Keka Morelle, Brazil's Newest CCO, Says Uncertain Times Build Resilience and Creativity

Brazil is certainly no exception, with the nation in the global spotlight lately due to the polarizing policies of recently elected President Jair Bolsonaro, the subsequent destruction of rainforest lands populated by indigenous cultures and an ongoing spiral of income inequality.

But for Brazilians, uncertainty has long been the one constant, says Keka Morelle, recently named as Wunderman Thompson’s first chief creative officer for the country. Brazil’s long history of economic and political precariousness has been a key factor, she says, in forging creative leaders who are resourceful, adaptive and undaunted by even the largest obstacles. And perhaps most importantly, the best of these leaders still manage to keep the work enjoyable for those making it and the audiences who see it.

“Brazilians have a Ph.D. in dealing with challenges,” she tells Adweek. “We grew up knowing not to wait for help from the government. We’ve always had to deal with economic instability, and probably this fact made us more resilient and creative.”

Having spent the past four years at Brazilian agency giant AlmapBBDO, where she quickly rose from art director to executive creative director amid global recognition for her team’s work, Morelle also spent several previous years at local agencies in the JWT, DDB and Saatchi & Saatchi networks.

As she steps into one of South America’s most high-level creative positions, Adweek caught up with Morelle to talk about her new position, the path that led her there and the importance of women in creative leadership around the world helping each other succeed.

Adweek: Tell us about your new role. How do you expect it to be different from what you were doing at AlmapBBDO?
Keka Morelle, chief creative officer, Wunderman Thompson Brazil: I’m so excited about this opportunity. I have enormous respect for the work that WT has been doing in the sense of diversity. They are very committed to the subject, and I admire it a lot.

When (CEO) Pedro Reiss invited me to be the first CCO of Wunderman Thompson in Brazil, what made me accept it was the desire to build an agency that would help the clients’ business grow with creativity, data and technology. But what I most liked about his approach was the idea of doing it all with joy. It might sound naive, but I believe that no one wants to work with super egos anymore.

During your time at AlmapBBDO, you rose from art director to executive creative director in less than four years. What was that experience like, and what advice would you give to other creatives who aspire to leadership?
Before Almap, I was creative director at DM9DDB for four years. My decision in that time to move to Almap as an art director was after my kids were born and after a last year at DDB dealing with awkward culture.

I arrived at Almap to create and do good work again. There I worked with Pedro Corbett, and together we did the global campaign for Havaianas that won a lot of awards. After that, I think, I had luck. Creatives rarely leave Almap, but one of the CDs left, and Marcelo Nogueira invited me to be a CD with him. Then we worked hard again and things happened. After one year leading the creative work for brands such as Guaraná Antarctica, Havaianas, O Boticário and many others, we got a promotion to ECDs.

My advice to other creatives who want to have leadership positions is to have an entrepreneur behavior, create your own opportunities, work hard and be gentle with people that work with and for you.

How would you describe the state of creative advertising in Brazil right now? What challenges is the industry facing there, and how have those challenges changed in recent years?
The word, in my point of view, that defines the moment Brazil is living is “change.” We are in a big process of changing. We can see changes in agencies and in clients that are just the reflection of the consumers and people’s behavior changes.

I see this moment with an optimistic point of view. I think we are having the opportunity to redesign the process, the behavior, the product and approaches of many things, from the way we hire people to the way we sell products.

I really believe that our work as creative people has changed a lot in the last years. It Is almost a new career. Our responsibility as brand curators, brand eyes, brand brains has changed, it is a fact. I think the big challenges are in our behaviors. I don’t know if every creative person is ready to change, to learn new things, to work in different ways, to be more open and to deal with some insecurities. But this is not exclusive for Brazilians, it’s a global challenge.

Brazilians have a Ph.D. in dealing with challenges. We grew up knowing not to wait for help from the government. We’ve always had to deal with economic instability, and probably this fact made us more resilient and creative.

It feels like there’s a growing network of women in high-level creative leadership around the world who’ve really helped support each other in recent years. Have you felt that? If so, how has it affected your career?
Yes, I totally agree. My last two years, I saw this support in every place, award or meeting that I went to.

It’s different from 10 years ago. Now when we meet other women, we have this instant empathy and friendship. We exchange contacts, ask for help, talk about work and talents. It’s so powerful!

We had a meeting last year at BBDO where we met women from all over the world, and just the simple fact of sitting together, drinking wine and talking about our challenges was amazing for me.

Here in Brazil, we are very connected too. We have many events and meetings to support each other and, of course, WhatsApp groups. Having your friends and a strong women network available in your mobile is the strongest tool to grow.

Do you have any plans to help more women reach top creative leadership roles in Brazil and elsewhere around the world?

Of course. There are two subject that I won’t stop fighting for: developing women to grow at agencies and working with people from different regions in Brazil. My role will be bringing, developing and maintaining these talents at the agency. I think this is the most efficient contribution as a leader of one of the biggest agencies in Brazil I could do.

You’ve served on many of the most high-profile juries at creative awards shows over the past decade. How does being an awards juror affect your career—and your work?
The opportunity to be in a jury gave me the chance to see all kinds of work, most of it from diferent cultures and regions, which enriched my view about ideas, subjects and issues that are in the spotlight around the world. As a jury, you have the opportunity to meet a lot of talented people, learn from every discussion and make connections. My last jury was Cannes, where I met amazing jury members.

You began as an art director. Do you still find time to design? Do you think it’s important to stay connected with that kind of hands-on work?
I really believe that staying hands-on is very important. Of course, as a leader, we must change the perspective of that; we have to take care and make your team and talents grow. But I believe, as creative leader, I should always be open to learning.