Few professionals have managed to influence Brazilian communication as decisively as Salles Neto. Founder of Grupo Meio & Mensagem, he not only witnessed the transformation of advertising, marketing, and media in the country but also helped organize, connect, and professionalize it. This trajectory, which is intertwined with the very evolution of the sector, is now narrated in the autobiography O comunicador da comunicação, a new release from Matrix Editora.

In the launch, the businessman revisits his personal and corporate history to show how one of Brazil's most respected media groups was born and consolidated. More than telling the story of creating a company, he reveals how he fostered a permanent meeting space for ideas, business, talent, and qualified information.

The narrative begins in the 1970s, when, after his family's business went bankrupt, Salles Neto dropped out of Veterinary Medicine at USP and started working in communications. The path led him to Publinform and, subsequently, to the launch of Meio & Mensagem in 1978, during the III Brazilian Advertising Congress. Inspired by Advertising Age, the project was born with the ambition of providing up-to-date and independent information for agencies, media outlets, and advertisers, which caught the attention of the entire sector.

From the very beginning, strict ethical and editorial principles shaped the vehicle's identity. The "separation between Church and State," as Neto defines the total independence between journalistic content and commercial interests, has always been one of the pillars of the enterprise. In a field marked by disputes, egos, and economic pressures, maintaining this editorial line required courage, firmness, and leadership. The book recalls moments when the vehicle's credibility was put to the test and shows how editorial consistency became the group's main asset.

The publisher details how Meio & Mensagem surpassed the traditional role of a press vehicle to become a true integration hub for the Brazilian communications industry. Celebrations such as the Prêmio Caboré, created in 1980, and events like Maximídia became spaces for recognition, debate, and collective construction, helping to professionalize practices, stimulate talent, and anticipate trends. Other initiatives, such as the Effie Awards, Women to Watch, and ProXXIma, expanded the group's reach and reinforced its role as a relationship and content platform.

Throughout the account, Salles Neto reveals the behind-the-scenes of central events in advertising history, such as the consolidation of major agencies, the maturation of Brazilian media, the impacts of economic crises, hyperinflation, the Collor Plan, the arrival of the digital age, and the constant need for reinvention. The reader follows how strategic decisions were made in contexts of uncertainty and how the group survived and grew while maintaining its values.

Salles Neto presents himself as a mediator, someone who understood early on that communicating is not just about transmitting messages, but about building bridges, interpreting movements, setting the market's pace, and influencing the future. Striking episodes from the businessman's personal life also have their place. Neto recounts his rural childhood on farms in the interior of São Paulo, his father's bankruptcy, financial difficulties, the formation of his own family, and the grief over the early death of his son Alexandre at age 13, run over during the same period he was structuring M&M as a weekly publication.

More than a business autobiography, O comunicador da comunicação is a portrait of how well-articulated ideas, relevant information, and relationships built on trust can shape an entire ecosystem. By revisiting his own journey, the author offers a testimony on leadership, listening, editorial courage, strategic vision, entrepreneurship, and transformation. A book that records not only Salles Neto's life but the living memory of a market that learned to see itself, organize itself, and project itself into the future.

Fact sheet

Title: O comunicador da comunicação - Autobiografia do criador do Grupo Meio & Mensagem

Author: Salles Neto

Publisher: Matrix Editora

ISBN: 978-65-5616-629-2

Pages: 184

Price: R$ 65.00

Where to find: Matrix Editora, Amazon, and bookstores nationwide

About the author

José Carlos de Salles Gomes Neto, known as Salles Neto, is the founder and chairman of Grupo Meio & Mensagem, whose main product is the newspaper Meio & Mensagem. He began his career in marketing and sales and, at age 29, founded M&M. He also created the Prêmio Caboré, the most coveted award in the Brazilian advertising segment, and M&M Eventos, responsible for hosting prestigious gatherings such as MaxiMídia, MNB – Marketing Network Brasil, and Wave. He has a permanent role in several industry associations related to the sector.

Author's social media: LinkedIn

About Matrix Editora

Betting on new talents, formats, and readers. That is the hallmark of Matrix Editora since its founding in 1999. Matrix is today one of the most respected publishers in the country, with over 1,100 titles published and eight new releases every month. The publisher specializes in non-fiction books, such as biographies and report books, as well as business, motivational, and children's books. Titles published by Matrix are distributed to bookstores throughout Brazil and are also sold on the website www.matrixeditora.com.br.