Think & Create like a Brazilian.
I've always been fascinated with Brazilian culture. The friendliness of the people, the colours, the rhythm, the beaches, the Bossa nova. It's simply hard not to love their culture as it exudes a richness and warmth that's so inviting. A richness that is duly reflected in the quality of advertising they passionately create.
Since the early 1960's where people like Roberto Duailibi, Francesc Petit, and José Zaragosa, founders of agency DPZ that brought European flair to the country, to the independent powerhouse names of the 90's and 2000's such as Nizan Guanaes, Marcello Serpa and Washington Olivetto, the later being so famous that circa 2002 he was kidnapped and held for ransom for almost 2 months.
From telenovelas to futbol games, billboards to magazines, advertising is big business in Brazil. A business that does well locally and gets a lot of recognition internationally when it comes to craft, ideas and execution. Throughout the decades there are campaigns that have stood out such as:
The campaign for Bombril, a cleaning product, that has been running since 1978, with over 350 different executions. At the heart of it comedian Carlos Moreno impersonates various celebrities, politicians & pop culture icons such as Che Guevara and the Mona Lisa. A campaign so successful that in 2004 when there was an attempt to switch it up, there was public outcry to bring it back. This also was by Olivetto the founding figure of W/Brasil (WMcCann) one of the best-known agencies in the country & who is deservingly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the creator of the longest-running advertising campaign with the same leading character.
And then there's the 1993 Cannes Grand Prix Award winning campaign for Diet Guarana by Marcello Serpa (One of Olivetto's Disciples) an excellent example of less is more. Serpa later joined AlmapBBDO which soon became a major powerhouse name in the Brazilian ad scene.
And speaking of Almap, one of my favourites is their awesome 2010 Press Grand Prix winning campaign for Billboard Magazine. They created a detailed customizable mosaic ad based on icons of famous musicians, the interactive posters were displayed on touch screens in the subway where people could pick their artist of choice, with a graph that adjusts according to the votes each artist receives.
Most recently, of the Brazilian work that has truly fascinated me is the campaign for Newspaper Folda de S. Paulo by Africa. To show the true value of the 'Truth' a special edition of the paper was printed with same materials and criteria used in printing currency, from security paper to watermarks, fluorescent fibers to exclusive holographs. The campaign won big in global award shows, from the coveted Yellow Pencil in 2021 to multiple Cannes lions.
I seriously could go on and on, but I'll let the images do the rest of the talking for me instead of 'Falar pelos cotovelos' as the Brazilians say ;)
