Business
"We Create Digital Truth," Says Rafael Somera
Solutudo's founder discusses transitioning from print magazines to apps and adapting to search giants.
In an interview on Marketing - The Podcast, Rafael Somera details Solutudo's origins from a print guide in Botucatu. The executive explains how the business shifted to digital and turned competitors into visibility channels for small businesses.
Rafael Somera, CEO of Solutudo Brazil, spoke with Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast about the emergence of the local search platform and the business's transformation throughout its journey. The full episode also addresses other topics related to the digital presence of small and medium-sized businesses.
In the video above, Somera explains how early exposure to his parents' retail business shaped his interest in urban dynamics and community communication. Before establishing the company, the founder produced school and university newspapers, an experience that served as the foundation for creating a printed guide for the Jogos Abertos do Interior in Botucatu.
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From Print Magazines to the First App
The publication created for the Jogos Abertos did not yield an immediate financial profit, but it established a network of contacts with local businesses. From that project onward, Somera began publishing magazines for local residents, a business model that sustained the operation's early years prior to its digital transition.
Reflecting on the need for technological transition, Somera highlights the decision to overhaul the original format: "Then digital arrived, we went digital, and then the app came along, right? We were the first company in Brazil, in the State of São Paulo, to launch our own app on the Play Store and App Store, back in the very early days, around 2009 or 2010. So we headed in that direction. As digital gained ground, in a way, we had to cannibalize ourselves. If I don't build the digital product that kills my magazine, someone else will."
Resilience and Adaptation Against Bankruptcy
During the growth phase that began in 2005, the company faced economic fluctuations and shifts in search behavior. For Somera, a business's survival depends on its ability to pivot operations in response to new environments, rather than accepting closure as an inevitable consequence of market disruption.
"I think that's how it is—just the other day I was talking to a friend—it's much easier to go broke than to keep going," Somera says about confronting operational crises. The executive emphasizes that refusing to shut down guided structural overhauls over the years: "Because that option doesn't exist; I don't entertain it—I adapt."
From Battling Phone Directories to Coexisting with Google
The company initially competed with physical phone books before web platforms became mainstream. As social networks and search engines advanced, Solutudo began integrating its presence into these ecosystems rather than treating them as direct commercial rivals.
Somera argues that the platform's role is ensuring the background and offerings of small merchants reach the end consumer: "Some people look for businesses on Instagram, some look on TikTok, some on Google, some search on Solutudo, and some use ChatGPT. So we have to help these businesses appear wherever customers are searching for them. We have a saying around here: we don't do digital marketing; we create digital truth. I just want who this person truly is to be seen."
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