Global CCO of the AKQA network, Hugo Veiga has 14 Lees and the 2013 Cannes Lions Grand Prix with the Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign
Born in Portugal, advertising man Hugo Veiga built an intimate relationship with Brazil and with the chaotic but charming way of Latin creativity. He gained international prominence when he won 14 Lees and the 2013 Cannes Lions Grand Prix with the Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign, which contributed to Ogilvy being recognized as the Agency of the Year.
This work was developed together with the art director Diego Machado, with whom he has been a duo since 2010. The partnership remains to this day. They command the creative part of AKQA, a position they share without stardom and with a mutual focus on attracting talent to the structure. Working with Diego is a pleasure and everything happens naturally, emphasizes Veiga, who searches the 33 offices of the network, which absorbed Gray, for his expertise.
In Brazil, with the partnership with Coala.Lab, AKQA is a global reference in projects related to music.
How is the integration of AKQA with Grey?
The AKQA Group has the AKQA agency, which is a network of more than 33 studios around the world. Then Grey, which operates independently, quite different from the merger between VML and Y&R. The priority is not to have duplication of operations, but to be complementary and using the best of each network. Gray became part of the AKQA Group, which, with this new structure, has more than six thousand professionals and global customers in more than 50 countries. The founder of AKQA, Ajaz Ahmed, is the CEO of the operation that also includes companies such as Made Thought (design), Universal Design Studios (architecture and interior design) and, for example, MAP (production design). Until recently, Michael Houston was the CEO of Gray and the global president of AKQA. Now he went to the US WPP. And Laura Maness took the lead at Grey.
How is Brazil integrated in this AKQA Group scenario?
Firstly, many of our offices have their own expertise, which is used by other units when necessary. These approaches guarantee free creativity and this causes disruption. Some agencies are well structured for technology. The office in So Paulo, where I worked with Diego, is a reference for projects related to music, with the AKQA Coala Lab. No toa won the 2019 Cannes Lions Entertainment for Music GP, with the Baco Exu do Blues project. Each different unit. The Atlanta office specializes in apps and a brand’s entire digital ecosystem.
For example?
Any Delta Airlines screens seen on the channels were made by AKQA. The UBS app connects the entire company and is signed by the agency. The Atlanta operation also hyperlinks e-commerce to various customers. We try to make in each project, which we already did before the pandemic, the connection of customers with the best in the network. If any writer knows the script structure, they can be called on to a project that needs that knowledge.
How does AKQA integrate with WPP?
A very friendly relationship. But we have independence to deal with our demands. AKQA’s main characteristic is to work by projects. But we also have fixed accounts, as part of Nike, that we worked for on their 50th anniversary. UBS and Delta Airlines are also from the portfolio. One of the main WPP projects that we contributed recently was to participate in the group of agencies that won the Coca-Cola global account. But what I like most is the possibility of attracting talent to the network.
How was your experience as President of the Jury for the Mobile Lions 2022 competition? What were the lessons learned?
The cell phone is the most democratic object today. With it, we can interact with other media, such as out of home, for example. From the beginning, we sought to define how technology provides experiences on this device that allows access to various types of content, such as videos and music. An example that goes along this line is the Mobile GP won by Google with its Real Tone software, whose imaging technology ensures that mobile cameras accurately capture different skin tones. From the beginning, it was clear to the jury that this job would be a GP. The project raises awareness of the issue of image fairness and draws attention to Google’s solution, which worked with T Brand Studio, New York; Wieden+Kennedy, of Portland; and Miami’s GUT to develop a 60-second commercial that aired during the 2022 Super Bowl season. The film promoted the launch of the Google Pixel 6 smartphone, which starts with sloppy images of people with varying skin tones, as different narrators explain the problems they have had with the camera’s technology.
You are European (born in Portugal), but you have consolidated your career in the Brazilian market. What kind of advertising value does Latin creativity add?
In this long period living in Latin America, especially in Brazil, I could see something that makes a difference: Latinos are chaotic by nature. Consequently, their approaches are less procedural and view the problems presented as a challenge and seek the solution through various angles. I really admire the broad vision of Latinos, which leads to very creative communication solutions. My professional relationship with Diego Machado, who is Brazilian, contributed a lot to this understanding of the Latin way of seeing things. That’s really good for advertising.
Was Brazil disruptive for you? When did you arrive in the country?
Many think my career started at Ogilvy because of the visibility of the work for Dove. In fact, I arrived in Brazil in 2005 to work on the creative team at Ogilvy, which had another creative director. I returned to Portugal after six months. In 2006, I accepted an invitation from McCann-Erickson and returned to Brazil. In 2009, however, I was called up and returned to the Ogilvy team.
Has your career in Brazil always been with Diego Machado, your partner at AKQA, as the creative leader of the network?
At the! Diego Machado and I met in 2010. He started at Ogilvy as an assistant and, as I didn’t have a partner, we started doing some projects together. We ended up connecting in a way and, as a consequence, we started to work together and with good results for the briefings we participated.
What was the most relevant point in your career for both of you?
It was certainly in 2013, when we had the opportunity to build the Dove Real Beauty Sketches case, the most awarded Cannes Lions of 2013, including winning the Titanium Grand Prix, which was key to the festival’s Agency of the Year award. . The vice president of creation, Anselmo Ramos, currently in charge of David, gave us enormous freedom to create the project that won 14 Lees.
Despite being made in 2013 and being aligned with the global campaign of Dove Real Beleza, launched in 2004, the narrative also had a digital footprint, didn’t it?
Yea! Before reaching the media, she was successful on YouTube, with more than 55 million views in a short period of time. But in the first four days of exhibition, it reached seven million. It was released about three months before the Cannes Film Festival. This work involves a brand that believes in communication. In 2007, she had already won the Film Lions GP, with Dove Revolution. Diego and I agreed in 2013.
Could you detail a little about this production that was made in the United States?
It was produced in San Francisco, in the United States, with the decisive participation of the FBI designer Gil Zamora, a specialist in composite sketches. Since Dove aims to value the natural beauty of women, but they are too preoccupied with their appearance, we were fortunate enough to create something that reflected that. Zamora worked in two situations. In the first, he made the composite portrait based on the self-descriptions of women, without seeing them. Afterwards, he produced portraits based on the description of people who had contact with the models. The result was completely different. Many people cannot see their own beauty and this interferes with their positive perception of themselves.
