Sergio was a member of the Titanium and Integrated Lions jury at the 2008 Cannes International Advertising Festival. His office, DDB Brazil has won 74 Lions and 2 Grand Prix, has been twice named the Festival’s Agency of the Year and was also awarded the Festival’s first Interactive Agency of the Year.

I have the feeling that, every year, we’re invited to go on a safari. And when you go on this safari, you enter a car, and the driver turns toward you and says, “ There’s a bunch of lions over there.”

So you ride in the car with your shotgun - some tranquilizing gas not to kill the lion because it’s not politically correct to kill lions. And then you go to the lions, and the lions go running. The younger lions run swiftly forward. They go faster than the car. And the older lions, which are tired and are going to die in 15, 20 days, they plod on tiredly.

And you, inside the car, all sure of yourself, pick up your gun and kill those old, tired lions, which would soon be dying soon anyway. And then you take those lions to a taxidermist, who will comb its mane, shine its teeth, add some more color to its eyes, and will make you a fantastically beautiful trophy out of it. And you will be enormously proud of that lion.

But the younger lions, folks, are running far ahead. And you are not even looking in which direction they’re going.

In short, what I’m trying to tell everybody here is, aim at the young lions. Aim at the young lions. Try to reinvent your profession. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t kill the old lions. But when aiming at the young lions, you won’t need to fire a single shot to kill the old lions. The speed at which your car is going will, by itself, throw the running lion off balance because it is so old. And when you fire a shot to kill the younger lion, the older lion will die of fright. All you have to do then is to pick up the young lion you have just killed and go back and collect the thousands of old lions you have killed along the way.




Sergio Valente, CEO & President, DDB Brazil

Posted on October 16, 2008 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Earlier this year, we set out to launch a new brand called Green Works -- a line of 99% plant based natural cleaning products. The launch plan consisted of national TV, print and a dedicated website, but in our minds, this new brand deserved more -- something that would generate buzz and create influence. Something that would cause people to sit up, take notice, and look at cleaning products in a whole new light.

Our plan was to create something we knew our client would love – a larger than life product demo. We would find a dirty building or wall and clean it with Green Works. But we would clean it in a manner that would garner attention. Since Green Works are plant-based, we would use it to reverse out a mural of plants and trees. Although the client was excited about the idea, there was one big problem – no budget. The National launch plan was in place and the money was already committed. But that didn’t stop the team. Through savings on the mainline television production and a little creative problem solving, we found a way to make it happen.

We enticed Paul “Moose” Curtis, the pioneer of an art form called “clean tagging” to help realize our vision. We identified a high-traffic, disgustingly dirty spot in San Francisco - The Broadway Tunnel – to become the canvas for Moose’s art and ultimately, a live 140-foot Green Works billboard. The Reverse Graffiti Project was born.

In an effort to allow as many people as possible to witness the event, we enlisted the help of Doug Pray, an award-winning documentarian, to shoot the entire process and create a short film. Local news stations caught wind of the event and sent crews to cover it resulting in free PR.

Our Design Group created a website to house stills of “the making of” the project and the documentary. The Reverse Graffiti Project film debuted on YouTube and in just 2 days, became the #1 Featured Video. In only 10 days it had received over 400,000 views. It was also seeded in popular social and environmental blogs. More and more blogs picked up on the project and it was posted in over 13 countries around the world.

A few months ago, the film was selected to premier at the LA Shorts Fest and the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona’s NOW event. It was also featured on Discovery Channel’s Planet Green and is scheduled to appear on Al Gore’s Current TV.

The Reverse Graffiti Project has truly been a labor of love. It has inspired people around the world to look at cleaning products differently. It has inspired people within our own four walls to think differently about how they approach every project they work on and to believe that with a little persistent, a great idea can be realized.

To view the website, documentary and additional content please go to: reversegraffitiproject.com
The film can also be viewed at: www.youtube.com

Lisa Bennett, Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner, DDB San Francisco

Posted on October 22, 2008 4:13 PM | Permalink