For more than 20 years working in large holding companies as CCO and, in the last eight years as CEO and CCO, Ricardo John joins Argentineans Solange Ricoy, Rodrigo Grau and the brothers Mariano and Ariel Serkin, in ISLA Brazil, indie agency with offices in Mexico and Argentina.
“Working with people for whom I have so much respect and admiration, like my partners, was the deciding factor in this change. They are great professionals, who could be in leadership positions in any large network agency but who decided to ‘leave the continent’ and come to an ‘Island’ to exercise their talents more freely, without the bureaucratic constraints that inevitably exist in large networks. ”, comments the executive.
The new work partners also talked about John.
“Ricardo is someone we admire for his career. He is truly one of the most forward-looking communications leaders. His work has inspired millions of people, generating exponential growth for major local, regional and global brands, as well as creating virtuous teams. He is a true beacon that illuminates the industry. Therefore, we are proud to have him join us as CEO and partner of ISLA”, say the partners.
From branding to advertising campaign without any noise along the way
For John, having as a partner Solange Ricoy, founder of the branding and innovation consultancy Alexandria, which does branding work for brands such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Havaianas, among others, is an important competitive differentiator for ISLA, as this way the The agency manages to combine the depth of a consultancy with the creative excellence of an indie agency.
“Ricardo and I believe that strategy without creativity is just a dream; Creation without strategy is just fun. But strategy combined with creativity can change the story of a brand. Together we are committed to this model”, comments Solange Ricoy.
ISLA was born in Buenos Aires 5 years ago with a clear purpose: to be the first creative agency in the region with the mentality of a strategic consultant. And in this business model, the strategic talent of a consultancy converges for the first time with the creative talent of an agency to help marketing professionals find business solutions through communication. ISLA has offices in Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Mexico City, with more than 60 employees of different nationalities working in these countries and around the world.
“Marketers know that the transition from a branding strategy to an advertising campaign does not come without noise and important information lost along the way. In our case, branding and advertising campaign are in the same house, they participate in the process from beginning to end, which allows for a more fluid creative execution and connected to the client’s business strategy”, explains John.
The idea is to create iconic brands that can impact culture and still have fun along the way. ISLA Brasil has among its clients Gatorade, the fintech Plusdin and Epson. In Mexico and Argentina, the agency develops projects for clients such as Gatorade, Amazon, Ariel, YPF, Pepsi, among others.
“Clients increasingly ask for more seniority and depth from their agencies and, in this sense, being independent is an advantage, as we are able to eliminate layers in the relationship, which generates something that, in my opinion, is one of the main ingredients to build iconic works that is intimacy. The better and more intimate the relationship, the better the delivery will be”, argues John.
Advertising professional from Santa Catarina, Ricardo John has a career spanning over 20 years. Before joining ISLA Brasil as a partner, he was CEO and CCO of FCB Brasil. In addition to campaigns for major brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestlé, TIktok, SKY, among others, John has 54 awards to his credit at the Cannes Festival, where he was a judge and jury president three times.
During his time at JWT (currently VML), he was also co-author of the 20/20 project, which aims to include black professionals in the advertising market and had his work in favor of racial equality recognized by the Raça Negra Trophy.
Follow Adnews on Instagram e LinkedIn. #WhereTransformationHappens
