Lula campaign scrambles to rebrand before Brazil runoff

By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA, Oct 6 (Reuters) – After a bruising first round of Brazil’s presidential election, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is rushing to overhaul his campaign communications to engage millions of Brazilians who did not vote, according to people close to the campaign.

Lula finished nearly 2 percentage points — about 2.2 million votes — behind right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s vote, making the three-term leftist the underdog in an October 25 runoff.

As markets cheered Bolsonaro’s odds, Lula’s allies met in Brasilia on Monday to regroup and plan a rebrand.

At the meeting, Lula pushed what is being dubbed internally the “fear strategy” to remind voters of the risks a Bolsonaro presidency he says would pose to popular social benefits.

People close to the campaign say Lula blames the messaging for failing to reach enough young people and women.

Some party figures point to Lula’s social communications minister, Sidonio Palmeira, whose business partner Raul Rebelo runs the campaign’s messaging, for pushing less accessible themes like sovereignty and critical minerals. One TV campaign advert was devoted entirely to rare earths.

Rebelo is staying for now, but Otavio Antunes, a more aggressive strategist, is expected to join the national team, two people with the campaign said.

Lula’s Workers’ Party is courting the 9 million-plus voters who backed minor candidates, but mainly targeting the record 33 million who abstained on Sunday, which it attributes to apathy rather than opposition to Lula.

A new Workers’ Party social media ad warns that “some losses can’t be undone,” as slips of paper naming government programs, including one sending doctors to remote areas and above-inflation pension increases, blow from an open hand.

Bolsonaro’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a recent interview, he pledged to keep Bolsa Familia — Brazil’s flagship cash-transfer program created by Lula — and let recipients stay on it even after finding formal work or starting a business.

With less than three weeks to go, campaign coordinator Paulo Okamoto said the campaign would build a network of left-leaning influencers to aid the social media push.

Lula himself could prove an obstacle. The 80-year-old does not carry a phone and often criticizes screen culture.

While he promised Monday to make more social videos — which he calls “selfies” — Lula also said he wants to do more radio interviews before the runoff.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Additional reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Aurora Ellis)