It all started with an introduction at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. A mutual friend thought Fernando Machado, then global VP of Unilever’s Dove, and Anselmo Ramos, at the time CCO at Ogilvy & Mather, São Paulo, might be able to “do something” together. Little did they realize it was the start of what has become one of the great creative collaborative partnerships in marketing.
With more than 150 awards between them, Machado, now head of brand marketing at Burger King, and Ramos, currently CCO of David, Miami, have a magical blend of creativity, business savvy, intuition, ingenuity and mutual respect—a trait that is often overlooked in the client-agency relationship.
The Way to Creative Success
Through the marketing leadership of CMO Axel Schwan and Machado’s strategic branding efforts, Burger King has been showered with awards over the past several years. With several Lions already on the trophy shelf, David has been instrumental in pushing the brand’s marketing to new heights.
Their first big win came in 2015 when Burger King and David won 13 Cannes Lions for their groundbreaking Proud Whopper campaign, which used rainbow packaging, events, TV and social to support the LGBT community. The brief was simple: Elevate Burger King’s longstanding transactional “have it your way” message to one grounded in human truth: “be your way.”
More recently David helped Burger King celebrate North American Sign Language Day and the 199th anniversary of ASL with a special campaign that engaged the ASL community.
This kind of award-winning, business-defining work has led to Burger King being named Creative Marketer of the Year for 2017 by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Creating Real Beauty
The Machado-Ramos partnership got its start in 2012 after that fateful Cannes introduction. Machado, hungry to inject some innovative thinking back into Dove, challenged Ramos to come to Unilever’s London office to “say anything he wanted.”
“He bashed us,” said Machado.
Ramos also told the Unilever team that they could deliver a top Cannes award to Dove within a year. And they did. The Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign won 20 Lions.
Still, the creatives didn’t always believe that now legendary campaign would succeed. During the Sketches development, Machado asked Ramos if he was sure it was going to work. Ramos’s reply: “I’m like no.”
That was just what Machado wanted to hear. “Every time I ask the question whether it’s going to work and we don’t know the answer, it’s because it’s never been done before,” he said. “If we knew it would work, it’s either because we have done it or another brand has done it. When the answer is no, I get really excited about that.”
Candor and uncertainty have been the foundation of their relationship. “That piece of dialogue about the Real Beauty Sketches work has been the basis of our relationship,” said Ramos. “We trust uncertainty in everything we do. Everything is possible if you have the right partnership, you really believe in something and have the same ambition.”
So while the Machado-Ramos partnership has been an incredible success, it remains a work in progress. Machado offers this advice: “Be partners in crime. Never give up. The agency has my back and we always push to get the best work. The more we can be a partner than a client, the more creative people we have presenting us good work. And the more good work you do, the more good work you do.”
Five reasons why clients go to Cannes Lions
If it weren’t for a chance meeting at Cannes Lions, Machado and Ramos might never have worked together. Here’s why you should consider attending the Cannes Lions June 17-24:
Creativity drives business results. It’s no coincidence that brands named Creative Marketer of the Year, the accolade given to brands who score well in Lions, also demonstrate improved financial results.
The Festival isn’t just for big brands. Now 1 in 4 delegates is from the client side, from sectors as diverse as food and beverage, manufacturing and pharmaceutical. Cannes Lions has evolved into an essential event for the client community.
Driving impact. Clients come to learn how to use creativity to drive business results. McDonalds claimed that its return on investment was 54 percent higher with creative work that won Lions than creative work that didn’t.
More work, less beach. Yes, there are beaches and rosé wine. But there’s intensive learning to be had too. Cannes Lions runs unique training courses in the heart of the Festival such as the Young Marketers Academy and CMO Accelerator Programme. Enroll at canneslions.com
It’s easy to get the full value. The new “Creative Clients Experience” provides support before, during and after the Festival to ensure clients get the best possible impact from their team’s time at Cannes.
