Energy BBDO, São Paulo: Show Your Humanity & Empathy

 

Alexandre Pagano
Executive Creative Director Energy BBDO Brasil
 

João Caetano
Executive Creative Director EnergyBBDO
 

Tell us about yourself and what you do. 

We are Alexandre Pagano and João Caetano Brasil, executive creative directors at newly launched EnergyBBDO, São Paulo. We run the agency alongside Daniel Baena and Maria Anita Ferreira, operations and strategy executive directors. What we do is to foster a collaborative and creative environment to bring the best work for our clients, with no established formulas or formats. We usually say we are fascinated by the unexplored.

 

How has the shift towards more responsible or politically correct advertising impacted your work?

We often say that there is a big difference between what is politically correct and what is just correct. What is correct is correct. It always has been. But brands have not always concerned themselves with this, as they weren’t expected to. Today, with new generations of consumers, new platforms and possibilities and the whole world becoming a publisher, brands were obligated to adopt more correct stances. We think this is great. The only warning that we give our clients is this: tell the audience who you really are and what you really believe. Trying to seem superficially like a responsible brand is a huge mistake.

 

Can you give some examples of clients that have adopted a responsible approach but remained and how they’ve used creative to help further their message?

Globally, Burger King and Nike have approached social issues with messages of inclusiveness, in a way that is both creative and consistent. Here in Brazil, we can cite O Boticário, a brand of beauty products whose campaigns have addressed important issues in our society in an extremely creative way.

 

Do you believe this helps the audience develop a deeper bond with their audience? Might taking a stance on social/political issues also turn away some potential customers?

Yes to both questions. Showing humanity and empathy and using the brand’s platform to address an issue can change the audience’s perception from “these guys want to sell me something at any cost” to “this brand is engaged with issues that I support and they have something to sell me”. On the other hand, there are 7 billion people on earth and many of them may disagree with the causes that a brand may be defending. Furthermore, many people may find the brand’s positioning on an issue to be false and cynical. For us, the main point comes down to the advice that we give our clients: do something that you really believe in, that your company practices on a daily basis and don’t be opportunistic. If you do this, the result tends to be positive.

 

As we move towards more socially conscious advertising, are there any campaigns from the past that you think simply wouldn’t be able to get made today?

There have been many campaigns in the past, brilliant for their times, that couldn’t be made today. No doubt about it. Rather than talking about others, we’ll look at ourselves. In recent years, as advertising has veered towards a more socially conscious path, we have had to remove some pieces from our personal portfolios. This is natural. The important thing, from our viewpoint, is to not deny the changes in society and communication, and to evolve.

 

Is there a specific campaign for a good cause you worked on that you’re most proud of? Or a favorite campaign from another agency.

People always say you are as good as your latest work. So we’d cite our campaign for CBN News Radio called “Condemnations” created by Energy BBDO São Paulo. It is an inconvenient truth for Brazil, but works for the rest of the world as well.