Warren Marenco Chase BSCL MBA Thesis FINAL

Master’s Thesis

Dancing Macaw, Waking Dragon:

Tensions Arise In The Next Global Creative Order. Opportunities and Challenges for Brazil and China’s

Advertising Community.

Warren Marenco Chase

Master’s Thesis

Dancing Macaw, Waking Dragon:

Tensions Arise In The Next Global Creative Order. Opportunities and Challenges for Brazil and China’s

Advertising Community.


Master of Business Administration

Creative Leadership

Class of 2010-2012

1. Supervising Tutor: Prof. Dr. Shamus Khan

2. Supervising Tutor: Prof. Dr. David Slocum

Editing Time from: January, 2011

until: June 2012

Statement of Authorship:

This dissertation is the result of my own work. Material from the published or un-

published work of others, which is referred to in the dissertation, is credited to the

author in the text.


Dancing Macaw, Waking Dragon: The Next Global Creative Order Warren Marenco

IV

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations .............................................................................................. v List of Tables ..................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 2. Background ..................................................................................................... 2 3. Hypothesis .................................................................................................... 33 4. Observations that led to the Hypothesis .................................................... 34 5. Research ....................................................................................................... 38 5.1 Personal Interviews .................................................................................... 40 5.2 Global brands navigating successfully in emerging markets ................ 65 5.3 Emerging market brands with global appeal ........................................... 71 5.4 Cannes Lions creative community ........................................................... 75 6. Findings ......................................................................................................... 77 6.1 Parallels ....................................................................................................... 79 7. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 81 8. Recommendations ....................................................................................... 82 9. A final word ................................................................................................... 84 10. Bibliography ................................................................................................ 85 11. Internet Sources ......................................................................................... 86 Apendix 1. Interview Subject Biographies ..................................................... 88 Apendix 2. Interview Questionnaires ............................................................ 114


V

List of Illustrations

Page

Ill. 1 Welcome to a future built in BRIC’s. Source: The Tele-

graph online

2

Ill. 2 Three Scenarios for China’s Long-Term Future. Source:

Global Economic Forum

15

Ill. 3 Main Players of Social Media China. Source: DDB China 18

Ill. 4 China Overtakes Germany in Luxury Car Sales. Source:

Bloomberg

19

Ill. 5 Shanghai Fast Food Restaurant Picture. Source: André

Kassu

20

Ill. 6 Made Better in China. Source: Business Insider June

2012 Trend Briefing.

20

Ill. 7 China’s Creativity Index. Source: China Data Center. 21

Ill. 8 In The Land of 1.5 Billion. Source: Ad Age China Article 24

Ill. 9 W+K Hires Talent Scout. Source: Campaign Brief Asia 25

Ill. 10 Samsonite ¨Heaven and HellÄd. Source: JWT Shanghai 25

Ill. 11 Coca Cola ¨HandsÄd. Source: Ogilvy Shanghai. Jo-

nathan Mak receives Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2012.

Source: Warren Marenco

26

Ill. 12 Jonathan Mak. Source: Wikipedia 27

Ill. 13 Ted Ex Shanghai Picture. Source: Warren Marenco 27

Ill. 14 Jordy Fu. Source: Wikipedia 28

Ill. 15 3 I’s Model. Source: Warren Marenco 31

Ill. 16 Johnnie Walker Keep Walking Brazi Ad. Source: Youtube 41

Ill. 17 Beijing bans ads for luxury goods . Source: Article on The

Telegraph

56


VI

Ill. 18 Irritable and Cranky – Hunger Traits. Source: BBDO 65

Ill. 19 Phisically Weak and Pathetic – Hunger Traits. Source:

BBDO

66

Ill. 20 Angry, Bad Tempered and Mean – Hunger Traits. Source:

BBDO

66

Ill. 21 Scene from Snickers China Ad. Source: BBDO 67

Ill. 22 Volkswagen The People’s Car Online Ad. Source: Proxi-

mity BBDO

68

Ill. 23 The Music Car. Source: BBDO Proximity 69

Ill. 24 The Hover Car. Source: BBDO Proximity 69

Ill. 25 The Smart Key. Source: BBDO Proximity 70

Ill. 26 Havaianas Print Ad. Source: Almap BBDO Brazil 71

Ill. 27 Havaianas Magazine Ad. Source: Almap BBDO Brazil 72

Ill. 28 Lenovo Print Ad. Source: lenovo.com 73

Ill. 29 Cannes Creative Leaders Picture. Source: Warren Ma-

renco

75

Ill. 30 MAD Travel Fellowship Logo. Source: i-mad.com 79

Ill. 31 MAD Travel Fellowship Students. Source: i-mad.com 80

Ill. 32 Global Creative Immersion Program Logo. Source: War-

ren Marenco

82

Ill. 33 Global Creative Immersion Program Site Visits. Source:

Warren Marenco

83


VII

List of Tables

Page

Tab. 1: GDP Growth Predictions Table. Source: Goldman Sachs 3

Tab. 2: GDP Growth Development in the last 200 years. Source:

INSEAD

4

Tab. 3: Best Global Brands Report 2011. Interbrand 5

Tab. 4: Brandz Top 200 Most Valuable Global Brands 2012.

WPP.

6

Tab. 5: GDP Growth Position. Source: The Economist 10

Tab. 6: The World in 2050. Source: GS Projections 16

Tab. 7: Cannes Lions Presentations Proposals. Source: Cannes

Lions Festival.

22

Tab. 8: Top Country Awards. Source: The Gunn Report 2011. 23


VIII

“Global creative leadership is about just that - leadership, not direction.

You lead by example”.

Andrew Robertson - CEO BBDO Worldwide.


IX


1

1. Introduction

In advertising, global creative domination has been, for the past 100 years at

least, in the hands of the United States of America or Europe.

And it made sense since most global brands are American or European.

However the world is changing. Global economic domination has been shifting

and a new world economic order is unveiling. Brazil, Russia, India and China,

the “BRIC” nations as they are known, are expected to lead the global economy

in the next ten to twenty years.

How will this translate to the advertising world? As global brands look for growth

in these markets, how will this affect their global communications message? Will

emerging markets become more western? Will western brands become more

eastern? What will global ideas look like? And in this context, will emerging

market agencies have a more active role in global creative development?

But most importantly, are creative agencies in BRIC nations prepared? Can the

reverse innovation idea apply also for creative development?

Reverse Innovation: A term referring to an innovation seen first, or likely

to be used first, in the developing world before spreading to the industrial-

ized world.

For both personal and logistical reasons the focus of my work is with Brazil and

China, and what each nation can learn from each other to be creatively relevant

in this new world order.


2

2. Background

BRIC nations and the economic prospects for the next decade.

In 2001, Jim O’Neil wrote a research paper in Goldman Sachs's Global Econom-

ics series that examined the relationship between the world's leading economies

and some of the larger emerging market economies.

He thought the global economy in the coming decades would be propelled by the

growth of four highly populated and economically ambitious countries: Brazil,

Russia, India and China, and coined the acronym BRIC from their initials to de-

scribe them. Illustration 01

BRIC nations article on The Telegraph online telegraph.co.uk


3

Over 10 years have passed since 2001 and we are definitely seeing the effects of

Mr. O’Neil’s prediction as we start to see more and more how Brazil, Russia, In-

dia and China start to have a more active role in the global economy.

According to Goldman Sachs in The Economist’s article of 2011 “America Sur-

renders To China”, by 2027 China will overtake the US as the first global econo-

my first of all in manufacturing. Some years after that, in 2033 The Economist

predicts that together BRIC nations will overtake the G7.

Table 01

Goldman Sachs GDP Growth Predictions. Source: The Economist


4

It also shows the share of the world’s GDP development for the last 200 years

and the next 15

Table 02

GDP Growth Development in the last 200 years. Source: INSEAD / Viramini

1970 was the peak of the western economical domination. After this it has lost its

position and it's expected to surrender economical power again to China. Diver-

gence peaks in 2012.

The US and European centric “global brand and communications market”

Ever since the beginning of the twentieth century global advertising has been

spearheaded by US and European brands. You can very easily say that most


5

global brands are American or European; at least the most valued ones, at least

until recent years.

According to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands report for 2011, the first 10 most

valued brands in the world are actually American. The first non-American brand

on the list is Toyota at #11 closely followed by Mercedes Benz from Germany at

#12. This is the scenario that most in the industry are accustomed to.

Table 03

Best Global Brands Report 2011. Source: Interbrand.


6

However, in their recently released 2012 report, BrandZ presents a slightly differ-

ent picture, where we see the first Chinese brand on the top 10 most valuable

brands: China Mobile Table 04

Brand Z, Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2012 Report. Source WPP.

BrandZ 2012 study reveals many interesting things about global brands and the

constant evolution of their positioning strategies. This past year has been partic-

ularly interesting in this regard as social media plays an ever stronger role in the

way consumers manifest their love or hate towards brands.

BrandZ presents a summary of the findings of the study, shedding some interest-

ing light on what makes a brand a global powerhouse these days. A whole chap-

ter devoted to BRIC nations is part of the report.

1. Value. Brands that have combined quality with price to achieve a rele-

vant balance have proven to be successful. That is the case of Zara,

Uniqlo and Home Depot.


7

2. Renewal. Brand strength is no guarantee that consumers will always re-

act positively to your brand. Consumer’s tastes change and brands need

to be able to renew their appeal to stay relevant. Case in point Starbucks

and Toyota.

3. Relevance. Brand heritage is good to build brand value and earned trust,

however to be considered today by consumers brands need to be rele-

vant today. Burberry is a good brand to look at when it comes to staying

relevant with contemporary products and communication.

4. Reputation. Consumers have little patience with brands that break their

trust. Social media has been instrumental in allowing this to amplify at

levels that keep brands on their toes. Brand champions like Facebook,

Google or even Apple have been under the consumer’s magnifying glass.

5. Reimagine. In the past strong distribution was enough to secure a good

place in the retail market. Today consumers are shopping with mobile

devices comparing prices looking for the best deal. Brands like Tesco in

South Korea have reimagined themselves and positioned their value

message in places where you would never think of conducting purchases.

6. Brand Contribution. High brand contribution is an enduring competitive

strength. However usually related to luxury brands, in this report Coca

Cola, and two Chilean retailers, Falabella and Sodimac ranked high sug-

gesting this advantage is available to brands in every category.

7. Personality. There is no formula for guaranteed success solely by brand

personality. Brands in the same category but with very different personal-

ities can both succeed. The key is recognizing the personality traits and

building them into a relevant communications message. Brazil’s Brahma

proves to be successful by ranking high on brand contribution based on

its friendly and happy personality.


8

8. Harder BRICs. Western brands are losing their novelty status in the top

emerging global markets. Local brands are starting to win over consum-

ers by improving on their functional and emotional appeal. Russian bank

Sberbank was one of the top risers in brand value on the report.

9. Disruption. An entrepreneur with a good idea and minimal investment

can make a big impact in a category or business. Today, a telecom or re-

tailer can easily become a successful bank. Amazon is a big example of

how an online retailer evolves its business with distribution presence on

the physical world.

10. Technology. In almost every category, regardless of the level of sophis-

tication of the consumer, technology is at the center of the conversation.

For example in the cars category, brand value is being raised more on the

technological features that come in a car than the horsepower under the

hood. BMW and Ford are dominating the conversation.

11. Digital. Today, the power of digital only seems to be limited to the crea-

tivity of the thinkers and the dreamers. Digital provides brands intimate

access to consumers to inform and entertain like never before through an

even more diverse number of screens, being these mobile devices, inter-

active billboards, or standing in a store isle. Digital works across any cat-

egory, like the work from Luis Vuitton on “Digital Discoveries”.

12. Health and Wellness. The impact of health and wellness has been felt

strongly on sales declines of soft drinks and the growing presence of sal-

ads in fast food restaurants. The trend to continue eating things that are

bad for us will not go away soon but will do it less and less. Coke and

Pepsi are not alone.

13. Entitlement. After tightening their belts for a while consumers are feeling

entitled again and spending in luxury items more to feel good about them-

selves than to impress others. This is happening in every price point from

Hermès to Clinique.


9

In a way, this report gives global brands a kind of “rules of the game” in terms of

global brand value going forward and emerging markets are definitely relevant

players in the game, not just as markets that represent business growth but as

markets that in the near future will influence consumer behavior outside their

borders.

In other words, in going global in the coming years, the rules of the West will not

guarantee success anymore.


10

The Emerging Giants:

Brazil:

First on the BRIC acronym, Brazil is one of the most promising economies on the

globe. With a vast land extension and strategic location, it represents huge ad-

vancements not only in raw material production but also high value services.

For decades the joke has been that Brazil is the country of the future and always

will be. Despite its enormous natural resources it has long displayed an uncanny

ability to squander its vast potential.

Now it's beginning to look like Brazil might have the last laugh. While most of the

world is consumed with debt and unemployment, Brazil is trying to figure out how

to manage an economic boom. It was the last country to enter the great reces-

sion and the first to leave it. It overtook the UK to become the sixth largest global

economy and it looks like France will be next.

Table 05

GDP Position. Source: The Economist


11

With the World Cup in 2014 in the Olympics on 2016; Brazil is about to make its

grand entrance on the global stage.

Brazil’s economy is growing faster than the US at a rate of 7%. It is the highest

producer of iron in the world and the worlds leading exporter of beef, chicken,

orange juice, sugar, coffee and tobacco; most of it to China who has replaced the

US as it’s leading economic partner.

In recent years, Brazil has seen the resurgence of it’s middle class who now have

higher spending power and are accessing a category of goods long inaccessible

for them: washing machines, flat screen TV’s and automobiles. Recent studies

show that the middle class has reached a total of 40 million people. About 20%

of the countries total population.

But not all of it is good news; given its checkered record of living up to its promise

the rap against Brazil is that it lacks ambition. It is commonly known as “The

Brazilian Way”: "Why do something today that you can pay someone to do tomor-

row"

Brazilians put up with incredibly high taxes on almost everything, have a high tol-

erance for corruption, bureaucratic red tape, and as some locals say harbor a

secret love affair with incompetence.

On the other hand, there is a big issue with quality of education. Even though

Brazil has a very high level of talent in the creative industry, still the majority of

the population does not receive adequate education. Even new universities who

are also taping into the new “C” class are offering cheap and quick degrees that

lack the right preparation and are sending out unprepared professionals.

"Brazil has always promised to be the country of the future but China is delivering

on the promise", comment from Maria Ines Murad, fellow Brazilian classmate at

the Berlin School during our Asia Module.


12

China:

Before 1800 China was the largest economy in the world merely because of

sheer size. The whole world was poor but since China had over 100MM people

this fact made it become the largest economy.

During the beginning of the 19th Century the West and the Industrial revolution

started to change this by implementing a series of policies that improved quality

of life of the workforce and the right environment to do business. These were

primarily:

- Property rights protection

- Work ethics that generated incentives

- Modern medicine, which extended life expectancy

- Scientific progress that raised productivity

However, for the same reason they became a boost for the western economy,

they started to create bureaucracy and raised the cost of operation of many

countries.

What has created growth in China?

"There is nothing in China that does not come with a lot of zeros".

Quote from Professor Hellmut Schutte during our Asia Module.

Growth drivers

1. Labor force input. Related to demographics or people who can actually

work. In China there is no lack of people who can work, especially in manu-

facturing sectors.

2. Investments. Related to having the money and the expected return. If

there is something the Chinese government has done well is make money

and they have lots of it.


13

3. TF Productivity. How smart you are in managing both. Again China has

been very successful in managing both labor force input and investments.

Some say that China is playing the capitalist game very well.

Conditions for growth

1. Macro stability. In China you hear this from everyone. Chinese are all

about stability and chaos is the ultimate evil. Achieving or maintaining

stability is what the Chinese government looks for the most.

2. Openness. This might be the biggest challenge for China. As social lib-

erties and tolerance are all the time questioned and controlled outside in-

vestment and internal growth can be limited.

Potential for continuing high growth of China

Pros

- Examples from East Asia. Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam are clear examples

of the opportunities that China has in the sense of understanding the global mar-

ket.

- Resources

- Workforce input. Like I’ve said in other chapters, what China has more of is

people and putting them to work is not a problem.

- Investments. Multinationals in the search for growth they’ve been missing

from other mature markets are investing in China.

- Productivity

- Focus on education. China is making a big shift in it’s internal investment

and devoting more money in education of it’s people.

- Government. The regime works and is swift in making the decisions that need

to be made to advance.

Cons

- Public debt

- Unemployment


14

- Inequalities

- Corruption

- Energy shortages

- Environmental segregation

- Institutions

The great achievements of China

China’s economics amaze the world. Lifting 450 million people from poverty in a

short time. They have done it for many years and will continue to look after their

own.

However it’s process puzzles, blending socialism and capitalism. Whoever

thinks that China is the socialist country we all understood the Soviet Union to be

is very mistaken. Since the 80’s China has slowly and steadily ventured in the

capitalist market and will continue to get better at it.

The great challenges of China

Its high performance has a cost, the environment. Little has been done in terms

of conservation and there doesn’t seem to be a clear path going forward. Also its

renaissance creates concern bringing uncertainty and fear of the new global

power among the rest of the nations.

The World Economic Forum presented an interesting chart of what are China’s

options for long-term future growth. This chart expresses the tipping points in

internal and external policy as China faces its next step in global interaction.


15

Illustration 02

Three Scenarios for China’s Long-Term Future. Source: World Economic Forum

This in fact relates a lot the George Friedman’s book “The Next 100 Years”

where he predicts that China will inevitably fragment from within in the next 20

years. The pressure from its citizens for more social and political reforms and the

even more pressure from the West to perform in global markets.

Still, experts predict that by 2050 this will be the shape of the global economy

where China will again be the global economic power. The United States is the

second, just slightly larger than India and Brazil the fourth.


16

Table 06

The World in 2050. Source: GS Projections

The ultimate difference between East and West

One particular aspect separates China from the West, and more specifically to

the “Brazilian Way”; and it is intricate of its culture and people. It is Confucian-

ism. This belief and the intricate relation between Chinese people is deeply em-

bedded in the society and one of the most challenging barriers for growth outside

China.

Confucianism

Morality Virtue

Righteousness Harmony. Sincerity

Relationships Thrift

Ruler - subject. Benevolence

Teacher - student.

Father - son. Respect

Older brother - younger brother

Husband - wife. Loyalty

Friends

“Man is perfectible through continuous effort and continuous education.”

Confucius


17

It is here where I believe the most interesting difference lies between both na-

tions, Brazil and China. The clash between self-indulgence and awareness ver-

sus the greater good. The clash between Catholicism and Confucianism. This is

the ultimate difference between East and West and will continue to create tension

as the new world order arises.

"Asia is not going to be civilized after the methods of the west. There is too much

Asia, and she is too old."

Rudyard Kipling, 1891

China 3.0

A transformation.

During our Berlin School Asia Module, Dick Van Motman, CEO of DDB Greater

China presented the results of a study conducted by his agency focused on a se-

ries of aspects that are transforming China as a nation:

Trust - in the communist party, in the brands, in the industry. Trust is deeply

embedded in Chinese culture and can definitely make or break a brand or ser-

vice. Trust is changing in China and it reflected in the way people manifest their

advocacy for brand on social media. This was also mentioned by Kitty Lun and

Tom Doctoroff in their respective interviews.

Belief – Chinese have strong belief in the system but this is changing rapidly as

people start having more access to money. The study also shows changes in

other beliefs, for example, 31% believe in god and 53% no one is worth worship-

ping.

Voice of the past

Mao - Tiananmen - detention centers. Given government control Chinese people

in the past found their voice through word of mouth, and in a way continues to be

very strong. People would amplify messages, both official and unofficial, and

would rapidly spread them like wildfire.


18

Voice of the present

The way Chinese communicate today is changing dramatically. There are 750

million Internet users. Weibo alone (Chinese version of Twitter) has 300 million

users. The same for other social platforms like Ren Ren, Facebook’s alternative.

Turns out that, for every social media outlet in the West, China has it’s own ver-

sion and some people actually agree that they are much better interfaces.

Here is a chart of the existing social media channels in China:

Illustration 03

Main Players of China Social Media. Source: DDB China

Shopper

15 years ago the status symbols in China were a bike, a watch, a sewing ma-

chine and a radio. Today there are 190MM online shoppers spending 6 Trillion

RMD in online sales.

But this dramatic change is not only showing in the online market, it also shows

in the consumer goods market. Just recently, Bloomberg reported that China

overtook Germany as a market for luxury cars, something that has surprised eve-

ryone.


19

Illustration 04

Source: Bloomberg Article, December 23.2011

Identity

Chinese identity has changed dramatically in the past few years, coming from

that image of Mao’s grey uniforms where everybody was supposed to look the

same, to the present day where Chinese are discovering various forms of self-

expression.

Creator

China as a nation is starting to move away from copying and more into the crea-

tion era. There are many examples of things going on today that support this

claim.


20

Before Illustration 05

Shanghai picture. Source: André Kassu.

After Illustration 06

Made Better in China. Source: Business Insider June 2012 Trend Briefing.


21

One very interesting aspect about the Chinese creative community is the post

80s one-child-policy children who are now reaching 30 and are becoming the

change of China. These people are very well prepared educationally and today

represent the future of Chinese economy going forward. They are the new crea-

tive class of China and they are coming from the big cities.

Illustration 07

China’s Creativity Index. Source: China Data Center.

So where does all this take us? How are Brazil and China performing in the ad-

vertising industry and how will this change in the next few years?


22

Brazil and China’s creative performance.

Of the four nations that make up the BRIC group, Brazil and China hold a particu-

lar interest in my thesis work. Mostly because, of the four, these two have been

on the eye of the industry in more recent years. Brazil for its enviable perfor-

mance at creative awards festivals and China for the market opportunity it repre-

sents.

Brazil has been a continuous powerhouse player at the advertising awards arena

in the past few years. In Cannes 2011 alone, Brazil was the second country with

the most entries to the festival.

Table 07

Cannes Lions 2011 Presentation Proposals. Source: Cannes Lions Festival

In Cannes 2011 Brazilian agencies took home more awards than any other BRIC

nation combined.

And according to the GUNN Report of 2011 Brazil won more creative accolades

across all major creative award festivals in the world.


23

Table 08

Top Awarded Countries at Creative Festivals. The GUNN Report 2011.

Now, when the conversation turns to talent and which country has most of it, it is

clear that China is at a great disadvantage against Brazil.

All the big network agencies know it, and they are starting to do something about

it and the reason behind it is because of the global brands that they service.

Due to the poor performance of developed markets in the past few years clients

want to get their growth from emerging markets and they understand that China

represents growth and they want to make sure their agency networks appoint the

best talent they have to their business.


24

The next article from Ad Age China tells the story very clearly.

Illustration 08

In The Land of 1.5 Billion, Not Enough Skilled Advertising Talent. Ad Age China Article.

This other article also shows this fact as more and more agencies redouble ef-

forts to increase their talent pool in China.


25

Illustration 09

W+K Shanghai Appoint Creative Talent Scout. Campaign Brief Asia

The topic of the lack of talent in China was widely discussed during my interviews

as there continue to be great contradictions.

One big milestone happened however in 2011 when, for the first time ever at the

Cannes Lions Festival, a Chinese agency wins a Grand Prix for its work for Sam-

sonite “Heaven and Hell”. That agency was JWT Shanghai.

Illustration 10

Samsonite ¨Heaven and HellÄd. Source: JWT Shanghai


26

Also in 2011 Cannes Lions Festival a Brazilian agency is named agency of the

year for the second year in a row. That is Almap BBDO. An agency that has

proven again and again its global creative caliber.

For the Cannes Lions 2012 Festival the amount of advertising pieces submitted

by Brazil continue to be much higher than China. Brazil submitted a total of 3419

maintaining the position of 2nd country with the most submissions and China

submitted 571. However China’s submissions grew over 40% versus 2011 and

Brazil’s grew 7%. This clearly indicates that Brazil’s market is saturated as op-

posed to China’s where we still cannot foresee how big it will become.

China’s performance at the Cannes Lions Festival in 2012 continues to surprise

as agencies in China win more metal than before and another Chinese agency

wins a second Grand Prix, this time in Outdoor. The agency is Ogilvy Shanghai.

The piece for Coca Cola received the accolade from the hands of Lo Sheung Yan

who, last year won the Grand Prix for Samsonite. Illustration 11

Coca Cola ¨HandsÄd. Source¨ Ogilvy Shanghai. Jonathan Mak receives Grand Prix from

Lo Sheung Yan at Cannes Lions 2012. Source: Warren Marenco


27

However, the most revealing aspect of this award is the fact that the designer

who came up with the idea is an 18 year old Chinese named Jonathan Mak,

same designer from the now world famous Apple tribute design to Steve Jobs.

Jonathan is not an employee of Ogilvy and was commissioned by Ogilvy to do

the campaign for Coca Cola. Illustration 12

Jonathan Mak. Source: Wikipedia.

Illustration 13. TedEx Picture.

Source: Warren Marenco

Just recently the TedEx Shanghai hosted an event

in late May 2012 which I had the opportunity to at-

tend called “I am Chinese” and invited speakers to

talk about their experiences in what makes TED a

global phenomenon (Technology, Entertainment,

Design).

At this particular event, a young fashion designer /

architect / events designer presented her work. Her

name is Jorgy Fu, an original Shanghainese 22-

year-old girl educated in London.


28

Her work transcends space and lines is what proves to be a futuristic approach to

conventional thinking related to fashion design, furniture, accessories and build-

ings. Illustration 14

Jordy Fu. Source: Wiikipedia.

Is this a trend going forward in China? Are these examples of young creative tal-

ents that are making a difference and taking the rest of the world by surprise?

Given this trend, an integral part of my research work, following the hypothesis,

focuses on the opinions of creative leaders in both nations and where they see

the industry going.

I see a very strong creative player in Brazil but also a China that is learning fast

with a millennial generation far more educated, inspired and hungry.

Can we measure their potential just by how large their creative class is today?


29

The Creative Class as the source for economical development.

“Human Creativity Is The Ultimate Economic Resource”.

Richard Florida.

Richard Florida first introduced us with the concept of the Creative Class in 2003

with his book “The Rise Of The Creative Class” in which he suggests that eco-

nomical growth has greater potential in cities or countries where the creative

class is larger or has more potential to grow.

The book argues that where you are is the key economic and social organization

unit of our time. Where you are solves the chicken-or-the-egg problem, matching

people to jobs and jobs to people.

No wonder the famous phrase “Location, location, location” is so eloquent at re-

ferring to business success.

However, Florida suggests a model for economic development. The 3T Test and

cities or countries are rated base on these factors.

1. Technology

2. Talent

3. Tolerance

Allow me to elaborate on each:

Technology. Measured no just by technological production or capacity but also

by access to it. Technology is today one if not the most important business tool

to access the global market.


30

Talent. Not “human capital” as usually measured (by number of people holding

higher education credentials) but creative capital, which is talent measured func-

tionally, by the number of people actually working in creative occupations.

Tolerance. Places that are open and tolerant have the edge in attracting differ-

ent kinds of people and generating new ideas. The tolerance index is based on

four measures: The Gay Index, The Bohemian Index, The Melting Pot Index (the

concentration of foreign-born people) and a measure of racial integration, used to

capture how integrated rather than separate a community is throughout its inter-

nal geography.

Places that score high on this Tolerance Index - places where gays, immigrants

and bohemians all feel at home and where racial groups tend to live mixed to-

gether, not in distinct enclaves - are very likely to have a culture of tolerance.

This concept is explored in more depth in another book by Florida called “Who’s

Your City” where it shows that the city where you live is the single most important

decision for your creative career.

According to Florida’s 3 T’s Model Brazil would definitely score higher than Chi-

na, especially in Tolerance. Actually China would score among the lowest in

this factor. However, this exercise would paint a picture of where they stand now

and not necessarily of where they want to be.

So we need a new model to measure possibility within the advertising creative

industry of emerging markets but through the lens of reverse innovation.


31

“Where there’s a will there’s a way” – A new model to measure creative

possibility.

In one of my conversations with global marketing expert Angela Willmott, Global

Brand Director for Snickers®, one of the most successful chocolate brands from

MARS, who in turn was just recognized as Advertiser of the Year in Cannes Li-

ons 2012, I came up with my own “model” inspired by Richard Florida’s 3 T’s

model but one that more closely resembles the advertising world and the route I

decided to navigate with my thesis.

It is the 3 I’s model:

1. Intellect

2. Inspiration

3. Intent

Illustration 15. 3 I’s Model. Warren Marenco.

Like Florida’s model, Intellect in

my model relates to Talent but

goes deeper in the search for

smart, inventive people who put

their knowledge to creative use.

Inspiration is more related to the surrounding landscape, which presents the right

sources to promote creation. In the advertising world inspiration is definitely the

most important fuel for the creation of impactful and relevant ideas. Having the

capacity to inspire creation is also very close related to Tolerance as showed in

Florida’s model. In essence Talent and Tolerance in Florida’s model, relate to

Intellect and Inspiration in my model.

The only new concept in this equation, which is never mentioned or identified in

Florida’s 3T’s model is Intent, the willingness to do or accomplish something.


32

The only really different driver in the creative equation is Intent, since it clearly

doesn’t matter how intelligent and inspired a country or people are, if there is no

intent to actually act upon it, it might as well be a complete waste. Intent could

potentially be the ultimate separation between China and Brazil in their search for

global creative relevance.

This concept is further explored during my interviews with top global creative

leaders as well as creative leaders in both Brazil and China.

So in understanding the opportunities for Brazil and China to become global

creative players you need to first ask: Who wants it more?


33

3. The Hypothesis

Of the 3 I’s Model, Intellect and Inspiration are key factors in order to provide the

basis for a thriving creative industry in both Brazil and China, however Intent is

the decisive factor in order to achieve long-term success outside it’s borders.

My hypothesis is that China has the best opportunity to become a global creative

player in the next 10 to 20 years based on their Intent to accomplish success.


34

4. Assumptions that led to the hypothesis

The following are general observations and ideas that I have gathered from the

conversations with leading people from the industry and study of both Brazil and

China. I believe they could bring about important lessons for each other in terms

of achieving global creative relevance.

One:

Brazil has more creative talent than China

You don’t need to spend too much time researching on global creative awards to

find out that Brazil has accomplished far more number of creative accolades

globally than China. Brazil has been playing the creative game for far more time

than China so they definitely have a lead there.

Two:

Brazil has a higher percentage of people working in the creative industry

than China

Brazil has 1.7% of its population working on the creative industry. China has less

than 0.3%. This ultimately has a big effect on the quality of workers in the indus-

try. However China’s number can only grow.

Three:

Brazil is more interested in Brazil

It has been in the past and it will continue to be in the future. Brazil is all about

the Brazil and holds no interest in global domination.


35

Four:

China has the oldest creative tradition of humankind.

Come to think of it everything was invented in China: The printing press, fire-

works, pasta. It is in China’s nature to innovate and create. Why would 60 years

of communist regime do away with thousands of years of creative innovation?

Five:

China’s advertising creative industry is led mostly by American and Euro-

pean expats.

Most agency leaders in China are expats that brought in the global perspective

and started developing the industry. This is not happening in Brazil where the

industry is led by locals, or Russia and the ex-Soviet nations, where locals devel-

oped the industry when the regime fell.

Six:

China’s political regime is not tolerant of creative thinking.

As Richard Florida’s 3T’s model expresses, China scores very low in tolerance.

Therefore it is assumed that creative thinking is not encouraged and can hardly

flourish.

Seven:

China has no advertising talent.

Throughout the various conversations I had with industry leaders at the top of the

chain, all of them agreed that one of the biggest hurdles for China to succeed is

the lack of talented people.


36

Eight:

China has more design graduates every year than any other country in the

world.

Soon the Chinese creative industry will rise as more design graduates hit the

streets with new and innovative views on communication and advertising.

Nine:

Chinese have the hunger to grow and become rich.

New reforms in China are showing people who, from very humble walks of life,

can become rich overnight. Many stories of self made millionaires and billion-

aires are happening more often, however the end result of this might not be all

too good.

Ten:

Passion and chaos are present more than ever.

China feels like the old west where anyone and everyone can pursue their dream

of making it big. It is good and it is also bad. Chinese are know around the world

for not necessarily being very trustworthy businessmen and things can turn bad

easily for someone wanting to do business with them

Eleven:

China is more capitalist that what people really think.

Again, based on the two comments before, China is the land of opportunity and

contrary to what most westerners might think of the communist regime, the gov-

ernment is displaying all of the traits that characterized many well developed cap-

italist nations.


37

Twelve:

There is a new generation of creative professionals breaking the mold.

There is a new generation of creative professionals taking flight in China. You

see them everywhere. China has more design graduates every year than the

rest of the world combined. This new digital generation is breaking the mold of

traditional professionals and starting to show the world what they are made of.

Thirteen:

Scale is king.

Like I said before and many of the professors and people I have interviewed

throughout the process of my modules and thesis, everything is big in China.

Therefore just by sheer scale China can accomplish whatever they want.


38

5. Research

In order to prove or disprove the stated assumptions, I have approached the sub-

ject from the following different angles:

5.1 Interviews:

I interviewed relevant global, regional and local advertising industry play-

ers with direct influence on Brazil and China. For the purpose of under-

standing their role I separated them into 4 groups:

i. Global Brands / Marketers

1. Angela Willmott – MARS Inc.

ii. Global Marketers / Agency specialists

1. Chris Thomas – advertising

2. Sir John Hegarty – advertising

3. Bob Jeffrey – advertising

4. St John Walshe – advertising

5. Michael Conrad - advertising

iii. Brazil Market

1. Industry Locals

a. Marcello Serpa – advertising

b. Ezra Geld - advertising

c. Roberto Martini – advertising

d. Karen Cesar – advertising

e. Daniel Prianti – advertising

f. André Kassu - advertising

iv. China Market

1. Industry Expats

a. Carol Potter – advertising

b. Tom Doctoroff – advertising

c. Dick Van Motman – advertising

d. Mario van der Muelen – digital.

e. Flavio Vigidal - advertising


39

2. Industry Locals

a. Lo Sheung Yan – advertising

b. Elvis Chau – advertising

c. Kitty Lun - advertising

5.2 I researched the work done by two global brands that navigate successfully

in emerging markets. The reason for this is to obtain information as to how these

brands embrace the local relevant connections in emerging markets.

a. Snickers

b. Volkswagen

5.3 I’ve also researched emerging market brands finding their way in the global

playing field. I have chosen one Brazilian and one Chinese brand that are able to

be relevant outside their borders, which have a more intentional global under-

standing of consumer’s needs and behaviors.

a. Havaianas

b. Lenovo

5.4 Qualitative and quantitative research with Cannes global creative community.

Running the 3 I’s Model to measure perceptions on the Brazil and China’s per-

ceived potential.


40

5.1 Personal Interviews.

I devise a process in order to try to obtain the most relevant insights from the var-

ious subjects I achieved to interview.

I wanted to start with the global marketer and advertising specialists, as a way to

get the big picture and establish the goals I wanted to achieve with my work.

My very first interview is to Sir John Hegarty, while visiting Ber-

lin on our very first module in 2010. I had the privilege of having

Sir John as our class godfather so we had the chance to see

him during two of our modules in Berlin. He is certainly a gen-

tleman of the advertising business, a true MadMen and most

definitely a global advertising specialist.

In our various conversations about the topic Sir John considers that Brazil is the

nation that can best “release intellectual capacity” within its people and therefore

ignites creative development better. To Sir John, the issue of social liberties in

China is the most difficult hurdle in China’s opportunity in creative potential.

His agency has offices in both Shanghai and Sao Paulo and definitely sees a lot

more creative development in the Brazilian office. However London continues to

be the flagship office for the agency.

It is the Sao Paulo office that creates the first Johnnie Walker commercial under

the “Keep Walking” tagline devoted exclusively for the Brazilian market. This

commercial shows the Sugarloaf as part of a giant that wakes up and starts walk-

ing, making a direct relation with Brazil as a country, who is no longer sleeping.

The commercial never ran outside Brazil but can be seen on Youtube.


41

Illustration 16

Johnnie Walker ¨Keep Walking BrazilÄd. Source: Youtube

A couple of months later I met Bob Jeffrey, Worldwide CEO of

JWT during our US Module in New York. He came to speak to

our class. Mr. Jeffrey presented JWT’s credentials and some of

the agency’s work from around the world.

What called my attention about his presentation is how he be-

lieved, that people behave the same way no matter where they are in the world.

They want to be connected to ideas that they want to spend time with.

“We create ideas people want to spend time with. The better the idea the more

time people spend with it”

Mr. Jeffrey believes that we now live in a “time economy” where people are con-

stantly bombarded with messages and time is the most valuable asset a brand

can earn from a consumer.

In the process of creative development Mr. Jeffrey mentions that his agency has

live network briefings for global projects where they usually involve New York,


42

India, Brazil and China as a way to make sure the idea can run globally, which I

thought particularly interesting but was not sure if that meant that New York

would present the global idea in search for validation from the other markets.

When I ask him about my thesis project and which of the BRIC nations has the

best opportunity to become a global relevant creative player he also suggests it is

Brazil. The reason behind it is that he considers that Brazil is more emotional

than China therefore has an advantage.

“Whoever has the highest capacity to inspire emotions is the nation with the best

chance to succeed”

But what would clients think? China represents huge growth for most

global brands. Is there reverse innovation opportunity in China at all?

It didn’t take me a long time to decide whom I wanted to interview as a client. It

had to be a senior marketer from a global company, working with developed and

emerging markets, a company with strong global brands, who believes in creative

excellence as a way to achieve brand recognition and awareness but that also

recognizes the diversities of the global community.

It is then that I decide to interview Angela Willmott, Global

Brand Director for Snickers® chocolate, one of the most suc-

cessful brands from MARS Inc. and one lf the most creative and

effective brands in the world, recognized year after year at the

most prestigious creative festivals in the world.

Just this last Cannes Lions Festival 2012, MARS Inc. was recognized as Adver-

tiser of The Year.

I had my client.

I was particularly interested in speaking with Angela because in her global role of

running a global campaign, she comes in contact with more than 40 markets


43

around the globe and has her eyes set on Brazil and China as sources of im-

portant growth for MARS as a company. She has lived in Shanghai and other

spots in the world, which makes her a truly global marketing specialist.

I had one of the most interesting conversations with Angela during a visit we both

did to Brazil in April 2012. Angela had only been there before for personal rea-

sons and this was her first official business trip to the country. We both met at

Almap BBDO offices for a deep dive in the Snickers® brand in order to design

the brands strategy in this country. A huge opportunity for both of us to experi-

ence first hand “what makes Brazil tick”

It is during my conversation with Angela about my thesis topic that I come up with

the 3I’s model (Intellect, Inspiration, Intent), resembling the 3T’s model from

Richard Florida, and the hypothesis that whichever country has the highest Intent

to make a global influence will eventually be the one who accomplishes it.

Throughout our conversation, it is clear that Angela’s experience in living in

Shanghai for a period of time is a good indication that China definitely has the

intent, desire or hunger to influence but is quick also to recognize that Brazil has

it’s advantage in Intellect and Inspiration.

This insight if further confirmed by St John Walshe, EVP of

BBDO Worldwide and Global Account Director for all MARS

business with BBDO.

I’ve had the privilege of working together with St John on the

MARS business and consider him a good friend.

Also during my Asia module, but this time in Tokyo, I happened to coincide with

St John while he was visiting the market. We had a long conversation about my

thesis work and actually helped me refocus the conversation more towards un-

derstanding the similarities between Brazil and China instead of focusing on the

differences. At first I was trying to put them face-to-face in order to compete but


44

then rather changed my approach to what it is now. An exercise on what each

nation can learn from each other and also developed markets to achieve relevant

global stature.

While discussing the 3 I’s St John had his own perceptions about the opportuni-

ties that each nation has and understands that Brazil far exceeds in terms of in-

tellect, inspiration but lacks interest in performing globally. China on the other

hand is immature and disorganized in the way they conduct business and is not

considered to be a trustworthy partner.

So what do creative professionals in Brazil think about this?

Well, you can’t pretend to understand anything about the adver-

tising industry in Brazil if you do not speak to Marcello Serpa,

Partner and Creative Director of Almap BBDO, one of the most

awarded agencies in the world and recognized at Cannes Lions

as Agency of The Year in 2010 and 2011.

Not only because he represents the best of the creative industry in Brazil, but al-

so because Marcello was the creative mind behind the success of Havaianas as

the first global Brazilian brand, built precisely around the country’s positioning.

Havaianas is a success story in many ways as it is probably the fact that it’s suc-

cess was created by the brands communication strategy and campaign. It repre-

sents the best example of the possibilities of a Brazilian brand becoming a global

player based on 100% Brazilian creative ideation. Nothing can be more Brazilian

to the rest of the world than those colorful flip-flops.

I’ve had the privilege of knowing Marcello for quite some time since we both be-

long to the BBDO Network, and I’m a big admirer of his work. However I had

never had the chance to interview him. We met in his office in Sao Paulo during

my visit in April of 2012.


45

We start our conversation around Brazil and it’s possibilities. Marcello definitely

agrees that Brazil has incredible creative talent and understands the opportunity

his nation faces right now. Brazil is in the world’s radar. The creative industry in

Brazil has definitely earned its accolades around the globe. Brazilians are pas-

sionate, fun and inspired people, however believes them to be very individualis-

tic.

“You put 100 Americans together and they conquer the world. You put 100 Bra-

zilians together and it’s a mess”

Serpa believes that this sentiment of individualism also extends to the country as

a global player. Brazil cares much for it’s internal performance, it’s results, and

it’s people. Not so much for the rest of the world.

When I ask him about China his position is quite interesting. Marcello believes

that China has an incredible advantage over Brazil and that advantage is Scale.

Everything in China is big. With a 1.2 billion people the probabilities of a high

percentage of highly talented and motivated people is much higher that in Brazil.

However China’s creative industry is ran by Americans and Europeans whose

interest is to develop the market.

It is clear that for the rest of the world, China is an untapped 1.2 million people

market that still has not reached its complete potential.

In that process, where western businessmen have come in to run the industry,

the local creative natives are learning the tricks of the trade and soon will take

over.

“China will eventually rise creatively when Chinese agencies are run by Chinese

people”, said Serpa during our interview.

When I ask Marcello about where does he see China 10 or 20 years in the future

he believes that China will continue to be successful in managing its country, still


46

under the same government policy. He believes that China is not purely com-

munist in the sense of what we know used to be communism, but a mutated

communist nation, able to play in the global market and make money the likes of

most capitalist nations and still be able to maintain control of its huge population.

Chinese people have a “hunger” that other nations do not have. He tells me the

story of time when he went to Shanghai and arrived at the hotel on a Sunday

night around 11PM. He got to his room and tried to get some sleep. However

was having a hard time because of the jet lag and at some point, perhaps at

1AM, he started hearing a lot of noise outside his window, enough for him to get

out of bed. When he looked out he discovered that in the building under con-

struction across the street there were at least 600 workers with big lights and

machines like it was 10AM. He then thought: “when competing with China, that

is what I’m afraid of”.

Even though other nations, including Brazil, might have that same hunger they do

not have the possibility to act and do what China can just by sheer scale.

“You can definitely build that same building in Brazil or the US, but you cannot do

it in the same time that the Chinese can. Too many laws, too many unions, to

many difficulties”.

Just the next day, after interviewing Marcello Serpa, I meet with

Erza Geld, COO of JWT Brazil.

I had a very enlightening and interesting conversation with Ezra

when I visited his office in Sao Paulo in November 2011.

Ezra believes that Brazil was forced to be creative and its history is based on the

sense of reinvention. He tells me the story of Napoleon Bonaparte and Dom

Joao, Prince Regent of Portugal and Brazil and how Brazil obtains its independ-

ence.


47

“In 1807, as Napoleon Bonaparte closed in on Portugal's capital city of Lisbon,

the Prince Regent shipped himself off to Brazil. Once there, Dom Joao estab-

lished the colony as the capital of his empire. By 1821 things in Europe had

cooled down sufficiently that Dom Joao could return to Lisbon, and he left his son

Dom Pedro I in charge of Brazil. When the king attempted the following year to

return Brazil to subordinate status as a colony, Dom Pedro flourished his sword

and declared the country's independence from Portugal (and his own independ-

ence from his father).”

Brazil has always made an effort to maintain this independence and this can also

be translated in many ways of its culture. Brazil is a continent, not a country of

Latin America. It does not relate to Latin America’s politics, economy or culture.

It is not a close friend or ally of the United States and does not follow its policy.

Brazil is its own thing.

In this sense, the culture is very particular. Ezra mentions a saying that struck

me as incredibly illuminating; as a way to refer that Brazil behaves in a different

way he tells me: “They made a law about it but it didn’t catch on”. This means

that even though there might be an official way of doing things in Brazil, the unof-

ficial way will always prevail.

Ezra believes, that Brazilian creative talent is among the best in the world, and

even though his agency is involved in many global initiatives, agrees that Brazili-

an agencies are too focused on the local market and not interested in compro-

mising their work – life balance.

“Global domination requires a lot of energy and Brazil is not interested in that, we

just want to be left alone with our Carnival and Caipirihnas”.

Roberto Martini, CEO and CCO of CuboCC Interpublic Group

Brazil is a fellow classmate of mine at the Berlin School and I

was able to spend some time discussing my thesis topic with


48

him. His opinion about Brazil and the creative community is very honest and re-

alistic.

Roberto understands the huge transformation the global advertising industry is

going through. Today, anyone with a good idea and a way to produce it is a

competitor. It doesn’t matter how big you are, if an agency is not able to deliver

on what it creates it will not have the power to face the new challengers of the

industry and stay relevant.

Martini believes that Brazil is used to being recognized by having some of the

most creative professionals on the advertising industry. However believes this

feeling is changing because Brazil didn’t follow the rest of the big markets in

terms of big ideas and integrated communication, Brazil kept focusing on devel-

oping great films and print and nothing in terms of digital and integrated.

“You can just see the results of the last festivals to understand this, we keep do-

ing great on film and print but no awards in other categories, we’re not relevant”

He believes Brazil is a very global market and the people are very adaptable.

That’s why we see a lot of Brazilians leading creativity everywhere in the world.

But the challenge is economic. “We don’t have big Brazilian independent agen-

cies or great Brazilian brands connected with big communication companies.”

New agencies are arising in Brazil, global companies are opening operations,

such as W+K, Naked, Razorfish,, RGA, etc., He believes this is helping the mar-

ket become more professional and for sure the perspective will change.

“With the creativity that the market has if we start changing this mindset, to not

focus just on film and print, Brazil can become powerful again. I’m not speaking

for my company, we are 60% digital, 20% integrated and 20% traditional, still

young and small to foster the change but I believe that we are in another level.”

When I ask Roberto about what needs to change in Brazil’s creative industry in

order to perform better globally he believes that Brazil needs to grow economical-


49

ly and be more aggressive in expansion. He mentions Nizan Guanaes as an ex-

ample of a company who is doing a great job in this regard; they made the right

decision when they started the expansion through digital companies.

They are small, cheaper and more appealing for clients, less investment, more

recognition and fast growth for them. This is what we need, smart leaders.

Try to think about Brazil in this perspective, who are the great/aggressive leaders

that we have today? Actually is just Nizan that is trying to grow and do some ex-

pansion, the others are more worried in keeping their business running, not at-

tacking, just defending and talking a lot without any action.

Roberto rates Brazil’s Intellect and Inspiration higher than China but rates Intent

lower than China’s

Karen Cesar, Founder and CEO of Red Bandana in Rio de

Janeiro is also a fellow classmate at the Berlin School and we

have spent many hours discussing our point of view regarding

creative relevance.

She was as exposed as I was to China during our Asia Module and she feels

quite particularly in terms of how each country compares.

“Brazil is the sixth economy in the world and the rise of buying power of middle-

class - who we call class C – cannot be taken for granted. As we have seen in

China, size does matter and Brazil has 200 million inhabitants, GDP- purchasing

power parity $ 2.172 trillion (as of 2010) Global brands can’t afford to overlook

this huge market specialy when financial crisis are striking around US and Euro-

pe. Brazil has a huge diversity, different culture among it’s states. Brands need to

understand not only the Brazilian point of view in order to use the right dialogue

with clients but its nuances in each state. The diversity of Brazilian people and

culture and the necessity to survive in tough times of recetion made creative so-

lutions appear everywhere. There is always a Brazilian way to do everything.


50

Karen believes that Brazil has always been a very creative culture having many

times to deal with adversity to ultimately come forward.

“Concerning communication, I believe Brazil has been one of the most creative

nations in the world. Our history of inventive low budget solutions to face the

shortage of raw materials or capital has been shown on the many awarded cam-

paigns we have. However, with the growth of the so called “Class C”, many low

quality universities are opening and the level of education has been very poor.

The government is constantly launching assisting measures that desencourage

undereducated population to work and stay off welfare.

Karen believes that education is they key to success and growth and that is

where Brazil is lacking.

“I don’t believe in growth or innovation without education, and that, in my opinión,

is the Brazilian greatest challenge. So Brazil could lose it’s creative competitive-

ness along the following 10 years.”

From the business point of view, Karen believes that Brazil is in a very conflictive

point right now as she understands that the advertising business model is not

sustainable in order to maintain its creative advantage.

“From a business focused point of view, the way of doing advertising in the coun-

try, still like the old times, which agencies buy their clients media and receive

20% of the investment as comission kills creativitity. Many new independent

agencies are doing a great job in digital, design, guerrila marketing, endomarke-

ting, point of purchase, but since clients are tied to internationally aligned agen-

cies, the will not even try to have fresh ideas. The market tends to remain in a

confort zone, doing average communication. In my opinion, Brazilian clients

should negotiate more independently, like de developed countries do.”


51

Because of her position on education in Brazil, when asked about the 3 I’s Model

Karen believes that Brazil scores higher in Inspiration and Intent but believes

China scores higher in Intellect.

I met André Kassu, Creative Director of Almap BBDO Brazil, at

our Asia Module and we had many conversations about the dif-

ferences and similarities that both Brazil and China have.

In my interview André believes that Brazil has it’s biggest opportunity with the up-

coming World Cup and Olympic Games. He believes that this will be the best

stage Brazil will ever have to display its creativity and global influence.

“More important than 10 years of Cannes Festival efforts. If we want to put our

mark, that’s the real moment to do it.”

André has participated in many projects where his agency is approached to

“translate the idea for the Brazilian market” as well as for developing global ideas

for international brands along with teams from different corners of the globe.

When we speak about the 3 I’s Model, André believes that Brazilian agencies still

have a lot of opportunity for growth in Cyber and Digital formats. He thinks that

agencies are still too focused on big media and are not very strong on these oth-

er mediums. It is for that reason the he gives Intellect his lowest score while In-

spiration and Intent rate higher.

One interesting aspect he mentions that Brazil has as a limitation for global crea-

tive influence is the language. Brazilians speak Portuguese and as it turns out

many local expressions that are highly engaging and creative locally cannot be

translated to other languages.


52

Daniel Prianti, CEO of Router Sao Paulo, a digital and events

agency, and also fellow classmate from the Berlin School is

actually the first interviewee that takes the subject from a more

cultural approach instead of the expected creative talent one.

During our conversations, Daniel expresses his agreement that Brazil is a very

creative country however limits it’s capacity of influence.

When I ask him why is it relevant for a global brand to consider the brazilian point

of view? He responds:

“There are a number of reasons I can think of , but there are two that I would like

to point out:

a) Brazilian creatives have definetly proven their talent to the creative industry

over the past couple of decades, so if brands are creating global concepts they

would probably benefit from a combination of creativity from different nations

where Brazil has talent to play an equally important role as other primary nations

when it comes to Global Concepts (such as US and UK);

b) If one assumes that amongst BRIC’s, Brazil has probably the most interesting

combination of business opportunity, culture ease and momentum, it seems very

probable that the importance of the Brazilian market for multinational companies

tends to increase and become the first or second market in priority (this is already

true for a number of brands). Naturally, Global Marketing Leaders will have to

give more importance to Brazilian point of view since their campaigns will primari-

ly have to work in Brazil.”

Daniel thinks that ideas in Brazil are unique because they represent the country’s

culture and it’s instinct of getting around with limited resources.

When I ask him if Brazil is ready to compete globally in creative communication

develpment? He responds:


53

“I would say that there are a few barriers regarding profound understanding of

other cultures. To have this kind of understanding it is necessary that we increa-

se not only our travel habits but also that we live in other places and not only our

own (in this case going to a place is different from living a place). From my point

of view this is not only an economic imperative but also a cultural one, where

Brazilians tend to “stay home” and cut roots with family much later when compa-

red to other nations (i.e. Americans when they go off to college or Europeans

who usually spend a lot of their free time traveling the world, etc..)”

So how do the Chinese feel about their opportunity?

Definitely one of the most insightful interviews was with Tom

Doctoroff, CEO of JWT Greater China and author of two rele-

vant books on understanding Chinese culture and it’s consum-

ers.

My first contact with Tom was through a phone call in 2011. We finally met in

person when I visited Shanghai in May 2012 and then again in Cannes for the

Lions Festival in June 2012. We talked for a long time about this subject and

was very inspired by his views. The most interesting was the fact the even

though Tom leads China’s largest advertising agency and has lived in the country

for more than 14 years. He believes that China has no chance of influencing the

world from the global creative advertising point of view.

Tom believes that creative influence is achieved by a combination of freedom of

expression and capacity for inspiration.

Given the current political situation in China it is very hard to imagine that the

Chinese will ever play a relevant role in global creative output.


54

Interestingly our first contact was before his office in China won the Grand Prix

for Print with the wonderful piece called “Heaven and Hell” for Samsonite at 2011

Cannes Advertising Festival.

Even after the award, I asked Tom if this was a sign that things were changing

and he agreed. However believes that it has created little inflection in the local

market. China, he believes is extremely conservative.

To support his position Tom shares with me a couple of passages from his new

book: “What Chinese Want” and points out the primary differences of Chinese

as compared to the rest of the world. He calls them the Three Timeless Truths:

1. A fatalistic, cyclical view of time and space characterized by meticulous

interconnectivity of things big and small.

The Chinese are amazing in logic and linear reasoning. The whole Chinese sys-

tem is a well-oiled machine. Government technocrats have devised systems for

transportation, energy, distribution and housing infrastructure.

This relates directly to the Ying and Yang from the Book of Changes that explains

basically that everything between heaven and earth is balanced to perfection.

This explains why the Chinese people, despite all the opportunities created by

economic development, remain fatalistic, eager to manage destiny but not to

challenge their place in the universe. Happiness and success can occur when an

individual achieves harmony with the surrounding world. Change, and the wis-

dom to adapt to its inevitability, is one of the enduring hallmarks of Chinese iden-

tity.

2. A morally relativistic universe in which the only absolute evil is chaos

and the only “good” is stability, a platform on which progress is construct-

ed.

The world of course changes all the time and how Chinese people deal with this

fact shapes their essence to the core. Especially natural disaster such as earth-


55

quakes and floods, are many times attributed as omens of celestial displeasure.

Therefore, in constantly changing world chaos is the ultimate evil.

Three considerations shape the Chinese culture in this regard:

Legalism. To prevent turmoil, the interests of the few must be sacrificed

for the greater good.

Daoism. Is all about balance in the universe and cosmological order.

Bad things happen when man and nature are not in sync, but also good things

happen when they are.

Confucianism. The strongest influence in Chinese society also extolling

stability rooted in a code of conduct that explicitly details the relationship between

individuals and society. Fathers and sons, husband and wife, older brother and

younger brother, ruler and ruled.

These relationships actually represent an opportunity to express many aspects of

society, as all roles need to be present. In order for there to be a ruled, there

needs to be a ruler, and in order for there to be a son, there needs to be a father.

This is in a way shaping the way that 21st century Chinese people, with access to

money and expensive things feel fueled to achieve these goals. A tension be-

tween regiment and ambition.

3. A view of the family, not the individual, as the basic productive unit of

society.

The Confucian conflict manifests itself in every level of society and dictates con-

sumer dynamics in every category, from cars to computers, to sanitary napkins to

shampoo. China has deeply rooted anti-individualism but there are also huge

egos.

Western individualism encourages each of us to define ourselves independent of

external expectations. In China, this identity is exotic and considered dangerous.


56

The following article expresses this conflict in a very eloquent way. Not every-

thing in China is uncontrollable growth, expansion and access to goods. Recent-

ly Beijing banned luxury goods advertising. It seems that they do not want to stir

up too much emotions in regards to who has access to what, or who has more

than the other.

Illustration 17

Beijing bans ads for luxury goods. Source: Article on The Telegraph.

Continuing our conversation Mr. Doctoroff says: “The biggest challenge JWT has

in China is forging an environment of self-expression and innovative thinking.

Impact and success hinges on liberating the creative juices of everyone within

the organization, no matter their position into believing that creativity is the ruler

of the game and that without mold breaking ideas, the relationship with clients is

doomed to be short and unprofitable.”


57

“The capacity to operate on a near biblical scale is behind China’s emergence as

a modern economic superpower”

Now, later that same day I speak with LoSheung Yan, CCO of

JWT Greater China and partner of Tom Doctoroff in running the

China region.

Ma Yan arrived a bit late to our meeting battling what looked like a miserable

cold. I was very grateful to him for seeing me when it was clear he was not feel-

ing his best. Still, we managed to have a wonderful chat on Chinese creative

thinking, the Samsonite print ad that won the first Grand Prix for China and the

road ahead for Chinese creative development. This was just a couple of weeks

before the Cannes Lions 2012 Festival where we met again.

In contrast to what Mr. Docotoroff thinks, Ma Yan believes that China is also at a

tipping point and definitely sees the Grand Prix as a milestone that will ultimately

start the change in the industry.

“Now that we have won it, we want more of it”

Although he agrees that Brazil has performed much better than them creatively,

he believes that all China can do is grow.

“Brazil has reached its peak. I can’t imagine where and when China will peak”

The secret behind the Samsonite “Heaven and Hell” Cannes Grand Prix.

Of course, we speak about the Samsonite “Heaven and Hell” print piece that won

JWT it’s first Grand Prix at Cannes. Ma Yan is very proud of this work and again,

considers it to be a milestone in Chinese creative development. However the

true surprise behind the work comes from the global approach that JWT took to

produce the work.


58

China’s view of heaven and hell is not the same we in the west have. You have

to understand that in China the predominant color at weddings is red and white is

the color for funerals.

In creating the “Heaven and Hell” piece, the creative team took the “western” ap-

proach of how everybody else interprets heaven and hell. The use of white and

red, the presence of angels and demons that is all western interpretations based

on religious beliefs.

We in the west saw the piece as the Chinese interpretation of heaven and hell

but what we were actually seeing was the western interpretation executed Chi-

nese style. Illustration 10

Samsonite ¨Heaven and HellÄd. Source: JWT Shanghai

Closing on the 3 I’s Model, Mayan believes that Brazil scores better in Intellect

and Inspiration, but strongly believes this will change dramatically in the next 20

years and China in his opinion scores higher in Intent.

Building up on Ma Yan’s position I also speak with one of his

team members, Elvis Chau, ECD of JWT Shanghai.

I first interviewed Elvis back in 2011 before he and his team in


59

China had won the Grand Prix at Cannes for the amazing print work for Sam-

sonite.

At the time of our first contact, Elvis was excited about the possibilities that China

had in influencing the creative world as he believes that there is definitely a

“blooming” effect of creative work. That was before his office won the Grand

Prix.

However, Elvis believes that the challenge facing China is the level of sophistica-

tion both from marketer and consumer. He believes that this is a process in

which China has advanced a lot in the last few years and will continue to do so in

the future.

Earlier this year, I also had the chance to see Chris Thomas,

President of BBDO Asia and Chairman of Proximity Worldwide

in Shanghai during our Asia Module as he had come for a

business pitch.

I was particularly interested with Chris’ point of view being a global marketer

based in Asia and someone who has seen first hand the incredible growth that

China has experienced in the past few years.

We had a very nice conversation over dinner about the opportunities that lay

ahead for China as a creative nation. Chris thinks that China is just starting to

become more relevant and capable of creating global ideas that not only work for

the Chinese market but also abroad.

He mentions the Volkswagen “The People’s Car Project” as a fantastic idea

made in China that could definitely fly in other markets around the world. The

idea was ultimately recognized in the Cannes Lions Festival in June 2012.

Interestingly enough, this idea came from a creative team in BBDO Proximity Bei-

jing made up of two Brazilians. As part of my thesis work and further in this doc-


60

ument I present the results of my conversation with Flavio Vigidal, creative direc-

tor from BBDO Proximity Beijing on the case.

Of course, after speaking with Chris it only made sense that I

talk to Carol Potter, President of BBDO China.

I’ve known Carol for quite some time now, and have always

admired her determination in seeing China grow as an advertis-

ing market. She was the host of our BBDO global network meeting in Shanghai

in 2008, which for many was the first China experience, just before the Olympics.

For me it was the first time that I saw China as a global player.

I talked to Carol during my Asia Module in May 2012 when I visited her offices in

Shanghai and had a very interesting conversation about my thesis and the 3 I’s

Model.

Carol believes that China is at a tipping point in terms of taking the step towards

changing their perception from what we know as “Made in China” to “Imagined in

China”. That is changing from copying to originating.

Traditionally agencies in China have hired mostly non-Chinese creative since

there is a very limited pool of talent in the country, however it is slowly changing.

Even if they had a good pool of creative talent, it still doesn’t solve the problem of

how clients in China value creativity. There is still an important gap there that

needs to be addressed. Advertising in China, with very few exceptions continues

to be very fact driven and very little intuitive.

She thinks that Brazil scores higher in Intellect and Inspiration and China scores

higher in Intent on my 3 I’s Model.


61

Carol then connects me to Flavio Vigidal, Creative Director at

BBDO Beijing.

Flavio is part of the team who developed “The People’s Car

Project” for Volkswagen. A very engaging and creative idea that builds on the

ideas of the people of how the cars of the future will look like. This campaign

case is deeper explored in the section “Global Brand Performing Well in Emerg-

ing Markets” of my thesis.

I was particularly interested to speak with Flavio because he is actually the first

Brazilian creative that I met that is actually working in China. His point of view is

very valuable for my project as he has lived and worked in both countries and

can easily compare and score them on my 3 I’s Model.

Flavio notes that Brazil definitely has an upper hand in terms of Intellect and In-

spiration in my 3 I’s Model. He considers that Chinese creative still have a long

way to go in terms of creative development. He believes that they can modify an

idea but have difficulty imagining it. However believes that the Brazilian market is

saturated and too focused on selling media than creative. In this sense, he be-

lieves that China has more room to grow.

He also believes that China has more Intent in performing globally. He now un-

derstands how different Brazil views the rest of the world now that he is outside

its boundaries. He does not consider that Brazil is interested in playing a larger

role than the one they have right now.

Then came, Dick Van Motman. CEO DDB Greater China.

DDB in China is an important player in the local industry and due

to the relevance that DDB is giving China as a market his agency

is becoming one of the three creative global hubs for DDB

Worldwide. That is NY, Berlin and Shanghai.


62

Mr. Van Motman considers that creativity and innovation in China happens in

business and innovation. He believes that China is undergoing a huge transfor-

mation and will definitely become a huge market for local and international

brands.

He quotes the famous Bill Bernbach when speaking about basic insights on crea-

tivity as well as China as an opportunity market:

"Creativity is the most powerful resource in business."

"The trick is to understand what motivates a man".

I ask Mr Van Motman if he sees his agency creating global ideas to which he re-

sponds that most of the time big impact-full ideas in China will not fly globally.

Although his agency will play a more relevant global role in creativity he does not

envision China as a global advertising creator.

"Don't be confused that China wants to become westernized." He says as he

considers that the west commonly mistakes the idea that China will become more

westernized or even worse, that China will conquer the world and make it more

“Chinese”.

Last but not least, Kitty Lun CEO of LOWE China gives me her

point of view.

Kitty came to speak at our class during the Asia Module in May

2012 and is a true believer in the relevance that China can have

in global creative development. However again mentions that lack of talent exist-

ing in the market.

“China has no choice but to become a relevant global creative player”


63

But is the feeling from the advertising creative industry always the same?

Is there a difference between consolidated traditional network agencies and

smaller independent digital shops?

One of the most interesting site visits we had during our Asia Module in Shanghai

was FROG. A design / digital / advertising agency originally from Germany with

operations in Shanghai since 2005.

There I met Mario van der Meulen, Creative Director at FROG

Shanghai, who gives me a very different perspective than the

big agency leaders.

“We are experts in code and technology and hands on with materials. We know

our clients products and services intimately”

FROG goes beyond the traditional communications services company, they are

involved in all creative processes that a company’s brand navigates, being that

product design, marketing, distribution, display, and of course communication.

FROG to me represents the new wave of creative professionals and they have a

strong Chinese representation in their Shanghai office. Their vision of design

and creative development not only in China but also in the rest of the world

seems to be far more advanced that the rest. They are a product development,

idea creator, advertising, digital, social media creators.

This is the only interview where I find that and interviewee believes that the new

China scores higher that Brazil in all 3 I’s.

My very last interview is with Michael Conrad and I couldn’t

have thought of a better way to close. I met up with Michael at

the Berlin School of Creative Leadership Open House held at

the Cannes Lions Festival 2012 and then again just before the


64

festival was about to end. Michael had invited me to speak at the Open House

about my thesis work and how the school had transformed my professional ca-

reer. It is then than I understand the connection between my thesis topic and my

professional growth within the industry as I come from an emerging region wish-

ing to advance in the global landscape.

I later speak with him more deeply about my project and findings and he is the

one who actually frames the context of my work under the “reverse innovation”

idea.

Michael admires Brazil very much. Not only because of his personal experience

in the market, but also because of his close relationship with Marcello Serpa and

his agency. Michael believes that Brazil is one of the most creative markets in

the world. However, even though China is not very present in his radar, Michael

agrees that it’s scale can make a huge difference in the short term. He agrees

that Chinese are hungry and willing to learn fast.

In the end, from the various conversations I had with some of the most influential

people in the industry in Brazil and China, I was able to discover some interesting

insights and opportunities facing both nations.

Each nation thinks the other has the advantage.

Non-traditional, digital innovations companies are already living in the environ-

ment that traditional communications companies are envisioning the future will

be.


65

5.2 Global Brands navigating successfully in emerging markets.

A.

Snickers® is one of the most successful chocolate brands from MARS. The per-

fect product combination of peanuts and nougat wrapped in milk chocolate

makes it the perfectly combination to satisfy hunger.

In 2011 Snickers® introduced a global campaign with a powerful and unique

idea: “You are not you when you’re hungry”. This idea is build on the global

insight that when people are hungry they are off their game and display distinct

behavioral traits, some of those being:

Irritable and Cranky Illustration 18

Irritable and Cranky – Hunger Traits. Source: BBDO


66

Physically weak and pathetic Illustration 19

Phisically Weak and Pathetic – Hunger Traits. Source: BBDO

Angry, bad tempered and mean Illustration 20

Angry, Band Tempered and Mean – Hunger Traits. Source: BBDO


67

All of these traits are universal and all consumers can relate to them, regardless

of their country of origin and local culture.

This campaign has very successfully ran in more than 40 markets, has been rec-

ognized as one of the most awarded campaigns for BBDO in the last few years

not only for it’s creativity but it’s effectiveness, and part of that success is how the

idea has travelled through so many cultures. Actually the beauty of it is how well

it connects with local level. As much as the Betty White version was very suc-

cessful in the US it would not have worked in China, therefore China made it’s

own version building on a local mythical character that displays one of the traits

perfectly. This character is known for being physically weak therefore could carry

the brand’s message perfectly.

Illustration 21

Character Scene from Snickers China Ad. Source: BBDO

This idea could have never been devised in the headquarters of New York to be

used in the Chinese market.


68

B. Volkswagen Illustration 22

Volkswagen The People’s Car Online Ad. Source: Proximity BBDO

Volkswagen is recognized globally as The People’s Car and a creative team in

China took this positioning to a whole new level. Being “The People’s Car” in

Germany might be completely different to what being “The People’s Car” in Chi-

na, the agency came up with a very relevant idea for Chinese consumers but that

at the same time could be relevant anywhere in the world.

In 2011, Volkswagen commenced its People's Car Project in China to create

crowd-sourced concepts of the VW of the future. More than 33 million people vis-

ited the site, and three concepts were created from the inputs: the Music Car, the

Hover Car and the Smart Key.

You have to take into account that this project could have had difficult barriers

locally in China as it in a way offers consumers to express their ideas and vote

for the most exciting ones. Voting, as you would expect is not a very popular

thing in the Chinese political system. However it was presented in a way that did

not stir any complications in that regard.

The idea generated a lot of buzz not only in China but around the globe where

similar ideas are being developed.


69

The Music Car is a Beetle wrapped in LEDs that change colors to match the driv-

er's choice of music. Illustration 23

The Music Car. Source: BBDO Proximity

The Hover Car is a zero-emissions two-seater that, no surprise, hovers over elec-

tromagnetic road networks. Illustration 24

The Hover Car. Source: BBDO Proximity


70

The Smart Key is Big Brother for your car, in your pocket: the high-def

touchscreen on the nine-millimeter key can track the status of your car and keep

an eye on it via "satellite transmission." Illustration 25

The Smart Key. Source: BBDO Proximity

This project was created and developed by BBDO Proximity Beijing and repre-

sents one of the best examples of a reverse innovation idea, respecting the glob-

al brand positioning, but conceived in an emerging market to be used and

adapted globally.

The campaign won various accolades at the recent Cannes Lions Festival 2012.


71

5.3 Emerging market brands navigating successfully in the global market.

A. Havaianas Illustration 26

Havaianas Print Ad. Source: Almap BBDO Brazil

One of the most famous Brazilian brands in the world.

Havaianas has built an incredible empire based on its intricate relationship with

Brazil. Havaianas is Brazil and the way Brazil is seen by the world. It represents

all the country stands for and what has made it famous.

It’s advertising has always been an explosion of color and happiness where the

sandal is the center of the universe and the igniter of this passion for life that is

Brazil.

However in recent months, Havaianas has taken a different route, especially for

the United States, where it has taken a more “fashionista” approach. For their


72

latest campaign they hired famed photographer David LaChapelle to shoot some

ads. Illustration 27

Havaianas Magazine Ad. Almap BBDO Brazil

This is an interesting approach to a very specific market but in a way steps away

from what has made the sandals famous.

Almap BBDO in Brazil produces all Havaianas work and is a truly relevant exam-

ple of Brazilian creativity exported to the rest of the world and of how advertising

can add value to the most inexpensive and simple product out there.


73

B. Lenovo. Illustration 28

Lenovo Print Ad. Source: lenovo.com

Lenovo Group Limited is a Chinese multinational information technology and

electronics company co-headquartered in Beijing, Singapore and Morrisville,

North Carolina, United States. Its products include personal computers, work-

stations, servers, electronic storage and IT management software. Lenovo was

founded in Beijing in 1984 and incorporated in Hong Kong in 1988 under its pre-

vious name, Legend. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Lenovo is the world’s second largest PC vendor by 2011 market share, after HP

and markets theThinkPad line of notebook computers and the ThinkCentre line of

desktops. These brands became part of Lenovo's offerings after its 2005 acquisi-

tion of IBM's personal computer business. Lenovo also sells the IdeaPad line of

notebook computers. Lenovo markets its products directly to consumers, small to

medium size businesses, and large enterprises, as well as through online sales,

company-owned stores, chain retailers, and major technology distributors and

vendors.


74

Very few people know for a fact that Lenovo is a Chinese brand, and probably

the most successful at navigating the western world just as if it were any other

western brand.

This is also an example of a local brand that becomes a relevant global player,

however the communications approach comes from the western world instead of

a Chinese creative team.


75

5.4 Cannes creative community.

At the Cannes Lions Festival of 2012 the Berlin School of Creative Leadership

hosted an Open House for creative and other advertising professionals attending

the festival.

During this time, I was invited to present my thesis project to the audience and

had the opportunity to conduct a quick qualitative and quantitative study to run

the 3 I’s model for emerging BRIC markets.

Illustration 29

Cannes Creative Leaders Program Picture. Source: Warren Marenco

I conducted 38 questionnaires with responses from people from 24 countries that

gave the following average scores for Brazil and China.


76

Brazil China

Intellect. Related to knowledge, preparation and experience of the local creative community.

7

6

Inspiration. Related to openness, sensibility and freedom for creative expression.

8

7

Intent. Related to decisiveness, hunger and ambition to perform outside their own territory.

6

8

Total Score

21

21

If you add the three criteria it turns out, both Brazil and China score a total of 21

points. Which could suggest that both countries have the same opportunity.


77

6. Findings

After conducting the in-depth interviews, the research on global, and local Brazil-

ian and Chinese brands, and the questionnaires with the Cannes Lions creative

community I am able to summarize the findings as follows:

Both Brazil and China score the same total points in the 3 I’s Model.

This would suggest that both nations have the same opportunity to become glob-

ally relevant.

However, Brazil scores higher in Intellect and Inspiration. China scores

higher in Intent.

Brazil has been at the top of creative excellence in the past 10 years however

these do not seem to be enough to guarantee global relevance as brands contin-

ue to go global and Brazilian agencies seem to me more interested in their local

market.

Brazilians take a lot of pride in expressing their creative inspiration. It’s embed-

ded in their culture; a way of life if I may say so. Perhaps that is what the “Brazil-

ian Way” really means. But they are also overwhelmed with the global attention

the country is getting and even though some see this as a very exciting time for

the country, there are also others who see beyond the hype and are actually

concerned with how all this growth can be sustainable.

China on the other hand seems to be more interested in tapping into the global

playing field in terms of the hunger to perform outside China and is starting to

make big changes in the way they educate and inspire their own. However is in

desperate need of talent right now to respond to the overwhelming demand they

are facing right now.

Opportunity is there for whoever wants to grab it.


78

One of the most enlightening moments during the course of my thesis is how

much passion and controversy the topic generates within the industry. Listening

to Marcello Serpa and Tom Doctoroff surrender opportunity to the other was quite

interesting in the sense that no nation has guaranteed success.

What is clear to me is that neither has a clear plan on how to achieve global rele-

vance. Players are too preoccupied with their own local nuances, and some-

times, perhaps inspired by luck or divine intervention; a great idea is born that

changes the game. Global network headquarters continue to lead and dictate

the role their agencies in Brazil and China will play, and are not pushing them to

take a more relevant role in their global creative production.

Developed market agencies need to embrace globalization.

The reverse innovation process is currently not being fueled by developed market

agencies.

During one of our thesis discussion sessions Professor Shamus Khan told me:

“The United States forgot how to be an emerging market”. Which I thought was

very insightful in the sense of how developed markets have been desensitized

from the emerging market inspiration and need to be more in contact with the rest

of the world.

Andrew Robertson, CEO of BBDO Worldwide, said in an interview to Campaign

Magazine in 2009.

“There is no better time to be in the advertising business than now. In today’s

highly connected communications era we have to embrace the fact that we will

learn as much from the people with 25 years of experience than from the 25 year

olds just starting in the business. The same goes for creative professionals from

developed and emerging markets around the world. In our network, global crea-

tive leadership is about just that - leadership, not direction. You lead by example,

and that example can come from any corner of the globe"

My thesis hopes to present a concrete plan to do just that.


79

6.1. Parallels.

In the research work conducted for my thesis project I came across a very inter-

esting organization in China that is doing some very inspirational work in the ar-

chitecture industry in order to improve the Intellect and Inspiration of young Chi-

nese architects.

The MAD Travel Fellowship was launched by MAD Architects in 2009 to provide

mainland Chinese students with an opportunity to travel abroad and research an

architectural topic of their choosing. It is only through travel – the visceral experi-

ence of walking into a space – that one can begin to understand the full context

and meaning of architecture. Illustration 30

MAD Travel Fellowship Logo. Source: i-mad.com

In the past three years, with the support of long-term sponsor VERTU, 15 stu-

dents from all over China have received the grant and traveled to destinations

including: Greece, Switzerland, the United States, Egypt, Japan, Germany and

Italy.


80

Illustration 31

MAD Travel Fellowship Students. Source: i-mad.com

This organization is investing in providing their local rising stars the jumpstart in

global inspiration they need to become better architects and designers.

The program basically takes them around the globe experiencing local cultures,

ideas and design approaches in order to make them better global architects.

This is a clear example of Intent with a plan.


81

7. Conclusions

The 3 I’s model is not a perfect formula but more of a guide to secure the basics

for global creative relevance.

So I believe and consider my hypothesis to be true:

Emerging market agencies that want to be relevant in the global brand board-

rooms need to score high on all 3 I’s. However, of these three aspects, Intent

clearly rises above the others, as the key indicator of possibility for success.

However, both China and Brazil have amazing qualities that give them great ad-

vantages however they can both become relevant global players if first they want

to, and then they make a plan to accomplish it.


82

8. Recommendation

Illustration 32

Global Immersion Program Logo. Source: Warren Marenco

Global Creative Immersion Program

As a result of my investigation, and the many conversations with industry leaders

and professionals, and having visited both markets personally I’ve devised a pro-

gram for emerging market agencies to prepare for the global arena.

Creative professionals within agency organizations rarely have the opportunity to

travel abroad and experience other cultures. It happens more often that the pro-

fessionals within agency organizations who do travel are the account service or

planning teams.

This program would be designed for creative professionals within agencies in

emerging and developed markets to have a first hand experience with BRIC na-


83

tions and the intricacies that make them unique and special, but also relevant to

the global market.

The program would require 5 rising stars, one from each emerging market agen-

cy and one from a global agency hub (New York, London, etc.) to spend 1 month

in Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Hub base, throughout a period of two

years until completion. Illustration 33

Global Creative Immersion Program Site Visits. Source: Warren Marenco

It would be sort of a “job swap” exercise where each of the creatives lives the life

of his colleague for a month and learns from his/her experience until he/she

completes the global immersion.

Potential candidates to do the Global Immersion Program would be selected by

merit. The program itself would become a great motivational and career ad-

vancement tool.

The program would be of great value to global clients as well. Global brands

need global agencies that understand the global market and are able to recog-

nize and nurture creative talent around the globe because in the next ten years

talent will no longer sit just in Madison Avenue.


84

9. A final thought

Coming myself from an emerging region, the EMBA Berlin School Program in a

way has been the Global Immersion Program I was looking for in terms of ac-

cessing the next level of global communications skills and contacts.

Traveling the world, living foreign cultures and connecting with smart; fascinating

people both from the countries I visited and my classmates, has been invaluable

in getting a deeper understanding of our global community and how to overcome

the cultural challenges of creating and distributing creative ideas.

Hopefully with this I’ll be able to create some reverse innovation myself.


85

10. Bibliography:

The Rise Of The Creative Class

Richard Florida

Basic Books, 2002

The Next 100 years

George Friedman

Doubleday; First Edition edition (January 27, 2009)

Who’s Your City

Richard Florida

Basic Books, 2008

What Chinese Want

Tom Doctoroff

Palgrave McMillan, 2012

A History of Advertising

Stéphane Pincas & Marc Loiseau

Taschen, 2008

BrandZ: Top 100 most valuable global brands 2012

WPP, Millward Brown, 2012

The End Of Cheap China

Shaun Rein

John Whiley and Sons INC. 2012

Hegarty on Advertising

Sir John Hegarty

Thames & Hudson (2011)


86

11. Internet Sources:

China

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/116/features-the-next-cultural-

revolution.html

http://martinprosperity.org/research-and-publications/publication/understanding-

the-creative-economy-in-china

http://martinprosperity.org/media/creative_china_october_2008.pdf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8900851/Jim-ONeill-Welcome-

to-a-future-built-in-BRICs.html

America surrenders to China: 2027

http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2011/2010/12/china_overtakes_ameri

ca_first_all_manufacturing_0?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fwl%2Fbl%2Fsurrender

China not about to outinnovate the US.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/12/china_is_not_about_to_out-inno.html

Chinas Economic Miracle has Limitations

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=de&ie=UTF-

8&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/soziales/0,1518,737514,00.ht

ml&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhhLOG9YOWPzKXQs

GZovIjPjC9OXdA

100 Things to Watch in 2011

http://www.slideshare.net/jwtintelligence/2f-100-things-to-watch-in-2011-6306251

Made in China – Trendwatching

http://trendwatching.com/briefing/#madefor


87

Tim Broadbent

China should produce better advertising

http://adage.com/china/article/viewpoint/china-should-produce-better-

advertising/148262/

W+K appoint creative talent scout

http://www.campaignbrief.com/asia/2011/02/wk-shanghai-appoint-creative-t.html

Holding Company Chiefs: We’re Woeful When It Comes To Talent.

http://adage.com/article/special-report-4as-conference/agency-holding-company-

ceos-4a-s-talk-recruiting-talent/149303/

BRIC will lead global advertising surge in 2012

http://www.madisonboom.com/article.asp?id=8619

Enter the Dragon, here comes China’s Creative Class

http://bigthink.com/ideas/42101

MAD Travel Fellowship Program

http://www.i-mad.com/ennews_details.aspx?id=90

Global Advertising Growth Continues as Latin America and Asia compen-

sate for weakening Europe

http://www.zenithoptimedia.com/zenith/global-advertising-growth-continues-as-

latin-america-and-asia-pacific-compensate-for-weakening-europe/


88

Apendix 1. Interview Subject Biographies


89

Angela Willmott

Marketing – Global Brand Director Snickers®, MARS Chocolate.

Bio:

British, based in the UK.

Angela has over 23 years experience in global marketing all this time working for

MARS. Has lived in Shanghai and other spots in the world and is currently the

Global Brand Director for Snickers® chocolate.

I had one of the most interesting conversations with Angela during a visit we both

did to Brazil in April 2012. Angela had not been there in a while and it was the

first official business trip to the country where we both met at Almap BBDO offic-

es for a deep dive in the Snickers® brand and the countries strategy.


90

Chris Thomas

Advertising – President BBDO Asia, Chairman Proximity Worldwide

Bio:

British, based in Singapore.

Chris has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BBDO and Proximity

in Asia, since 2006. Since 2002, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of

Proximity London, one of the largest integrated communications companies in

the UK. Mr. Thomas has been Chairman of the Board and Director of I&S BBDO

Inc. and Chairman of the Board at Proximity Worldwide since May 2011.

He has had a successful career in the advertising industry, having been a Direc-

tor of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and he is now a member of the worldwide

board of Proximity London Limited. He serves as a Director of Proximity London

Limited, The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.


91

Sir John Hegarty

Advertising – Chairman BBH Worldwide

Bio:

British, based in UK.

Sir John Hegarty started Bartle Bogle Hegarty with John Bartle and Nigel Bogle

in 1982. It quickly became the most talked about and awarded advertising agen-

cies in the world. In fact the agency has won every agency of the year accolade

and every creative award possible and has been at the forefront of the industry

for 29 years. In the first two decades of BBH’s history, John was responsible for

ground breaking campaigns for Levi’s and introduced the British to the phrase

'Vorsprung Durch Technik' for Audi. BBH now has offices in London, New York,

Singapore, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Mumbai and John oversees the creative

output of all these offices. He has won golds at every industry award and was the

recipient of the first ever Lion of St. Mark at Cannes Lions 2011.


92

Bob Jeffrey

Advertising – CEO JWT Worldwide

Bio:

American, based in New York.

Bob Jeffrey is the Chairman and CEO of JWT Worldwide. As JWT’s CEO, Jeffrey

is responsible for over 800 offices and 10,000 employees in more than 90 coun-

tries; working with blue-chip clients such as Ford, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson,

Nokia, Nestlé, Unilever and others.

Jeffrey’s mission is to lead JWT into the future by making things inspired by the

world. This blending of international imagination and technological innovation is a

process he calls “worldmade”. It is through this process that he has delivered a

freshly reinvigorated network prepared to guide and build some of the world’s

most powerful brands.

Jeffrey is regarded as an ambassador of advertising and is widely respected for

his views and achievements. His knowledge and experience of the industry led

him to become a regular contributor to Fox Business Network, CNBC and CNN,

as well as a frequent source of quotes for leading trade and business publica-

tions.


93

St John Walshe

Advertising – EVP BBDO Worldwide – Global Account Director

Bio:

Irish, based in Ireland and UK.

St. John leads the relationships with some of BBDO’s largest multi-national cli-

ents, in 70+ markets. He and his team have consistently demonstrated a track

record of delivering world class, award winning communication campaigns and

effective brand building strategic consultancy. Recent successes include Mars'

consolidation of the majority of their global business with BBDO and partnering

them in being BBDO’s most awarded client at the Cannes Lions and most effec-

tive client per the Effies in 2011. St. John has worked with BBDO for 15 years

starting at BBDO NY. He spent seven years at AMV BBDO in London and the

past six with BBDO Worldwide. He is a member of the BBDO worldwide board.


94

Marcello Serpa

Advertising – Founder and Partner Almap BBDO Brazil.

Bio:

Brazilian, based in Brazil.

Marcello is quite possibly the most awarded creative director in the world. He

leads Almap BBDO, crown jewel of the BBDO Worldwide Network and one of the

most awarded agencies in the World. Almap has been Agency of the Year three

years in a row for 2009, 2010, 2011.

He is the most awarded art director in the 24-year history of the Annual of the

Club de Criaςão; the most honored Brazilian at the Art Directors Club of New

York, with Latin America's only two Gold Medals; winner of two Grand Prix at the

New York Festival; Best Creative Professional at the Primio Cabore in 1993 and

1999; three-time winner of the Abril Advertising Prize; Professional of the Year for

Rede Globo Awards in 1993; winner of Gold and Silver statues at the Clio

Awards; winner of three Grand Prix at FIAP (Latin American Advertising Festival).

He created two covers for Archive Magazine and is the only Brazilian art director

to receive Gold at the One Show. In 1998, he was the first Brazilian to preside

over the jury at the London Festival. In 2 consecutive years, he was named Best

Creative Director in Latin America and Brazil at Latin Spots magazine's "El Ojo

de Iberoamerica" Awards.


95

Marcello was the creative mind behind the success of Havaianas as the first

global Brazilian brand, built precisely on the countries positioning. A success sto-

ry in many ways as it is probably the fact that it’s success was created by the

brands communication strategy and campaign. Havailanas represents the best

example of the possibilities of a Brazilian brand becoming a global player based

on Brazilian creative ideation.


96

Ezra Geld

Advertising – COO JWT Brazil

Bio:


Ezra is a history graduate, but a media man by trade. He started in the communi-

cations business doing media and business consulting for media brands at PHD

in London.

In 2004 he started at JWT Sao Paulo as Media Research and Insight Director. In

this capacity he was tasked with evolving the Agency's Media Strategy. He was

subsequently promoted to Department Head where he oversaw the total restruc-

ture of JWTs Media offering. This included introducing the first Channel Planning

service in Brazil.

He since moved into a broader account management role, leading JWT work on

Coca-Cola and Unilever in Brazil.

Ezra is currently COO of JWT in Brazil; he sits on the Brazil Board of Directors

and is a member of the JWT Global Planning Council.


97

Roberto Martini

Advertising – CEO / CCO CuboCC (Interpublic Group) Brazil

Bio:


Roberto has worked in the digital communication sector since1995, having di-

rected and executed the creative and technological elements of the projects he

has helped develop. Over the course of his career, he has founded four compa-

nies (AG2, RAGE, SANT.AT & CUBOCC) all of which became standards in the

segment. He has received awards in Communication both in Brazil and interna-

tionally; and has given talks and served as jury member at some of Brazil’s most

important Communication events. He has worked in partnership with major agen-

cies in Brazil and globally, as well as a number of major clients, such as Univer-

sal McCann, Initiative, DM9DDB, Saatchi&Saatchi, Unilever, Google, Pepsico,

Nike, J&J, Nokia, Toyota and Inbev, to name a few.


98

Karen Cesar

Advertising – CEO Red Bandana Design

Bio:

Brazilian, based in Río de Janeiro, Brazil.

Karen founded the Red Bandana Design and Communication agency in her room

in Rio de Janeiro, when was 22 years old. She has run it ever since, as General

and Creative Director. Her clients include, L'Oréal Paris, Sofitel, Diageo, Pernod

Ricard, Ellus, Kenneth Cole, La Prairie, Merck, Log-In Intermodal Logistics, Insti-

tuto Beleza Natural, Instituto Rio Moda and Pupila Material Ótico.


99

Daniel Prianti

Advertising – CEO Router

Bio:

Brazilian, based in Sao Paulo Brazil

Daniel began his career with a planning internship with McCann Erickson Brazil.

He than became more involved on the client side and continued as a marketing

professional. He later decided to use the experience acquired from different mar-

kets (technology, consumer goods and financial services) to start his own busi-

ness, Router Beta, a specialized new media agency that integrates digital and

experience marketing. Daniel has been responsible for planning campaigns of

clients Nokia, Claro, Natura, Sony, Bacardi, Santander and General Mills,

amongst others. Key campaigns planned over the last years: Nokia Navigation

Campaign for GPS launch, Nokia Renault Sandero Campaign, Nokia N95 8GB

launch plan, Iphone and RIM fight plan, Nokia & Unilever Partnership on Mobile

Content Plan, Bacardi “Passion for the Original” Campaign, Bacardi Black Eyed

Peas Campaign, Sony 3D World Plan, Natura Seve category expansion plan and

the Sony PS3 GT5 launch.


100

André Kassu

Advertising – Creative Director Almap BBDO Brazil.

Bio:

Brazilian, based in Sao Paulo Brazil.

After 16 years of being a copywriter, André became Creative Director of Almap

BBDO in 2011.

His trove of awards include the Press Grand Prix at the 2010 Cannes Festival for

a Billboard magazine campaign, which was one of the most awarded campaigns

of the year according to Creativity. That same year, he was the most awarded

copywriter at the Cannes Festival and can boast altogether 13 Cannes Lions, in-

cluding 5 Gold, 3 Golds at Clios, a Grand Prix at the El Ojo de Iberoamerica, a

Grand Prix at the London Festival plus 2 Yellow Pencil at the D&AD and 5 pen-

cils at One Show.

As a recently appointed Creative Director, André came to the Berlin School to

prepare like other leaders in his agency for the rapidly changing advertising sce-

ne in Brazil. “I believe that you can be a leader without losing creativity,” he said.

“I believe that leading a team is totally different from oppressing a team. That is

what makes Marcello Serpa and Luiz Sanches (Berlin School graduate) exam-

ples for me. I need to learn a lot to be like them.”


101

Carol Potter

Advertising – President BBDO China.

Bio:

British, based in Shanghai.

Carol brings a world of international advertising experience to her role as CEO of

BBDO in China. Starting her career at Saatchi in the UK, she moved to FCB in

Australia and then to JWT in Tokyo where she restaged the Kellogg business into

healthy growth.

In 1994 she returned to the UK to run Kellogg, which at the time, was the single

largest account in the country. In 1997, Carol was transferred to JWT New York

as Client Service Director and a member of the management team that revital-

ized the agency with over $100m in new billings. Within 3 years, JWT was named

Agency of The Year by AdAge.

Carol again returned to London, this time as Deputy Global Business Director on

Unilever and was promoted two years later to run the global De Beers busi-

ness. In the 3 years Carol partnered with De Beers they achieved double-digit

growth.

Carol is in China for 5 years now.


102

Tom Doctoroff

Advertising – CEO JWT North East Asia Greater China

Bio:

American, based in Shanghai.

Tom is an MBA of the University of Chicago School of Business. He has worked

for 20 years for JWT and is currently the CEO of North East Asia Greater China.

He moved to China in 1994 and has lived there since.

Tom transformed JWT China into the most profitable and largest agency in Chi-

na. Also, implemented success diversification of services strategy.

He has been recognized as one of the most astute observers within the advertis-

ing industry of contemporary Chinese values, with frequently speaking engage-

ments across China and abroad.

As Regional Business Director, Tom became one of the leading experts on

cross-border management of brand architecture and strategy.

Tom has written two very important books about China: Billions and What Chi-

nese Want. Both books are not to be missed by any professional entrepreneur

interested in understanding China in the business world.


103

Dick Van Motman

Advertising – CEO DDB Greater China.

Bio:

Dutch, based in Shanghai.

Living in China for the past 10 years working for DDB for the last 9.

Seasoned professional in building brands and companies in both developed and

developing markets. Built and extended successfully brand value for both clients

and the agency. Both entrepreneur as well corporate warrior. Current achieve-

ments - Turned around mainland operations by growing it from a single discipline,

single office operation into an integrated marketing services company with pres-

ence in 3 markets. Growing tenfold in 5 years in size whilst propelling it to the top

3 in image rankings.

Making it the fastest growing agency in 2009 whilst becoming the first foreigner in

China to be the 'most outstanding advertising person as per CAA/CCTV and win-

ning China's 2nd ever Gold Lion. On the back of this DDB China Group recently

got chosen Creative Agency and Digital Agency of the year by Campaign Maga-

zine for Greater China as well as Advertising Age Magazine's Agency of the year.


104

Mario van der Muelen

Digital Advertising – Creative Director FROG Shanghai

Bio:

German, based in Shanghai.

At eight, Mario could list off up to 64 Crayola colors by heart, and today, he

knows them all by Pantone swatch number. And the eco-impact each of them

holds. A Designer / Chemist, he loves the dynamics of collaborative design and

delights in experimenting, mixing unusual elements and pairing opposites to cre-

ate work that surprises and hold values that go beyond a styled surface. A

brand designer/consultant with 20+ years of international experience, he has in-

spired and challenged a diverse range of clients. Working with brands in manu-

facturing, finance, energy, fashion, retail, FMCG, CE and high tech, he readily

establishes meaningful connections between brands and their audiences through

his honest, open, and enthusiastic style.

Mario's passion for helping companies develop products, markets, and brand ex-

periences brought him to China in 2000, to launch the marketing offer for Eu-

roRSCG, for Philips Lighting and Philips CE. He then focused on digital branding

under TribalDDB for Microsoft, HP, and HSBC. Under SMSL, he established the

studio's creative offer, servicing HKJC and Budweiser. In 2003 he founded his

own design studio, SGTH designs and helped brands like Starbucks develop a

localized offer. His desire to help companies achieve market success propelled

him to work both with cutting edge startups, such as the URBN Hotel group, and

established branding agencies such as FutureBrand.


105

Mario currently lives in Shanghai, and is Creative Director at global innovation

firm, frog. He is the Co-Founder & Director of Research for China's GIGAbase

Foundation, a non-profit research foundation that sets new standards of green

design solutions for brands, manufacturers and designers. A regular speaker at

various leading universities in China, in 2012, Mario was recognized by CBN-

weekly, one of the country’s leading business publications, as one of China’s Top

50 Innovation Pioneers.


106

Flavio Vigidal

Advertising – Creative Director BBDO Beijing.

Bio:

Brazilian, based in Beijing.

Creative Director over 12 years of experience mostly in integrated campaigns

with strong digital thinking. Has a degree in Design and Master degree in digital

communications strategies. Has background experience at JWT, G2 Grey and

CUBOCC Interpublic group. Always involved directly with conceptualization and

leading creative teams.

Some global brands he’s worked with along the career: Mars/Twix, Kraft Foods

(Lacta Chocolates, Oreo Biscuits and Philadelphia Cream Cheese), Pepsico

( Doritos, Ruffles snack potato and Cheetos) Unilever (AXE, Rexona, Becel and

Knorr), Coca-Cola Company, Ford, Nissan, Renault, Audi and Volkswagen.


107

Lo Sheung Yan

Advertising – CCO JWT Greater China.

Bio:

Chinese – Hong Kong, based in Shanghai.

Sheung Yan has come a long way, joining China’s advertising industry in 1996

with JWT. Along the way he helped JWT garner many prestigious regional and

global awards. JWT Asia Pacific was named by AdFest “Network Agency of the

Year” in 2008. Again, JWT AP was named by Media Spikes and AdFest “Network

Agency of the Year” in 2009. And JWT Shanghai was also named by AdFest

“Agency of the Year” in 2009, a first for an agency from China.

His other awards include winning China’s very first Grand Prix of Cannes 2011,

the Best of Show in China Advertising Festival four times, winning Grand Prix in

China Digital Awards, as well as the Hong Kong 4As Best of Show, China’s first

gold Clio, multiple golds at AdFest and a D&AD silver, to name a few. He has

keen interests in theatre and song writing. He wrote, directed, and acted in stage

plays for over 15 years while in Hong Kong. He also wrote lyrics for Asian pop

songs and musicals and is a member of the Composers and Authors Society of

Hong Kong.


108

Ma Yan has worked for JWT for 16 years and is now the Chairman of Asia Pacif-

ic and a member of the worldwide creative board for JWT. The board is com-

posed by Argentina, New York, London and Shanghai.


109

Elvis Chau

Advertising – ECD JWT Shanghai

Bio:

Singaporean ,based in Shanghai.

Elvis started his career with JWT Singapore in 1999 and spent next 12 years in 3

different markets - Singapore, Thailand and now China. Along the way he creat-

ed campaigns that are both highly awarded and highly effective, picked up over

200 awards in shows such as Cannes, Effie, Clio, One Show, London Interna-

tional, Spikes Asia, Asia Pacific AdFest and respective local awards. In 2008, his

adidas China Olympics campaign won the first gold Cannes Lion for China. And

in 2011, under his leadership as Executive Creative Director, JWT Shanghai

made history by clinching the most number of Cannes Lions - 3 Gold, 1 Silver, 2

Bronze and China’s first ever Grand Prix.


110

Kitty Lun

Advertising – President LOWE Shanghai.

Bio:

Chinese, Hong Kong, based in Shanghai.

Born and educated in Hong Kong, Kitty majored in Communication at the Baptist

University and later obtained a Master’s Degree in Advertising from Syracuse

University, New York.

Kitty started at Leo Burnett Hong Kong as copywriter and moved up to Creative

Directorship before moving to Taiwan in 1988 to head up Creative Department at

Leo Burnett Taiwan. She joined McCann-Erickson Hong Kong in 1991 as Execu-

tive Creative Director.

In 1997, Kitty took up the challenge of agency management and joined Euro

RSCG Hong Kong as Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer. She led the

agency into the digital age by setting up the Interactive Division, which is the big-

gest and strongest among advertising agencies in Hong Kong. In 2000, Kitty

turned a new page in her career by joining miclub.com, an Asian women’s portal,

as Chief Executive Officer.

Returning to advertising in 2001, Kitty joined Arnold Worldwide China in Shang-

hai, as General Manager and Executive Creative Director. In October of 2006,


111

Kitty joined LOWE China as Chairman and CEO, and was charged to rebuild the

agency, post JV and now a fully owned entity and one of the nine hubs of the

LOWE global network.

Kitty is one of the most awarded and respected advertising professional in Great-

er China. She chaired and judged at award shows in Greater China, Singapore,

Indonesia, Korea, New York, Russia and Canada. Kitty has lectured at universi-

ties on advertising and is closely involved with the academic community in train-

ing advertising professionals. She served on several community boards for the

Hong Kong Government. Kitty earned the honor of “Mother of Public Service Ad-

vertising” in Hong Kong in the 1990s for her active involvement in the cause.

In 2003 Kitty published her book “Advertising With No Lipstick” providing an in-

depth insight on her unique philosophy on advertising and on life.


112

Michael Conrad

Advertising – President of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. For-

mer Global Creative Director for Leo Burnett Worldwide.

Bio:

German, based in Switzerland.

After 34 wonderful years in advertising Michael Conrad retired in 2003. Born in

Germany - "a country more famous for great cars and less famous for great ads",

as his friend John Hegarty likes to point out - Michael brought German engineer-

ing to global quality management in advertising, helping Leo Burnett Worldwide

Inc. become "Global Agency Network" of the Year in 2000 (AdAge) and "Most

Awarded Agency Network" in 2001 (Gunn Report). Under his creative leadership

27 Leo Burnett agencies were named "Agency of the Year" in their countries,

some of them more than once.

Michael began his career in 1968 as copywriter for Young & Rubicam, Frankfurt.

In 1972, then Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather Frankfurt, Michael left with col-

league Creative Director Walter Lürzer to start TBWA in Frankfurt. In 1975 Mi-

chael and Walter set up Lürzer, Conrad, subsequently winning "Agency of the

Year" and several "Campaign of the Year" awards. In 1980 the agency merged

with Leo Burnett Germany, continuing its growth and creative success. When

Walter Lürzer retired in 1982 to launch "Lürzer's Archive", Lürzer, Conrad was

renamed Michael Conrad & Leo Burnett. In 1986 Michael moved to Chicago to

become President and Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett International, which

included creative leadership on global accounts like Marlboro. In 1996 he be-

came Vice Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Leo Burnett Worldwide. Michael


113

presided over many juries of international advertising festivals, including

"Cannes", "AdFest", "Clio" and "Golden Drum". He serves as Dean of the Roger

Hatchuel Lions Academy and is Honorary Member of ADC Switzerland,

ADC*Europe and ADC Germany. In 2002 German business daily "Handelsblatt"

and "Wirtschaftswoche" magazine inducted him into the German Advertising

"Hall of Fame". Upon retiring in 2003 ADC Germany's Sebastian Turner ap-

proached Michael to help develop ADC's education initiatives. Having identified

low quality "Creative Leadership" as the main reason for low quality standards in

creative industries, the idea was born to establish The Berlin School of Creative

Leadership.


114

Apendix 2. Interview Questionnaires

Brazil Agency / Industry Questionnaire

Global advertising has been traditionally dominated by US or europpean agen-

cies. Given the economic relevance BRIC nations will have in the coming years,

I’m researching on the challenges and oportunities Brazilian agencies face in or-

der to influence the global advertising creative industry.

1. What business are you in?

2. What does your company do?

3. What is your role within your organization?

4. What do you think is the most important challenge facing the creative commu-

nications industry worldwide?

5. Do you work for global brands? Which?

6. For the global brands you work on, when it comes to developing advertising

ideas on a global scale what country or region usually leads the effort?

7. Does your global client/headquarter agency involve your organization when it

requires ideas for the global market?

8. If yes, what have you done? Please comment on your experience.

9. Why is it relevant for a global brand to consider the brazilian point of view?

10. What makes Brazilian advertising ideas unique?


115

11. Is Brazil ready to compete globally in creative communication develpment?

Why?

12. What are the challenges and opportunities Brazilian agencies face in order to

achieve global relevance? Economic, cultural or other. Is there any specific hur-

dle that has not been overcome?

13. What needs to change in Brazil ad industry in order to achieve global creati-

ve relevance?

14. How do you think the WorldCup and Olympics host designation will affect

Brazil’s ability to influence the global creative communications community in the

coming future?

15. Can you please rate from 1 to 10 the next following criteria as how Brazil and

China score, being 1 the lowest and 10 the highest

Brazil China

Intellect.

Related to knowledge, preparation and experience

of the local creative community.

Inspiration.

Related to openness, sensibility and creative ca-

pacity.

Intent.

Related to decisiveness, hunger and ambition to

perform outside their own territory.


116

China Agency/Industry Questionnaire

Global advertising has been traditionally dominated by US or europpean agen-

cies. Given the economic relevance BRIC nations will have in the coming years,

I’m researching on the challenges and oportunities Brazilian/Chinese agencies

face in order to influence the global advertising creative industry.

1. What business are you in?

2. What does your company do?

3. What is your role within your organization?

4. What do you think is the most important challenge facing the creative commu-

nications industry worldwide?

5. Do you work for global brands? Which?

6. For the global brands you work on, when it comes to developing advertising

ideas on a global scale what country or region usually leads the effort?

7. Does your global client/headquarter agency involve your organization when it

requires ideas for the global market?

8. If yes, what have you done? Please comment on your experience.

9. Why is it relevant for a global brand to consider your point of view?

10. What makes Chinese advertising ideas unique?

11. Is China ready to compete globally in creative communication develpment?

Why?

12. What has changed since you won the Grand Prix in Cannes?


117

13. What are the challenges and opportunities Chinese agencies face in order to

achieve global relevance? Economic, cultural or other. Is there any specific hur-

dle that has not been overcome?

14. What needs to change in China’s ad industry in order to achieve global crea-

tive relevance?

15. Who do you think I should also interview in the chinese market to get a dee-

per understanding of challenges and oportunities?

Brazil China

Intellect.

Related to knowledge, preparation and experience

of the local creative community.

Inspiration.

Related to openness, sensibility and creative ca-

pacity.

Intent.

Related to decisiveness, hunger and ambition to

perform outside their own territory.

Documents

Warren Marenco Chase BSCL MBA Thesis FINAL