What Is Shadow Marketing and How to Manage Networks
Victor Dellorto analyzes the bottlenecks between headquarters and local stores, and how to grant autonomy without compromising brand governance.
When corporate marketing cannot keep up with local demands, franchisees and salespeople create improvised promotional materials. Victor Dellorto explains shadow marketing and how to balance local customization with brand governance.
Victor Dellorto, founder and CEO of Deskfy, spoke with Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast about the causes and impacts of shadow marketing across retail and franchise networks. The phenomenon occurs when centralized marketing teams become an operational bottleneck, prompting frontline teams—such as company-owned stores, franchisees, and sales reps—to produce their own decentralized communications outside official brand guidelines.
In the video above, Dellorto details the dynamics of retail networks in Brazil and illustrates how a lack of proper tools drives local operators toward visual improvisation.
The origins of shadow marketing and headquarters bottlenecks
According to Dellorto, uncoordinated decentralization does not stem from bad intentions at the local level, but from headquarters' inability to address regional nuances in a timely manner. Weather conditions, cultural differences, and product assortment require adaptations that generic campaigns cannot deliver, such as running distinct winter promotions between the South and Northeast regions.
The disconnect between Philip Kotler's Four Ps theory and limited resources inside marketing departments often leads to a loss of visual control. As Dellorto notes, "shadow marketing happens as a consequence of being unable to meet demand." Faced with tight deadlines and immediate sales targets, local operators turn to accessible design tools to build their own assets: "That's when the nephew steps in, or that design tool where everyone becomes an expert designer and creates amazing things. The frontline is extremely creative, as anyone listening knows. They make incredible things—GIFs, different colors, they make their own memes."
Operational, tax, and inventory risks at the point of sale
Improvisation becomes critical when it threatens an operation's legal and fiscal compliance. In pharmacy and food retail, clearing inventory near its expiration date or handling state-level tax disparities makes one-size-fits-all messaging impossible. Promoting incorrect pricing can trigger formal sanctions from consumer protection agencies, such as Procon.
The solution to protecting brand equity without stalling sales lies in providing parameterized systems for controlled customization. Dellorto highlights: "When you implement Deskfy, you give them visibility and the ability to customize an asset without breaking brand guidelines. That way, we meet the brand's expectations and we meet the frontline's expectations. Once you do that, shadow marketing disappears."
The role of AI and the limits of software development
Discussing automation and the use of AI in multi-location marketing, Dellorto argues that technology is effective for structuring initial ideas and overcoming creative blocks, but still relies on human judgment for strategic refinement.
On dividing responsibilities between technology and professionals, Dellorto states: "I think AI really helps us go from zero to one. Anyone working in creative fields knows the dread of a blank page—starting from scratch. So for consolidating data, finding patterns, and generating ideas, going from zero to one is very easy with AI, and we should embrace that." He adds that full product development requires technical depth: "Building software isn't just writing a prompt, I'm sorry, it's not. I've been building software for 10 years—just at Deskfy, plus several years at SAP."