www.lionsdailynews.com friday, june 24 , 2011

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FRIDAY, JUNE 24,2011
FOCUS ON LATIN AMERICA
Embratur for Europe campaign. Our plan for 2011 is what we
consider a realistic growth rate, of 10%. Currently Brazil and
Mexico are the great motors of Latin America, closely followed
by Argentina, and Colombia which has been reactivated in recent
years.”
Bigio agrees: “The region is in the middle of profound
change from the classical image based on tango and samba culture
to something quite new. We have our own way of looking at
the world and inevitably lots of ideas that have local and international
resonance.
“It’s the same with our uses of colour. Colours often have
a historical relevance here, and they reflect the diversity and
energy of the region.”
In order to justify its presence in the region, Ogilvy has
had to focus on the local creative level. “I believe that this is
reflected in campaigns like Santa’s Forgotten Letters for Coca-
Cola by Ogilvy Brasil and Ogilvy Buenos Aires’ Spread The TED,
where 50 taxi drivers in Buenos Aires were asked to attend a
TEDx conference and then talk about what they’d seen and heard
A R G E N T I N A
AN ELEPHANT WALKED INTO A BAR…
ARGENTINIAN producer
Hachiko Films faced numerous
challenges shooting the Noah’s
Bar spot for Sprite and agency
Santo Buenos Aires. “The production
had to find a good balance
between humour and
non-aggressiveness, because
we had to show animals having
sex, and a teenage girl
repressing her sexual impuls-
es, and all that had to be able
to be aired on TV, cinema and
internet,” director Claudio
Prestia, says. “The spot was
shot in Buenos Aires in five
days, with a fake bar that the
art department had to build to
the scale of each animal couple
seated at each table.” Elephants,
donkeys, tortoises,
goats and guinea pigs were
shot flirting through to mating,
and then the shoot was
followed by two months of
post-production. “Everyone
was happy with the results,
but it is true what actors say,”
Prestia says. “When there are
so many technicians behind
the scenes, there was no true
love among any of the animal
couples.”
to their customers.”
Sergio Valente, president of DM9DDB, has also been busy
with the mechanics of the agency: “In 2010 we concentrated on
consolidating DDB Brazil as a convergent agency, a process that
started in 2004 and led us to winning the Cyber Agency of the
Year at the Cannes Festival in 2005. Therefore, it has been important
for us to work with our existing clients to win their digital
accounts, in order to consolidate our strategy of thinking, creating
and implementing truly convergent brand building. “We
won the digital accounts of clients such as Whirlpool Digital,
C&A Mobile and C&A Digital (the largest clothing retailer in
Brazil), Bohemia Digital (a premium beer by Ambev for the
Brazilian market) and Itau Digital (one of Brazil’s largest banks).
One outstanding result was the convergent campaign for Whirlpool
brand Brastemp, which garnered both critical and public acclaim.
“On top of that, three brands served by DM9 — C&A,
Brastemp and Banco Itau — entered the new ranking published
by Troiano consulting, of brands with the greatest digital DNA
in the Brazilian market.”
It seems that Brazil’s prize-winning can-do attitude has
not been — and is unlikely to be — affected by the rapidly growing
economy. “I don’t think it will change much. Brazilians are
creative and they will continue being creative,” he says. “But, if
before we accomplished much with little, we are going to accomplish
much more with more, and I have no doubt that local creativity
will stay at a high level, but for sure we will have more
sophisticated productions.”
Changes are under way as well as at Y&R Brazil, where
Rui Branquinho took over as creative vice-president in January.
“He has already had the opportunity to put some excellent work
on the streets,” says Marcos Quintela, president of Y&R Brazil.
“Among them is a project for Santa Casa, and the campaign
developed for Miami Ad School, which stimulates youngsters to
create instead of copying, using only the traditional letterset.”
Following more than a decade of steady growth and consolidation,
Quintela is looking to move ahead more rapidly. “The
momentum is now to boost growth using the opportunities offered
by the re-shaping of Brazil’s social pyramid,” he says. “The considerable
growth of an emerging class of consumers, alongside
more accessible credit and not forgetting the major sporting
events ahead, mean that Y&R Brazil’s brand portfolio will certainly
benefit from the combination of all these opportunities.”
Sport-related opportunities are already happening. “The
project developed for Vivo around the sponsorship of the Brazilian
soccer team was a huge challenge,” Quintela says. “Most difficult
was keeping the brand in focus during the World Cup
event across this huge country without the use of TV as a massmedia
vehicle. Y&R developed an online platform engaging
consumers during the entire period, culminating with fantasy
documentary O Ultimo Gol Do Pele, which consumers loved.
Research results showed growth in consumer preference in a
period where the brand was absent from traditional mediums,