"Broken Bones Records," VANS Madrid:
AdForum: Creative professionals must be adaptable, nimble, and embrace the chaos of the creative process. You’ve worked with every type of brand and product, from shoes and bananas to basketball teams. When you first encounter a creative challenge, what is the first thing you think of?
Beto Nahmad: That 's a good question! In my opinion, the most important thing before having an idea is to think of who we're talking to. Think about what the brand’s need are and what the brand needs to hear. The process of beginning a relationship with a brand is quite similar as when you choose your friends. A good friend helps you, knows when to give you a hug, understands you, makes you laugh and sometimes even makes you cry. A friend who talks all the time about himself without caring about you is not a good friend. A yogurt that only tells you it's the best yogurt and nothing else is not a good yogurt. Once this friendship is established, it is easier to start a conversation. That’s Creativity. To find new friends and keep them.
AdForum: Today, the human experience is defined by the integration of our lives with digital technologies. How will VCCP approach this new reality to expand its influence and position itself as a leader in digital campaigns, experiential marketing, and branded content?
Beto Nahmad: The key is to move from Storytelling to Storydoing. I am not going to talk about how we do it, I'll talk about how we did it. Here we have a very good example: The Champions For Life campaign.
We were asked to fill a stadium in a friendly match for the professional football soccer league. Friendly matches do not fill stadiums; we don’t usually see this type of matches on TV and goals are not celebrated as they are in big/official matches. Nevertheless, when children play their matches at school, they celebrate every goal as the most important of their life. Our challenge was to tell our client that beyond the campaign, what they needed was to change the product offering.
And that’s how we created Champions For Life. A friendly soccer match where professional players celebrated their goals as children proposed. With a TV spot we asked children to send a video with their best own celebrations through their mobile. We received thousands of videos and each professional player chose one of the children’s proposal. The match was broadcasted live throughout Spain and LATAM getting into newspapers’ headlines around the world. Children celebrated, and so did the superstar players . We helped over 1.2 million children around the world with what we raised in the match. It is a digital campaign, and it’s innovative but also for TV. That’s integration!
AdForum: You seem to really love short films. What challenges do short films have that are not found in other forms of filmmaking – 20-second commercials, 2-hour movies, for example? How do you overcome these challenges?
Beto Nahmad: The short film world is an art form without a commercial purpose . When I make short films, my goal is to enjoy what I am doing and to express myself in a different way. It’s much more than a spot; it is a part of me and my thoughts.
AdForum: How do you approach cultural differences when creating ad campaigns that span different countries and continents? And, as a creative and advertising professional, what would you do to help make soccer (yes, football to the rest of the world) as popular in the United States as it is in the rest of the world?
Beto Nahmad: I am from Argentina. My father is Lebanese and I have an Italian passport. My mother is also from Argentina, but with Russian origins, and I think the world must be prepared to understand that we are all citizens of the same planet. The best thing about being multicultural is that you can talk to people in different languages while communicating the same thing. The most important thing is asking. You always have to know to ask in order to know how to answer. Regarding the question about soccer in United States, I would never try to change a culture; I would adapt myself to it.
AdForum: How has being a father changed your creative perspective on your life, your job, and the world? How has the change impacted your work?
Beto Nahmad: I dont sleep as I used to, but I smile a lot! With regard to creativity, I 'm in the best moment of my career. I’ve found some places that until now I didn’t know existed. I am a deeper person, more sensitive. I cry more easily and I am able to provoke more feelings in my clients than I used to. The important thing is not the destination but what you find along the way. When you become a father you realize this more than ever. Every day matters!