Juliana Paracencio is Global Creative Director at Ogilvy London and one of the brightest creative talents to emerge in the past decade.

Life is too short to stay in one place.

Ju is an avid reader and contributor to Archive magazine. Her work first appeared in these pages in Vo. 4-2006 while she was at Leo Burnett São Paulo – a campaign for Procter & Gamble. Since then she has worked for agencies in Berlin, Dubai, Madrid and recently moved to Ogilvy in London and created campaigns for clients such as IKEA, Burger King and Dove. Michael Weinzettl interviewed the brilliant (and very funny) creative in Berlin.

Hi Ju, please tell us first of all how you’ve been dealing with the Covid-19 situation, especially since you arrived in London to work for Ogilvy as Global Creative Director shortly before the lockdown situation happened? That must have been quite a shock. Have you been able to work from the Ogilvy office in London or is it still a home office for you?

I moved to London in March, a few days before starting at Ogilvy and joining the Unilever Global Team. I was able to go to the office in my first week and get to know my colleagues and clients personally. Since then, I have been only working from home. One could say my first week was a successful one, as the next week, I was already “visiting” my colleague’s homes (well, through videoconferences anyway). But, seriously, in the beginning I thought working from home with only online meetings would be a challenge, but it’s actually been fine. Things are slowly going back to normal now and working in the office has become optional. I decided to remain working from home, at least for now.

What is your prognosis for the next months? In what way is creativity in advertising suffering at the moment? Have you noticed any changes when dealing with clients or creatives?

You can see the effects in the way we work and in the work itself. Regarding the way we work, I believe that people tend to be more objective and more punctual when meetings are virtual. You can’t blame the traffic for being late now… And since we miss a big chunk of the non-verbal communication, we tend to pay more attention to the content of what is communicated. In the office, we tend to chitchat and interact more, it’s easier to be distracted. Now, we have our meeting slots and need to use them to solve a problem and, then, each person works on their own. Another good thing is that the perception about home office changed.

Before, working from home was seen as ‘getting a day off’ and now it’s been proven that it actually works. Also, the pandemic made us realise that the workplace and creativity have no borders. Being in the Dove Global team gives me opportunity to work with teams from around the world, and aside from the time zone differences, there is no difference working with a team based in the UK or a team based in Canada, for instance. It doesn’t matter where you are.

I hope companies and agencies see this as an opportunity to transform the workplace into a more diverse and inclusive environment in the near future, by hiring talent with different backgrounds based in different places.

On the other hand, I am not sure how the lack of human interaction will affect creativity in the long term. And time management is more difficult because the workplace and living space are merging, it is easy to lose track of time and forget when to stop working and take time for yourself. Especially when you are very excited about an idea.

What is it like working through the pandemic? Have you gotten used to all those virtual meetings? Is there a special, perhaps positive, quality about them?

There are two things that have changed: working remotely and the stress of the pandemic itself. The latter puts a lot of pressure on creatives, which have to deal with both the fear of getting sick and the risk of losing their jobs. Then, there are the effects of working remotely. In some ways, video calls can be even better than face-to-face encounters in the office. Since we are in our natural and home environment, it helps us to get to know each other in a more personal way. Little incidents like random domestic interruptions by pugs, tabby cats and toddlers can help to break the ice. Evaluation has also changed: I come from a culture of working long-hours, being present in the office, showing you are working hard to come up with the best ideas. And I have to admit that, as a creative director, I would pay more attention to the ideas of the creatives who were working harder (even if unconsciously). Now I don’t know if my team is working long hours in front of their laptops or if they are coming up with ideas while watching Netflix. I started to look only at the result of their effort: their ideas. And this is what matters.

You have been instrumental in what I think is one the greatest Corona-related campaigns. Can you tell us how you and your team (at Ogilvy?) came up with the idea for the Dove campaign and its striking visuals?

Dove has always believed that beauty is not defined by shape, size or colour, but by feeling like you are the best version of yourself – authentic, unique, real and true. And there is no greater expression of your best self than the qualities of selflessness, compassion and bravery. Since Dove, as a brand, wanted to respond quickly to Covid-19, we didn’t have much time, so we started working closely with the Toronto office from the beginning. Our objective with ‘Courage is beautiful’ was to show the beauty of all of those who care for us: nurses and doctors, who are risking their lives to save others. To do that, we showed the faces of those professionals, marked by the deep impressions of their protective gear. I always tend to like campaigns with striking visuals more, and when I saw those portraits, it immediately grabbed my attention.

It was two intense weeks without any sleep, but definitely worth it. In just over a week, we sourced medical professionals from all around the world – and as you can imagine, they were extremely busy with other things.

In just a few days, we produced, edited and distributed the film featuring real frontline healthcare workers from several nationalities. This was a global campaign, launched in North America, and then run in 15 different countries. Something we would not have been able to do it if it wasn’t for an incredible team of creatives, art buyers, producers, planners, account managers and our client, Dove. And we accomplished all that, without even leaving our homes.

It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. In the first 24 hours, on Twitter alone our hashtag was used 360,000 times; it was featured on the major news in the US and the campaign has 1.8 Billion media impressions so far.

Like last issue’s interview partner, your fellow Brazilian Luis Paulo Gatti, you have become one the great “itinerant” creatives of your generations. You’ve worked in Dubai, in Germany, in Spain and of course in Brazil, where you started out. Was that something you planned – or were you just never attracted to the idea of staying in one place and with one agency?

As a kid, I never dreamed of living abroad. The idea just grew on me. When I moved to Germany to work at Leo Burnett, I started to realise that life is too short to stay in one place. Also, getting through the many challenges of living in a country so culturally different from Brazil, I realised I could work in anywhere in the world. Offers in the UAE, Spain and in the UK came because I told headhunters I was willing to relocate for a great opportunity. Staying in one agency? I worked for many years at Leo Burnett, Jung von Matt and Ogilvy. If the culture fits with my personality and if we share the ambition of creating the best work, I will stay in the agency for a long time – and that could be until my retirement.

Tell us a little about your background please. Where did you start out, what was the motivation behind leaving Brazil?

I am from Campinas, a large city close to Sao Paulo and my career started in a very small, yet creative boutique called “Full Jazz”. I got a local award and was invited to work at Leo Burnett in São Paulo. In the beginning of my career, I didn’t think about working outside Brazil. My first copywriter was interested in finding a job in Europe, and we started focusing on Germany because my boyfriend at the time lived there. I also had the chance to meet Fabio Straccia and Ricardo Wolff, who were great examples of how Brazilians can succeed abroad, which encouraged me. So my copywriter and I got an interview at Leo Burnett in Frankfurt and we ended up getting the job.

How did the “German connection” in your life come about? You lived here (longer than anywhere else in Europe I think?) and Chris, your husband is German…

I loved my job at Leo Burnett São Paulo. But at that time, I started dating a guy who was working as a Designer at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. I got the job at Leo Burnett Frankfurt and moved to Germany. In the end the relationship didn’t work out, but I am still grateful to him for giving me the push I needed to move and experience a new country. One year later I moved to Berlin to work at Y&R. During this time, I met my husband Chris, my greatest partner who has been with me in all my adventures around the world ever since. Later I moved to Hamburg to work at Jung von Matt. And after seven years in Germany, we moved to Dubai, and then to Madrid, and now, London.

Who are some of the creatives that you met in your career that you were particularly impressed by? And do you have any ad creatives that you look up to?

As most Brazilians, I started in advertising admiring the classic Brazilian titan-trio: Washington Olivetto, Marcello Serpa and Nizan Guanaes. Icaro Doria was also very inspiring: he struggled at the start of his career in Brazil but shined after moving abroad with amazing print campaigns. Over time, I managed to appreciate the work from international professionals, such as Juan Cabral, Gerry Graf and David Droga. From all of those, I got to meet Icaro Doria, Juan Cabral and Gerry Graf. I also met Washington Olivetto and Marcello Serpa, but I am not sure if they remember me.

When it comes to people I have worked with, I am thankful to have learned from Ruy Lindenberg (Leo Burnett São Paulo), Doerte Spengler-Ahrens (Jung von Matt Hamburg), Paul Shearer (Ogilvy Dubai), Eduardo Marques (Publicis Madrid), and my dear copywriters Luis Vicente Simões, Vicky Jacob-Ebbinghaus and Leonardo Assad.

You once mentioned to me, with regard to Brazilians working on campaigns away from their country (or for agencies other than their own) as “doing it the Brazilian way”. Can you elaborate on this please? I found that quite fascinating… And is there, in general, a “Brazilian” way of doing advertising and, if so, how would you describe it?

‘Doing it the Brazilian way’ has a lot to do with another saying, ‘Brazilians never give up’, no matter how challenging something is, we always find a way, even if we have to hijack the system. Culturally, I think that comes from the fact we can’t rely on help from the government if we lose our jobs. We do everything to keep them, we are known to be hard workers. When it comes to advertising, it isn’t any different: ‘Doing it the Brazilian way’ means going the extra mile to make an idea happen. Also, the Brazilian way of creating print ads can also refer to the level of craft we put into our campaigns. Brazilian print ads are known for having beautiful, eye-catching yet simple visuals. Since in Brazil we don’t have big budgets or massive film productions like in the US or in the UK; print is an affordable medium that we often use to unleash our creativity. That’s why our art directors are very rigorous when it comes to visuals – we care a lot about our craft! Plus, we use comedy a lot in our campaigns. To succeed in Brazil, one needs to be very creative. It is a complicated country and our people fight challenges with clever ideas and humour. Our advertising is a reflection of that. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and neither do our brands. That is why we have a lot of freedom and, therefore, creativity and humour.

What are some of the campaigns you have most enjoyed working on? Which are you proudest of? IKEA is special to you, I know…

My first campaign for IKEA, ‘It’s that affordable’, was very important for me personally, but also for my career. So that’s one of the campaigns I am most proud of. It was a challenging market that I had to learn to navigate very quickly, and my work for them won three Gold Lions, one Silver and one Bronze, five Pencils at D&AD and many other international awards. The work was created for the Saudi market, but it was also recognized by the IKEA Global Team, so the campaign later ran in Sweden as well. Which is quite uncommon, as usually it’s the other way around. This campaign is also currently featured in the global IKEA Brand Guidelines as a great example of design, art direction and tone of voice for the brand. And in the next year to tout IKEA’s seasonal sales, we simply showed visually the currency’s depreciation, by removing some of the very elements that helped build it (now a table that was worth three coffees costs just two), which led Ogilvy Dubai and IKEA Saudi Arabia win in Cannes for the second time in a row.

Other campaigns I enjoyed working on were: The Sun-Flame Grilled Whopper for Burger King Kuwait, because I had the chance to work together with Fernando Machado and Marcelo Pascoa, from the BK Global team which was amazing. And my most recent work for Dove, Courage is Beautiful, which we would not have been able to do if it wasn’t for a host of great people.

How do you get the inspiration for your work? I’m under the impression you’re an avid fan of Netflix series. What are some of these that have impressed you most recently?

Everything inspires me. I watch a lot of Netflix series, I love memes. I believe anything can lead to a great idea. A fact, a joke, an article, an observation, a sketch, a meme, a series, a comment, or just something silly you’ve heard. So, I try to keep my eyes and ears wide open all the time. Yes, I’m an avid fan of Netflix, but most of all an avid fan of pop culture. Everyone wants a viral ad, and although there’s no hard-and-fast rule for how to get one, if you are in tune with pop-culture it’s more likely to happen. When I saw the IKEA Real Life Series idea for the first time (the idea came from a brilliant intern team, Diego Fernández-Cid and Guillermo Ley!), I knew that was going to be something really big. When I showed the idea to my client from IKEA UAE, Carla Klumpenaar, it was love at first sight. It’s hard not to love: it’s pop culture, it’s retail (actually, the prices make the idea even better!), and it’s brand love. We had all the elements we needed for an iconic campaign. We worked closely for two months to find the perfect furniture for these iconic spaces. It was intense but it paid off. Its viral success generated a 50% uptick in views of featured items, and it was the most shared IKEA campaign of all time.

Is there anyone in the world of creative advertising that you would love to work for or cooperate with – provided that things go back to normal?

There are many talented people I would love to work with one day, it’s hard to name everyone, but I will try to name some. Juan Cabral: I love the way he shoots movies; I hope we can work together someday. Gary Graft: I love his work, it is so clever and most of the time, freaking hilarious. I love it. Michaela Coel: I’ve always been a fan, and recently I got obsessed with her latest work, I May Destroy You. It’s absolutely amazing. Jerry Seinfeld: because Seinfeld.

Why are you creative?

I am creative because everyone is creative. It might sound strange, but I believe every human being was born creative. Planners are creative, producers are creative, finance people are creative, account managers are creative. Doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc. Every time there is a problem of any kind, we have to use our imagination to solve it. That’s called creativity. If you think you are a genius just because you’re a creative in an ad agency, you probably won’t create new, fresh stuff. Ideas don’t just fall into your lap. You always have to dig, work hard and, once in a while, something great will show up. What helps is that, with experience, your judgement gets better and you know which ideas are the winning ones.