CEO and CCO of 35, Astério Segundo talks about his agency, the market and the marathon, his passion
Marathon runner, publicist Astério Segundo draws inspiration from races for the agency he founded in 2018. The 35 refers to a crucial point of the 42 km races. It is precisely at km 35 that the body’s energy runs out, requiring strategy and resilience from the runner.
“Like marathons, defining points emerge in the world of brands. It separates failure from success”, compares Astério Segundo, who set up a business anchored in “strategic depth with high creative capacity”.
There is no shortage of resilience. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the market was scaling back operations, while agency 35 invested R$1.5 million to build a headquarters that was named by ArchDaily and Architecture Hunter as one of the most emblematic architectural projects of 2023. Discover this story in the following interview.
What is your trajectory in advertising?
I’m a writer by origin, and I’ve always worked in creation. I worked at Loducca, W/Brasil, Fischer América, Giovanni FCB. But the main moment of my career, due to the length of time and seniority, was between Africa and Peralta StrawberryFrog. I worked at Peralta from the beginning, with Alexandre Peralta. When he left and went to Giovanni, I went with him. This occurred in mid-2006. I was part of the agency’s consolidation. When I left, accounts for Natura, PepsiCo with Quaker in Latin America, and Toddy in Brazil and abroad had already entered. In 2010, I received an invitation to return to Africa, as creative director, where I stayed for six years. There, I served Grendene, Seara, Itaú, P&G and Ambev. I left in 2015 to take over Heads, which was undergoing a refoundation of the office in São Paulo. They were two very productive years. Heads was considered by Deloitte as the fastest growing agency in Brazil, with more than 15 accounts won and revenue of more than R$70 million in São Paulo alone.
How was the market at the time?
I realized that advertising was going through a transition. Not only digitally, but through a series of innovations. I decided to take a sabbatical and went to Silicon Valley (USA) to study at Singularity University without worrying about connecting these dots with advertising. I first wanted to understand new possibilities.
How did 35 come about?
Amid the tree-lined streets of Palo Alto, California, in the United States, and the atmosphere of the NASA Ames Research Center, the embryo of what would become 35 was born. Upon returning from this experience, I decided to found the agency. I’m a marathon runner, and the number 35 comes from an insight into this universe. A marathon is 42 km long and km 35 is considered the defining point. The reason is interesting.
The human body cannot handle running 42 km. All of its energy storage capacity runs out around km 35. It is necessary to have a strategy to manage and overcome this stretch. As in marathons, defining points emerge in the world of brands, in professional and personal life. I saw this as an analogy capable of telling this story and avoiding the names and acronyms normally adopted by agencies. 35 is a crucial point, which separates failure from success. From the inspiration of racing, we created a fast and tireless agency.
What is the agency’s positioning?
I founded 35 in São Paulo on September 24, 2018 as a full service agency based on strategic depth with high creative capacity, embedded in clients’ businesses. This is one of the main differentiators of the operation, which brought proximity and seniority, acting lightly, as an extension of the brands’ marketing departments. The curious thing is that we were barely able to follow the impact of the launch because on that date we were accompanying a customer on a route through retail outlets in São Paulo. This is our commitment.
What is the concept of the 35 headquarters in Vila Madalena, in São Paulo?
When the agency was born, the market was going through an embryonic moment of new operations and business models. There was room for an agency with seniority, excellence and agility. We started in a shared space without an investing partner or client. We had to dedicate ourselves and find a valuable differentiator. The best way to define 35’s activities is to view it as a partner of its clients. This ability is our differentiator. We currently have around 25 people.
How was the place designed?
We started to consolidate and the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The scenario was extremely challenging for a company with little time to live, and that’s where we made big bets. Still in February 2020, we felt the need to have our own space, which reflected our thoughts. We made the decision to work on the headquarters based on design and architecture. At that time, similar operations were emerging, and we needed to show the agency’s consolidation in a compelling and differentiated way. In June 2020, we closed the project, perhaps the largest investment in the sector that year. While agencies were downsizing staff and reducing space, 35 invested R$1.5 million to build its headquarters. It was an audacious move, but in line with the plan to build differentiation in a creative and strategic way. Our concern was to show solidity amidst so many operations that began to appear.
Read the full interview in the June 24th edition of propmark
