To commemorate the opening of the Nova Olinda Park, the largest solar energy generation plant in South America, Enel Brasil chose to present the population of Northeastern Brazil with an innovative action based on a tradition of the region: cordel literature (inexpensive booklets sold on the streets and hung from strings, where the name cordel comes from).
Writer Bráulio Bessa was invited to create a poem promoting the features of the Brazilian hinterland, as well as highlighting the progress and development fostered by solar power. The video, narrated by the poet, mixes images of the Piauí landscape and of the solar park and it is already being shared through Enel Brasil’s Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Youtube pages.
“We chose Bráulio’s poetry because we believe cordel literature is a light and impactful way to broach a technical subject through a regional lens which the population can easily understand. This poem is a gift from Enel to the employees involved in the Nova Olinda construction and to all Brazilians benefitting from our solar plants”
More than a communications campaign, the poem “The Hinterland Will Become Light” praises the energy of the Brazilian Northeast and the natural and technological riches of the region. Furthermore, it translates the essence of the Open Power positioning adopted globally by Enel, a strategy that hopes to open energy up to new people, new uses, new technologies, new services and partnerships, aiming at playing a leadership role in the current transformations the energy market is undergoing.
Cordel: a Northeastern tradition
Using colloquial and humorous language, cordel literature uses rhymes and metrics to cover diverse themes of Brazil’s daily life. The term, of Portuguese heritage, refers to the its most common presentation: small books with woodcut-printed covers hung from ropes or strings. Considered one of the main cultural manifestations of the Northeastern countryside, cordel has the important social function of informing, entertaining and thrilling the reader or spectator.
About the writer
Bráulio Bessa is considered an ambassador of Northeastern culture. His poetry reading videos have had more than 40 million views, having as trademarks the accent and his inseparable hat. He is also the founder of the ‘Northeastern Nation’ project, which promotes the region’s culture and has over one million followers on social media. The poet became nationally known after taking part in Rede Globo programme “Encontro com Fátima Bernardes”. His weekly sketch, “Poesia com Rapadura”, has great viewership and wide reach on social media.