid projects in Artificial Intelligence. That’s our current priority.

Collectivist: If you’re drawn to companies taking us into the future, does that mean they are usually startups?

Pedro: Not necessarily. Nvidia, for example, isn’t a startup, and it’s changing the technology landscape with AI. We believe each company has its own needs and communication culture. We strive to understand the brand and deliver the best solution, regardless of size. What matters is that it’s a brand that wants to transform and improve people’s lives.

There are companies we choose not to work with because they don’t make a difference. 

And there are others we really want to work with—because they do. For example, we work with a Brazilian company that provides systems for international trade—exports and imports—which greatly supports the country’s role in global trade. We love that, because they’re doing good not only for Brazil but for others too.

Collectivist: What services do you offer now—beyond media relations? What do your clients always want?

Pedro: We now have two divisions: public relations and digital marketing.

Public relations is still more important in terms of revenue—about 60%. The other 40% comes from digital marketing.

In public relations, we provide all the standard services: press releases, distribution, crisis management, media training, and content creation.

In digital marketing, we provide social media campaigns, advertising, branding, inbound marketing, and content marketing. We act as consultants in integrated communication.

We help clients decide whether PR is the right solution at a given moment or if they should focus more on content marketing. We offer the best solution for each case.

Collectivist: Have any clients started asking you about ChatGPT or AI in search?

Pedro: All of our clients are asking us to develop services using artificial intelligence. It’s very common now! They want to know how to appear in ChatGPT search results. We’re working on this, as it goes beyond traditional SEO.

At Vianews, we have a team dedicated to AI. They’re providing training for our clients and our internal teams. We’re currently defining how AI will be used in our operations. We’re always looking toward the future—and for us, AI is the future.

Collectivist: You mentioned your team. How many people are there now? Who helps you run the business? Who’s in the leadership team?

Pedro: We have about 35 employees—most of them in Brazil—but we also have collaborators in Mexico, Bolivia, and Argentina.

Our team includes PR professionals, journalists, designers, administrators, creatives, web designers, video specialists, and paid media experts.

We have a management team that helps make day-to-day decisions. Alone, you’re no one—we need people working together.

Our leadership team includes:

• Business Development Manager: Gabriel
• HR Coordinator: Carolina
• Service Coordinator: Gabriela
• PR Coordinator: Michelly
• Manager: Paulo

We hold weekly and monthly meetings to review what’s happening and decide on the best path forward.

Collectivist: Lastly, imagine I’m a technology company looking to break into the LATAM region, what do I need to know? What do tech companies typically get wrong when they arrive?

Pedro: I’d highlight three important points:

1. Latin America isn’t one market—it includes 20 countries. Brazil and Mexico are the largest economies, but each country is different, and that must be taken into account when running a campaign.
2. Language and cultural understanding are essential. People speak Portuguese in Brazil and Spanish in most other countries. But the Spanish in Mexico is different from the Spanish in Argentina. It’s important to speak the local language and understand local nuances.
3. Relationships are key in Latin America. If you have the right connections, half the work is done. In the UK or US, logic and information may matter more. Here, relationships can make or break the deal.

You can watch all of our 3-minute Coffee With interviews here. Alternatively, if you need a PR agency for Latin America, please do get in touch and signup to our newsletter.