The creative director of the year in a survey conducted by PROPMARK is the publicist Felipe Silva. Born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, he migrated to São Paulo and built a solid career, first in Mood and in the phase of its merger with Lew’LaraTBWA, then in Africa for another five years. He also worked at Y&R at the time of the formation of VMLY&R.
In 2019, it decided to undertake alongside partners Ari Nogueira and Angerson Vieira, founders of Ghana, with the format of a black expertise collective and to be constituted by 100% black workforce with professionals from all states of the country.
The repercussion of the project was symptomatic in a market that currently shows signs of racial diversity, but still in a timid way. The agency’s name is not inspired by the African country Ghana. “But in the history of the Empire of Ghana, one of the richest and most democratic in ancient Africa, inspiration has a double meaning: with a desire to win, will and strength. The agency’s branding is also an invitation for the sector to reflect on the presence of black people on its teams, not because of the 56% share of the Brazilian population, but because of their creativity.”
Silva continues: “The idea is for Ghana to be a benchmark for the mainstream and agencies of all sizes to open the doors to blacks, who created so many things in this country, such as samba, the Rio Carnival parades, the revelry of Bahia and funk, for example. All with a very strong economic side. In our project, we are with people from Bahia, Pará, Mato Grosso, Minas, Rio and other states. Everywhere, black talent is present. The Southeast bubble can be enriched by these talents. Our intention is to grow, gain clients and increase our permanent staff and employees. The most important thing is to see more black leaders in the branches, a predominantly white market”, observes Silva, who shares the laurels for the distinction obtained in the creative ranking with partners Ari and Angerson and the 20 employees.
Questioning the black absence was fuel for Ghana. In these almost two years, in the midst of the pandemic, the agency looked for opportunities and found them. Silva lists projects that he has been carrying out during this period for Facebook, Havaianas, Netflix and Nubank, in addition to having conquered the fixed account of Guaraná Kuat, the portfolio’s label
of Coca-Cola. For Facebook, Ghana coordinated the Sexta Preta entrepreneurship action, which involved movements such as talk show. Silva says that the idea was to leave classic advertising. In the case of Havaianas, we are working on a collection for 2022. For Kuat, Silva’s expectations are for the brand to establish a connection with the Brazilian people and the experiences of our country.
“Ghana came to bring the power of black and peripheral creativity to the communications market for the new economy. It is very significant that our first customer is Coca-Cola Brasil, with Guaraná Kuat. One of the companies that understand most about marketing in the world bet its most Brazilian brand on a partnership with Ghana”, he concludes.
