Because we transformed Black Friday's traditional dynamics by shifting from passive engagement - impacting viewers during TV breaks - to integrating the Mercado Libre offers into their favorite shows. Rather than offering typical discounts, we provided genuine savings available in any handshake that appeared during TV shows through a QR code scan. This wasn't just another Black Friday campaign; it was an interactive game, making the experience engaging and innovative, ensuring that the audience actively participated and benefitted from real discounts directly through their screens.

Black Friday stands out as the retail event with the highest sales volume of the year. A survey by Octadesk, indicates that 73% of Brazilians prefer online shopping, especially drawn by the classics discounts. According to Conversion, 90.5% of the population intending to make purchases on the period – marking a 9% increase from the previous year. However, all the brands advertise their traditional discounts in the same way: in TV breaks. Why? TV is the medium with biggest fight penetration among the Brazilian population, far ahead from any other. This generates a real fight for the consumers' attention. On one hand, there are hundreds of brands competing for limited TV ad breaks, offering discounts and terribly similar ads; on the other, at least half of consumers believe that there is a lack of real offers on the date. To make matters worse, although Mercado Libre is the category leader, it is still not recognized for offering the best discounts and is also very little associated to Black Friday. Purchase consideration rates on the platform generally fall in the period, placing it below competitors such as Shopee and Shein. If the brand wanted to be successful on Black Friday, it would need to break the logic of the category in order to stand out.

Black Friday is the peak shopping moment of the year in Brazil. Consumers are most ready to open their wallets. However, standing out during this event is challenging due to three main reasons:

(1) TV is the most popular medium and advertising slots are fiercely competed over not just by the usual discount-heavy competitors but also by lesser-known brands aiming for a slice of the pie.

(2) Most of these brands are doing pretty much the same: huge fonts, urgent voiceovers, loud sounds to grab attention, promoting ""unmissable"" deals that often leave consumers skeptical.

(3) Despite being the biggest ecommerce in Latin America, Mercado Libre was not associated to promotions an huge discounts.

To break through this clutter, it was necessary to change Mercado Libre's approach and meet our business and branding goals: drive more traffic to our website and app, increase sales during the period, and become top-of-mind brand.

Instead of competing for space during crowded ad breaks, we took a unique approach with our "brand-promo-content". We noticed that handshakes—featured in Mercado Libre's logo—appear frequently across TV shows. So, we tracked over 2,000 of these handshakes during programming on Brazil's largest TV channel, TV Globo, and paired each one with exclusive QR codes. When viewers scanned these QR codes, they unlocked discount coupons. That’s right, every handshake was a chance to snag an unbeatable deal. A handshake in a soap opera? Discount. On the morning show? Discount. During the news? Discount.

To keep the excitement going for 45 straight days, the coupons improved as Black Friday approached. The real thrill came with offering these discount coupons at unexpected moments for a very limited time, creating a rush every time a coupon was released.

During Black Friday, Brazilian shoppers increasingly prefer online shopping, attracted by substantial discounts on digital platforms. Each year, the enthusiasm for online deals grows. This event is characterized by fierce competition among brands fighting for consumer attention during TV ad breaks, where ads often blur into one another. Despite this, many consumers remain skeptical about the true value of these offers. In this competitive environment, Mercado Libre finds it challenging to stand out, especially as it's not typically associated with Black Friday or known for the best discounts.

Understanding that our audience loves the thrill of hunting for deals as much as the deals themselves, we crafted a two-part strategy:

Instead of bombarding consumers with offers, we make it enticing for them to seek out our deals.

Rather than competing for attention in crowded ad breaks, we engage with viewers when they are most captivated: during their favorite TV shows.

We launched the "Handshake Hunt" in a groundbreaking collaboration with Globo, the world's second-largest TV network. This campaign embedded our discounts directly into Globo's most-watched shows, linking each handshake scene with exclusive offers.

Our first step was to analyze Globo's scripts and scenes, identifying every handshake beforehand. Next, we created a series of educational content to show viewers how to access these discount coupons. Whenever a handshake appeared in any show, a QR code popped up on the screen.

To ensure no one missed out, we leveraged out-of-home (OOH) advertising and influencers to create buzz among those not currently watching TV.

This campaign ran for 45 days, keeping viewers engaged and on the lookout for the best deals throughout TV programming. It marked a novel approach to Black Friday promotions and became the most successful campaign in Mercado Libre's history. The best part? None of our competitors could replicate it.

Despite the market experiencing one of its worst Black Fridays in Brazilian history, Handshake Hunt campaign turned out to be the best Black Friday in Mercado Libre's history. The innovative campaign reached 80 million people and achieved 7.8 billion impressions. It significantly boosted Mercado Libre's brand presence, with a 5p.p. increase in top-of-mind awareness, giving the brand the first place in its category. Additionally, brand consideration grew 7p.p compared to the previous year.

The campaign also drove a remarkable 14% increase in app and website sessions during the same period YOY. Sales on Black Friday day surged by 80%, and when considering the entire month, there was a 39% YOY increase. Transactions went up by 27%, and the use of coupons exploded with a 283% increase compared to the previous year.

Handshake Hunt not only captivated audiences but also dramatically enhanced Mercado Libre's market performance during a challenging season.