To share with my friends abroad I got the english version.
(by Andy Davis, andydavis@uol.com.br)
Jornalirismo – I’d like to start from the beginning. Where and when were you born?Ricardo Figueira – I was born in Brasília in 1971. In other words I’m a “candango”. Although most folks born in Brasília object to being called “candangas” it doesn’t bother me, in fact I’m proud of it. The Candangos denotes the pioneers who built the city of Brasília in the middle of nowhere and not those who were born there, but I identify more with this hod-bearing spirit than the suit boys in Congress. Soon after birth I went to Rio de Janeiro where I lived for some time with my parents and was baptized a Flamengo supporter, even though I knew not of the suffering this would mean years later. Following my parents’ separation, I went back to the capital with my mother, where I spent my adolescence, and then embarked on my professional career.
Jornalirismo – What was your childhood like in Brasília? Tell us a memorable moment that will be with you forever. I have already read the one about your first work of art, the episode with your grandfather Jorge Castello Branco de Carvalho, placing the family crest on the windmill at the entrance to the homestead. Was that important in your subsequent decision, on which direction to head in?
Ricardo Figueira – Actually my grandfather was a very important figure in my development in all senses, I could even go as far as saying that he was chiefly responsible for the direction my life took. Without realizing, he opened up a kind of Pandora’s box in my head. He was a civil servant, as were most residents of Brasília at the time, and as a hobby he crafted and sculpted in wood. Early on, he spotted my fascination for his work and gave me opportunities so I could experiment with creative initiative even at just 10 years of age. Since then I started enjoying myself producing “art” empirically, which, much later on and with technique, I would come to know as design. And this is how it all began. But actually, my birth place, Brasília city, also heavily influenced my upbringing. This apparently boring place is much crazier, more interesting and paradoxical than it seems. Not to mention its architecture and urbanism which ends up involuntarily educating your eye to see composition and harmony wherever you cast your eye. Brasília has a functional architectural project responsible for creating a geographic organization which you become dependent on. It is also a place which suffers the everyday strong pressures of the political atmosphere, but yet contradictorily on the other hand creates a certain rebelliousness and strong artistic expression such as counter-position, particularly in the music. In the same way that Rio de Janeiro, for a while, inspired the Bossa Nova generation of “Girl of Ipanema”, Brasília in the eighties inspired post-dictatorship rebellious national rock. Fortunately, I intensely experienced this period where we were all protagonists of this history. Everyone played an instrument, had a band, had some truths to be spoken and a show to give at the weekend. So music ended up becoming an influential factor in my DNA during my adolescence. Upon growing more mature it’s clear that my repertoire opened up and rebelliousness took a back seat. However, the musical intensity never burned out and today is an integral part of my creative processes. So in short, I could declare that since a kid my roots have been involuntarily influenced by design, architecture and music.
Jornalirismo – What’s your educational background? Did you go through University?
Ricardo Figueira – I took business administration at the AEUDFand studied Graphics Design at ESPM. Later on I had the opportunity to take part in several international courses more linked to interactivity.
Jornalirismo – What are your main references/idols?
Ricardo Figueira – I recently began to write a book on creation, but with no intention beyond self-understanding really. I thought that one of the ways I could make reference to my influences was to create a chapter about my top 10 creative figures and how they influenced and inspired me. I have to admit that biggest challenge was narrowing it down to ten. But I just relaxed and chose unfettered by the order or time. Here they go:
My grandfather Jorge Castello Branco de Carvalho, through the capacity to get me involved, to awake admiration, respect and willingness to learn.
- Angenor de Oliveira (Cartola), through sensitivity and creativity.
- Vinicius de Moraes, for the unquestionable competence in the art of communicating and describing his feelings.
- Walt Disney, a creative individual focused on entertainment as the essence of his creation.
- Van Gogh, for his sensitivity.
- Hanna & Barbera, two ironic and loveable jazz artists. They created the music for their cartoons and the cartoons for their music. The result is genius. It is much more than cartoon and much more than jazz.
- Leonardo da Vinci, sensitivity and intelligence mixed in a supernatural manner.
- Francis Ford Coppola, literally for the trilogy “The Godfather”. - - Martin Scorsese, for the ability to reinvent himself and adapt while retaining his identity.
- Bill Bernach, for his brave creativity, authenticity and all that he left us in our industry.
Jornalirismo – How did you get into interactive advertising? You were owner of the Atelier design agency. What was done their and how did you end up here?
Ricardo Figueira – Well, I began working as a designer around 1991. In 1995 I got to know the Internet. I remember that at the time, I was fascinated by the fact that it allowed me to create, produce and propagate something that was 100% made by me, that is, the whole process was under my control and plus: the material upon publishing would be accessible to people the world over. It was crazy to imagine that it was just to think up something, create and hey presto: It was up and live. Another thing that was for me the biggest factor through the Internet that hooked me was its interactivity. Obviously back then they didn’t have a tenth of the resources available nowadays, but the concept of reciprocal contact and establishing a channel of rapport always enchanted me. It was literally, you in touch with the world and the world in touch with you, Conceptually, having a website was like having a television channel, only with you doing the scheduling where your imagination was the limit. This was how the Internet value dawned on me, and then I became ever more drawn by digital communication, and went on to incorporate this into my projects at the time. In 1997, I set up my design studio. Soon after, the design office changed into a communication agency with three fronts: design, Internet and advertising. And from there Atelier was born. I recall the model we thought of at the time was very interesting, as the focus was not specific media but creative solutions for clients’ problems. Even in the first year, we had strong recognition from the regional market, although the digital world was growing at a meteoric rate within the agency, through both demand and our passion for interactivity. Subsequently, due to a strategic business decision, we decided to focus the agency solely on digital communication to cater for the demand and give it the dedication it deserved. It was a very assertive decision, sufficient to start getting recognition in several areas and markets as a creative reference. One day in 1999, I received a link from a site of an agency whose focus was Internet. It was AgênciaClick. I remember to this day the wave of feeling which broke over me, through identifying with the mission the cause and the challenge. Incredible though it may seem, a few months later who stepped in our Brasília office one day but Pedro Cabral (CEO of the agency), with André Carvalho (Opportunity Investor), to get to know us personally. They already knew a lot of our work and the awards at the time. The love affair between AgênciaClick and Atelier started right there and we swiftly went into wedlock, more exactly in the year 2000. Since then a lot has happened, always intensely and marked by the bold.
I remember winning my first Lion when I was in Brasília. That was a huge break in paradigm: It was extremely unlikely that an agency outside São Paulo would win a Lion in Cannes, let alone the gold.
So things went forward resulting in a lot of work, and not as the result of some impressive plan to reach a certain level. This has always led me to believe that we have to focus on doing our best and doing it with passion, the rest is a consequence. I have been at Click since 2000, considered something of a miracle given the dynamics of this market but the truth is we are always seeking to reinvent our everyday routines, refining beliefs and projects. I think this is the ingredient of a long-lasting marriage.
Jornalirismo – In your opinion, what are the virtues and qualities of Brazilian interactive advertising?
Ricardo Figueira – I believe the greatest virtue of Brazilian interactive advertising is simplicity. It’s the ability to create and communicate something simply yet boldly. However this has proved insufficient to differentiate. We are going through a period in which the agency and client need to strive to go well beyond this.
Today, interactive advertising is much more than getting across a message in a simple and intelligent manner and generating clicks.
Interactive advertising is involvement, relationship, entertainment, or any thing that can bring about an experience unlimited in terms of time and depth.
Jornalirismo – What’s the Brazilian interactive advertising market lacking? Professionalism? Planning? Funds?
Ricardo Figueira – In a way what’s missing is parameters. The Brazilian interactive market is currently made up of different “Brasis”, several cultures and different views of what interactive advertising is. And this is happening globally, in the United States, In England and Japan. It’s a very wide cultural diversity within a single market, it creates very disparate situations of realities and visions, leading to a lack of parameters or something that could characterize a generic snapshot of what the interactive market actually is conceptually in this country.
Amazing though it seems, to a lot of people, interactive advertising is just manipulating digital media. In this case what’s lacking is maturity. Clearly this small thinking will produce results of the same proportion. Meanwhile those brands which are more atuned, bold and flexible are streaks ahead of the competition, creating a valuable asset with its public.
Concerning funds, investment in interactive advertising in Brazil today is made up of a range of elements which pool different movements and initiatives of varying nature, creating representation which grows exponentially. This growth occurs for two reasons. Firstly, through the need to optimize communication, increase sales, as well as the relationship with the consumer, and chiefly brand building. Secondly, due to the changes in consumer habits amidst the technological evolution.
Jornalirismo – How do you assess the 2007 Cannes Festival results, focusing on Cyber (Internet)?
Ricardo Figueira – I honestly think that Brazil could have done better than it did. The shortlist left a lot to be desired given the textual content, yet Brazil performed well again. The key thing is to open up the mind and try to analyze what is happening in a little more depth, independently of the results. Increasingly, brands and clients are developing their interactive offerings, regardless of media, format or the latest nomenclature which happens to be given to explain this phenomenon. The Cyber category definitively became one of the platforms of modernization of communication, it’s just to look at the various Grands Prix [Big awards, the top awards in the festival], including other categories such as Titanium, Films and even Outdoor, are initiatives which stem from an interactive medium or nature. We were also very happy about the Lion we won in Cyber [a bronze, with a banner for Fiat], but also the other great achievement this year was being short-listed in the more difficult and sophisticated category of Media Lion, with the interactive film for Fiat [Fiat Adventure launch].
Jornalirismo – In my view, Cannes has decreed, definitively, the end of the “Banner Era” and Brazil has lost out. Nobody wins with just a banner anymore. Integration and planning is needed. Do you agree?
Ricardo Figueira – Excuse me for the correction, but Cannes has not decreed the end of the “Banner Era”. Definitively, a banner or any other element of online media is very important within a planning or interactive strategy framework. There are strategies there in which a banner is not required, but decreeing its demise is another thing. The festival actually has a specific category for this: the advertising online category was awarded as it has been every year. We shouldn’t get things mixed up.
The problem is that to this day, Brazil places more entries in this category than in any others, not as an option but more as a reflection of market set-up really. And unfortunately when this category is not going too well Brazil’s chances are much lower.
There are two separate issues. We can forget vilifying banners. One thing is the way Brazilians enter their pieces in award processes while another is declaring the demise of the banner. In this discussion on awards, the hole is much deeper down and involves several other factors which create a scenario whereby a lot of foreign judges give Brazilian work short shrift. Now as a matter of fact Brazilians make banners like no one else, it’s just to get a track record of the festival and compare results. In the same way that Europeans produce car sites like no one else, the Japanese create interactive urban interventions like no other, or the Americans produce integrated campaigns like no other, each in accordance with the cultures and diversity their markets provide for.
Obviously a campaign or interactive action must go far beyond a banner, or use it as a tempter to a fuller experience. But there’s no doubt that the banner or online media piece is important to tell people that something is happening, whether this be an unmissable experience or simply an offer not to be missed.
Jornalirismo – The Film Grand Prix, “Evolution”, for Dove, was the same which won in the Cyber, and was a campaign originally produced for the Internet. Is this a sign of a new era in advertising, the era of media integration?
Ricardo Figueira – I wouldn’t say this piece itself is the product of media integration, but a lot of integration yes, between client and agency in search of differentiated communication.
This award is yes, a sign that a lot of changes are underway not in the future but now. When I saw the award I must say I was very pleased. In fact it’s the first time an Internet film has won the Grand Prix in the film category. This indicates a predilection of the jury for the creative idea itself, as being separate from the sectarianism of the format or origin.
And the coming of age of communication via Internet to produce mass media with quality and the most difficult: to do it globally. This is a typical piece in which the client attitude is laudable, where they gave rise to the creative conditions allowing the communication to pack the punch that it did.
As an example, a company such as Unilever, which has all the political characteristics to carry out work pasteurized by norms and standards, has hedged its bets on a bold and authentic attitude. I would say this Grand Prix is an award for the agency and the client.
I also found awesome the campaign Heidies, created by Far Far to Diesel [Cyber Grand Prix winner].
Jornalirismo – What have been the main differences between Cannes 2007 and 2006 compared with earlier years?
Ricardo Figueira – In Cyber, several things have taken place which differentiate the trends and traditions of the category. Without getting into merit and good or bad judgment, these changes actually create a lot of surprises. Starting with the jury, which this year included people drawn from areas other than creation. This factor naturally introduces a certain imbalance in the criteria of creative quality, not least because of the lack of past creative knowledge of the award. In addition, there were a lot of market representatives where the culture and maturity in interactive communication are very distant from what the more active interactive media market actually is currently. In my view, these discrepancies impact the result of the shortlist, which is a reflection of individual judgment, when there is no discussion or exchange of references among the other jurors. And indeed the 2007 shortlist was of a much lower caliber than that of 2006. It’s no coincidence that 30 less Lions were awarded this year than last. Not because the level was more demanding but because the cut-off point of what could be voted as a Lion was more inconsistent. And thus the number of Lions tends to be a lot lower and the awards move closer toward the sense of common than the necessarily bold or novel. While the big awards, more specifically the Grand Prix, undoubtedly really do represent what is best in the industry. However, a lot of other factors influence this decision: firstly, the track record of awards this work has produced over the year; secondly the repercussion of the media over these earlier initiatives. That is, the top awards already arrive “hot” at the festival, facilitating the work of the less fussy and of course endorsed by the most demanding. Above all, there was also a technical factor this year which may have worked against Brazil, which was the crashing of the Internet link between Brazil and Europe on the day of judging the shortlist.
However the truth is that, if the Brazilian work had made an impact in the global media for quality, boldness and creativeness throughout the year, rather than depending on the event itself, all those aspects theoretically working against Brazil would have naturally been neutralized.
Jornalirismo – Brazil, in a general sense, has performed worse than expected and compared to previous years. What were the main reasons behind this?
Ricardo Figueira – In general aspects of communication, Brazilian work is still very much stuck in the early creative molds and structures, bar a few schemes. This is a consequence of the market phase we are going through right now, where majority of clients and agencies seldom risk doing anything really genuine or outside traditional molds.
Incredible though it may seem, this is a paradox. Look, we are going through a commodity-based phase, where all can be imitated, and it is communication’s task to differentiate the values amongst brands and above all amongst products. Unfortunately, you could count on one hand the cases where both agent and client decided to go beyond the old structures which provide a safety net in the process, to go on to develop something really different for the consumer.
Many prefer to say that this is the advertising of the future, so as not to have to do it now; it’s much easier to call it a trend and label the novel as a niche, than to have to accept that it’s time to change a structural model which is more than 50 years old.
The truth is that even the festival is more oriented toward a change, a change which not even they can technically translate, but yet everyone in the consumer role expects to see. Brazil is a country which has everything to develop but will only gain notoriety when it is more attuned to these circumstances.
We shall obviously continue to have marked performance, having won some Press Lions [printed media] here, and others in Direct [direct marketing] there, or even continue to be a world reference at Cyber, but notoriety in communication depends a lot on breaking this paradigm.
Jornalirismo – What will this year’s Cannes result bring in the way of changes to the creation structure of AgênciaClick? Will we see a change in strategy? A more aggressive commitment to the everyday routine of creation? Are you set to change any thing?
Ricardo Figueira – I think you would agree with me that it would be somewhat strange if the influence of some festival, even Cannes, were to interfere in any agency restructure. Our work is dictated by the challenges presented between what we believe and seeking results for our clients. Yes, I intend to change, but on a daily basis in line with our natural non-conformity, based on lessons learned, problems and fixes, but most important with the needs of consumers and the brands we handle.
Jornalirismo – What approach do you take to maintain motivation and prevent the tendency toward conditioning, the enemy of innovation and creativity?
Ricardo Figueira – it may seem obvious, but creation is something that feeds off productive unrest. And the more naturally this can come into play, the better this will be for the creative process itself. I attempt to reinvent my day-to-day, questioning my beliefs, seeking new truths, provoking myself, questioning myself, but this is my approach to life and the things I believe in. Of course, not everyone ticks like this and not all times are naturally open to this approach. So even in difficult times, we have to keep our eye on the ball, fight against “sameism” and seek a differential.
Jornalirismo – You said part of your discourse is the search for creative subversion, for the unusual, the surprising. How do you reach this point if the everyday routine is generally the opposite of a subversive environment? There’s a briefing, it has client expectations, information which repeats within an agency setting, advertising execs naturally end up going along with other advertising people. How can we be subversive? Advertising has been looking inward for creation sources and has distanced itself from the public.
Ricardo Figueira – I see creative subversion as a kind of virus which does not seek to implant any standard mindset but seeks to corrupt all. It is not a guide as to how people should create but a tool for transforming and modifying that which can be created.
This is not an artistic choice, it is an attitude in which the techniques or imagination are used to differentiate. Based on this principle, I try to build a creative environment influenced by things that are not just directly related to advertising, and by create we also mean invent. The product of this as a consequence goes well beyond a message, the result can materialize in a completely bizarre artistic direction, which stands out in the landscape but also in entertainment and even in a service. So the upshot of this attitude is a diverse range of different experiences which can propagate in countless ways. This, in my mind, is advertising.The fact that we are going through an era in which not only this nearing of the public is important, but also the involvement with them. Advertising is not just in the message but also in the experience of contact with the consumer and particularly in propagating their feelings. This is why we need to be ever more open. This depends not only on creation, the whole agency structure should also be involved in this process.
Jornalirismo – Alex Periscinoto, who led the creative revolution in Brazil heading the Almap creation, states that the agency that always delivers what the client asks for without surprising them, is a mediocre agency. What do you think? And how can you surprise the client, if many of them are themselves plumping for the tried and tested, for that which has been done before and which worked out?
Ricardo Figueira – This story of “tried and tested formula” is somewhat distant from what happens in reality.
I cannot recall any brand that can grant itself the luxury of not needing to shake up this market or that can allow itself to repeat the formula, albeit to hold on to leadership or seek it.
It’s not by chance that Alex Periscinoto is the master of our advertising. To surprise is an agency’s main role and if it were otherwise the client would have a house [house agency, an agency run by the client internally] and not an agency. The role of changing, evolving and experimenting with new approaches comes through daily working.
We have to present alternative paths as grandiose opportunities and not alternative paths as being underground.
The day-to-day toil is not easy I admit, but we must never be discouraged. And this the only way to build the more daring opportunities and initiatives, the first, the second, the third, until reaching the point in which the search for innovation or a more consistent differential becomes part of the everyday scene and the relationship between client and agency. When this relationship between client and agency reaches this maturity, the complicity becomes the best ingredient possible to fuel inspiration. In the end he who benefits most is undoubtedly the client.
Jornalirismo – I believe that one of your key qualities is the ability to discover new talent. AgênciaClick, despite the high turnover of its professionals, has managed to remain creative over the years. I think this owes itself a lot to your talent to put together great teams. How do you spot great talent? How do you know if someone has potential? You remind me of one of those talent scouts from the soccer world.
Ricardo Figueira – The first important thing is to have a healthy creative environment, composed of, above all, people of character and who are talented, in exactly that order, whereby one characteristic does not cancel out the other, ever. I don’t believe in this line of a bad or good crop or that there are no more talented individuals. This is an easy get out, and at best very presumptuous. Talents are rare, but they are out there and often dormant in some people. And these people can be anywhere, not just in the major centers, nor working just in this area. It’s really worthwhile not having a focus limited to those areas already dominated. In time and with experience we end up developing a certain ease of identifying these characteristics in a range of ways, whether it be through a chat or even a first job. But the most difficult part is not identifying but honing and really developing a talented professional. We face a highly dynamic and heated market today, not only in Brazil but also globally. This is good from a professional valuing side but terrible due to its distortion.
Unfortunately, professional experience has been replaced with opportunity auctions, but personally, I would not let a professional with a good grounding go, in favor of an award winner who has never put a job together alone with his own bare hands.
Jornalirismo – These days it’s common to hear: “Ah, do a viral campaign for such-and-such client”. This seems erroneous, does it not? Viral is not a category but a phenomena stemming from the quality of a piece of advertising, through its creative capacity is it not? I’d like you to say a little about viral aspect of advertising.
Ricardo Figueira – Virality as such is a consequence and not a format. And potential virals are what spontaneously generate interest in distribution or frequency (“addiction”), as simple as that. But the media portability factor and multiplication are crucial factors for the efficiency of this type of initiative.
Viral marketing, incredible though it may seem, is a highly complex way of doing communication and people do not always give it due credit and above all responsibility.
I remember that in the early years the common feeling about what was viral became an excuse to do anything that didn’t have budget, deadline and commitment to image responsibility. Later, the understanding about viral went on to become the format, in which a video translated the superficial meaning of what viral is. But today I think the common consensus is maturing and responsibility concerning what is distributed and signed by a brand is being acknowledged. The consumer role, as an active agent within a communication strategy is something very serious, not just through its amplification but also penetration which it has into several interest groups.
Jornalirismo – A consensus is emerging between the main creative worlds, that interactive advertising, or advertising of the new age, needs to place control of the experience into the hands of the public. This implies a radical change in culture. This placing of the experience in the hands of the public seems like much more democratic advertising, doesn’t it? Is this being done, is this phenomenon being understood by the big brands?
Ricardo Figueira – There really is a behavioral phenomena happening with society and it goes well beyond the communication aspect. In fact, people, the consumers have developed such specific and individual needs that the brands need to develop conditions to reflect, in their products or practice, the characteristics suited for them.
Consumers are increasingly feeling the need to impregnate their characteristics, their needs and particularly their individuality into their products.
Besides, they also seek to find products which already reflect this. This trend applies across all industries without exception. I imagine that even large scale industry production processes are being reviewed, so that conceptually the product can be highly adapted to the individual instead of adapted for the majority as traditionally thinking went.
Modern advertising is no different and is also influenced this way. It seeks to bring in the consumer to the center of its communication, to establish ties based on individual needs and identities, creating activities or differentials which may involve the consumer in a relevant way, reaching the point where the communication experience itself does not need to be interrupting or invasive, but a desirable experience by the consumer by choice.
The much-talked about web 2.0, the subject of so much discussion is a reflection of this. It is not the ends, it is a consequence, and represents a series of tools that provides for a means that society has found to naturally manifest their point of view or expression. However, the product of this phenomenon is not technology but people’s behavior. Technology is important to make this process viable, as a means and not an end.
These days it is nothing short of mad to ignore the power of propagating consumer perceptions onto your own experiences. In fact, the manifestation of the opinion of a consumer, based on an experience with a brand is not an option, it simply happens and spreads whether you like it or not.
The top brands are mobilizing to cater for this context. And many of them are winning the hearts and of many simply through trying to take more relevance to the consumers, even if this is emotional.
Jornalirismo – What would you suggest to the professional who is just starting out? Is their a path to success?
Ricardo Figueira – Race against the clock. Do not seek justifications to postpone your experience. Study in parallel. Start from the beginning, ignore the easy short cuts, they will be the greatest traps to stormy times in life. Get informed, learn how to listen, have idols, have poise.
Give of yourself. If you are not happy giving it your all, then seek a profession in which you are willing to do this.
We can and should prepare as best as possible to handle the professional market. However, the greatest outcome of success is above all, happiness and self-realization. It’s when you grab something that gives you passion and makes you happy simply through doing your best for that. Upon finding this, the chances of you reaching new levels of your professional relationship tend to come about naturally and then you shall experience little by little professional sublimation.
The vast majority of successful people, I’d say “made people”, did not plan a path, this was chosen for them through unbridled dedication and passion for what they do.
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