Box1824

Summary

• Foundation: 2004
• Founders: Rony Rodrigues, João Mognon Cavalcanti, Lucas Mello, and Priscila Figheira
• CEOs: Rony Rodrigues and Paula Englert
• Creative Director: João Mognon Cavalcanti
• The name 'Box1824' was inspired by research that affirms that young adults at the age of 18 to 24 would be in the main center of influence in the global business world
• Employees: 30
• Box1824 has offices in New York, São Paulo, and Mexico City, with teams and partners across the globe. Clients include AB InBev, Nike, Samsung, FIAT, Unilever, PepsiCo, Dyson, C&A, and Itaú

Box1824

Box1824 is the leading consumer and trends research company in Latin America founded in 2004, by Rony Rodrigues, João Mognon Cavalcanti, Lucas Mello, and Priscila Figheira, all college students at the time, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The name of the company was inspired by research that affirms that young adults from ages 18 to 24 would be in the main center of influence in the global business world. In the beginning, the company didn't count on any started investment and showed their work only through a PowerPoint presentation, without a website, office, or even a business card.

Box1824 it’s a research agency that studies consumption trends, behavior, and innovation. The company helps to draw future scenarios and anticipate behavioral movements through strategic intelligence. The company was launched by applying new semiotics and participative observation tools in order to detect what people think and want, therefore pointing toward the main consumption and culture trends. Spread out all over the world, Box researchers hit the field to discover what’s new and report its finding to clients.

This type of work is done with non-usual methods in the field of marketing qualitative research, in a way that brings a new model of visual to some future situations and social analysis. The agency also had done some work in topics like language, communication, companies' DNA, and talent recruitment. Some brands that had been their clients are Samsung, PepsiCo, Nike, InBev, Nestlé, C&A, FIAT, and Itaú.

Their main purpose is to research, learn, and spread ideas that can wake up a new form of conscience, linked to social responsibilities and sustainability. One example of that action is The Rise of Lowsumerism study, that Box1824 did in 2015 to differentiate consumption of consumerism, treating the last one like a new kind of cholesterol.

In 2007, they’ve already been indicated for the Caboré Award, in the Specialized Service category. Two years after that the company was a finalist at the Excellence Award for the Best Paper, in the marketing research conference ESOMAR, in Greece. It was also in 2009 that the agency launched the Ponto Eletrônico, a blog about culture and behavior, which later in 2014 was going to publish free reports of future trends. Nowadays the company is very active in Medium, with current posts about their researches, studies, and social analysis.

In 2010 was created the OGrupo holding and Box1824 started to be a part of it, as well as the LiveAd, Aquiris and TalkInc., companies of digital operation in fields like advertising, games, and research.

In 2012 Box1824 launched the Nexo project, which has the purpose of recruit, develop, and engage young talents that are interested and prepared to innovate the labor market. Through modern new methods, Nexo connects the companies to the future employee and is able to reinvent the hiring process. Their first client was Ambev, followed by Unilever, FIAT, Itaú, and Votorantim.

In a partnership with Plug N’ Work network, Box1824 moved its office to a co-working space that connected the agency with other startups and innovative companies. Nowadays Box1824 has a more decentralized team structure and counts with collaborators all over the world: the agency was also a pioneer at installing the home-office concept in Brazil. At the end of 2013, the company passed through a big change, maintaining a fixed structure for attendance, planning, and administration, and all additional services are provided by partners that work with Box1924 per project. That leaves the company with 30 fixed employees and on average another 40 works in specific services in which project. In that way, the teams can be assembled according to the needs in the actual moment and that multidisciplinary causes a better delivery of jobs.

Researches and projects.

We All Want To Be Young

Launched in 2010, the project film brings a resume of results of many studies realized in the past 5 years about different generations and their expressions and motivation. The video shows a lot about younger behavior, with the main focus on the millennials’ generation.

Sonho Brasileiro (The Brazilian Dream)

Released in 2011, the study interviewed more than 3000 young people, at the age of 18 to 24, in 146 cities of Brazil in order to identify their vision of the future and longing for change. The main goal was to evaluate the perspective of the young population about their country. That study has non-profit aims and is free to use and consult.

All Work and All Play

The video was made in 2012 based on a study that compared the professionals' motivation in each generation, as well as their relation to work. The result is a new meaning to the concept of success, that evolves over time.

Youth Mode

The study was presented in 2013, by Box1824 and New York’s collective K-Hole. The report points to youth as a way of living, thinking, and feeling, is a way of life that doesn’t relate exclusively with age range. Following that idea, the study presents the concept of Normcore, a behavioral and aesthetic movement that prioritizes adaptability and normatively instead of extreme differentiation. The term was widely debated in the global press.

The Rise of Lowsumerism

This study is about breaking the current consumerism’ vicious cycle, by consuming less and being more conscious about the damage that it can bring to our society and environment. The video was launched in 2015 and is also part of a non-commercial project.

The Dream for Brazilian Politics

Research that measures the Brazilian's new forms of political activity. The study was made in a nonprofit and nonpartisan way, so it can represent the reality and what to expect in this area, by understanding the main changes and expressions that will possibly mold the political future of the country.

TrueGen

Done by Box1824 in collaboration with McKinsey, the researchers interviewed, in 2017,  2500 people between the ages of 14 to 22, of all social classes all over Brazil. The result was a detailed report of that generation's behaviors, in all aspects of life. The project counts with an audio-visual production that, besides only showing results and data, wants to show in a visual, sensorial, and emotional way who are the gen z people: the video of 12 minutes is a mini-doc that presents in a non-linear form a self-portrait of this revolutionary generation.

GenExit

it’s research done in the US in 2017 that shows the main differences between generations Y and Z, based on trends research, semiotic analysis, and qualitative studies. It can also be considered a reunion of the major aspects in the TrueGen and We All Want To Be Young studies, but with a different approach and collection of complimentary info.

The Future of Influence

the term “influencers” dominated the internet in the last few years, but there isn’t a lot of profound studies about it. Thinking about that, Box1824 in a partnership with YOUPIX started a study about the theme, understanding that talking about influence means making a portrait of our actual society, which makes it important to study the origin, results, and consequences of that. Learn about contemporary logic is fundamental to start guessing future scenarios. The agencies spend months in immersion in studies, research and talking to specialists to be able to formulate a better understanding of that theme. In the end, the report even suggests a formula that can explain if you are influential or not, which consists of four main aspects: connect with your community, promote contents and actions, have coherence, and build authenticity.

With the advance of the Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation, Box1824 has started to do many kinds of research seeking answers about the behavioral trends caused by this situation, as well as in consumption, market, and business areas. The first conclusion is that the movement centered on the regenerative economy is intensifying. That economic model is based on a more connected, demanding, and supportive client since the concept is supported by three main pillars: digital, conscious, and social consumption.

Gen Z

Rony Rodrigues, CEO of Box1824, presented the lecture “The changes in behavior and consumption of generation Z and their impact in the business world” during the Retail Executive Summit, the most relevant Brazilian event in the field, realized in the US. He opened the lecture by telling that young people are like antennas that capture time spirit. The generation Z are the people that were born since 1995 until 2010, that lives a different reality form millennials: gen Z was born already in digital times, they never get to know a world without technology and because of that their brain establish thousands of simultaneous connections, they are hypercognitive and are capable of living multiple realities. It is a generation that passed through three big revolutions since their birth and is not that they are the most intelligent generation, but certainly is the one that receives much more stimulus than the others before.

According to the study of Box1824, gen Z presents four main behaviors that differentiate them from past generations. The first one is “undefined id”, which means that definition is a limitation and the important thing is to live without any labels and break with the common stereotypes and prejudices. The second one is “comuna holic”, that relates to a young population that is radically inclusive, always searching for authenticity and a genuine form of expression. Generation Z has a spirit of embrace diversity. The third one is “dialoguers”, that represents a bigger ability with talking, relationships, and dealing with difference of opinions. Is a more tolerant generation that believes in the power of communication. Lastly, the fourth one is “realistic”, which demonstrates the possibility of controlling their steps and dreams with the help of technology, in a way that many of those young people prefer a safe job instead of chasing their dreams. Mainly in Brazil, because of the economical and political crises, the preference goes to stability and fixed jobs.

The study also reveals the relationship that gen z establishes with consumption, which is based on three main factors: ethics, access, and singularity. The research has shown that the generation z give up buying things from companies related to scandals or that do not act in an ethical way. About 73% of gen z people think twice before buying an item and 63% affirms to buy just what is really necessary. The characteristic behavior of inclusion and diversity is also an important factor that affects consumption, as their preference is for brands that share that same value.

Box Lab

Box Lab is a training program that hires graduated students of communication, journalism, sociology, and psychology interested in working for the agency. In the first edition, in 2014, the program received 320 applications and selected just 3. At first, the students have classes with Rony and the other Box’s directors. After the training period, they start working in a hub, which half of their salaries are assured by the company, and the other half is paid according to the projects in which one is involved in.