In an interview with propmark, the artist and Mariana Madjarof, commercial director at F/SIMAS, tell how the creative process of the campaigns works
Manu Gavassi has become a case in point when it comes to Internet advertising. The Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress, dubbing artist, presenter, writer, director, producer, screenwriter and digital influencer has transformed the way of making traditional “advertisements” on social networks with quality audiovisual productions that are almost cinematographic.
In 2009, Manu won the internet’s hearts with singing videos and became known even before the term “influencer” was part of the internet’s vocabulary. Over the years, she established herself in music with the release of her albums, participated in soap operas, series, wrote a book, launched a webseries on Youtube, debuted in the cinema… But it was in 2020, that she reached the top of knowledge and public taste with its participation in Big Brother Brasil.
During the three months of the program, her social networks were invaded by a series of videos in which the artist talked about her participation in the program. The videos were, obviously, recorded before she entered the program and portrayed all the situations that were possible to happen within Globo’s reality show.
According to Mariana Madjarof, commercial director at F/SIMAS, the agency that takes care of Manu’s career, as soon as she left the show, a meeting was held to explain and show the publicity possibilities that this gun could provide.
“She looked at all the ‘possible’ contracts, was impressed and said the words that changed our mindset. She said that she felt happy and honored with everything that was happening, but that she wanted to always be honest and clear with the audience, that she did not felt comfortable showing her life and, out of nowhere, appearing advertising something. She wanted to make it clear what advertising was. From that feeling, we decided to turn all advertising into entertainment. We didn’t want to rob our audience, but to advertise in the most beautiful way possible, with a script, aesthetics, with an artistic tone”, explained the executive.
Mariana is one of the people active in advertising negotiations with brands that seek the “Manu Gavassi way” of creation, but guaranteed that the artist makes a point of being present at meetings, exposing her ideas and listening to what they are looking for. “She works like a real executive in the campaigns. She gets involved in each stage, creates, directs, chooses each professional for each script she creates”, she emphasized.
According to the executive, some items are essential to sign a contract with Manu, such as creative freedom, participation in the project, in addition to having to be a brand that has an ideology similar to hers and that she admits. These are some of the points that make the brand recall index almost 100%, with brands that are already in their 5th contract renewal with the artist. “It changed the way advertising is done in the country, that is indisputable”.
In addition to the executive, the propmark also interviewed Manu Gavassi. In the conversation, she talks about how she started her relationship with advertising and when she changed the way of producing content. Read the interview in full:
How did your relationship with advertising begin?
Manu: My relationship with advertising actually started a long time ago because well I started a long time ago, right? And I remember that, when I was 16, when I started, things were different. Thirteen years ago, the internet did not have the weight it has today in people’s careers. It was another way of working and there weren’t even any ways to work, in fact, with the internet. It was still something very new, but I remember that there was already a demand for brands to work with me in advertising. I remember that it was even surprising in my first office because, theoretically, I started as a singer and ended up doing more publicity than was expected for someone who was starting out, you know? So, I remember that this interest already existed and I was already involved in it. I even made some big brands when I was very young, but it was a very different way of working, right? It was a completely different medium.
What was the insight that generated this change in the way advertising is done?
Manu: After my beginning of this initial contact, the internet grew a lot, right? Changing proportions, the way we deal and work with it… Then it started to become what we know. I never stopped working with advertising, since the beginning of my career it was something recurrent like that, but I think the big change was in 2018, when I started studying scriptwriting and started to understand that I didn’t like the briefings that were sent. I felt bad about “fooling my audience”, you know? To be something so brazen like that, that wasn’t me, it wasn’t with my words… It was something I didn’t believe in, so I started to fight to do it my way.
It was an ant’s pace at the beginning because it wasn’t very common to change the briefings, but I did a little bit there, another one here… And, more than that, I started to imprint my aesthetics and my narrative on my own work. I remember that, from 2018 to 2019, I released an EP that I had a visual solution for. I made it like it was a movie, with subtitles, that told the story through it, rather than making a clip. I did it with visual artists and everything, and it was a project that caught the attention of brands. From then on, they started looking for me giving an example of this EP, which was the Cute but Psycho. In parallel to that, I was already studying scriptwriting and narrative, so I started to create different, more creative and daring things.
What was the first brand that gave you this creative freedom?
Manu: Tanqueray was the first to really embrace such a script and it was really cool. From then on, it began to attract the attention of the market, which started looking for me looking for this. And of course, after the Big Brother case, which was the greatest example of this creative power and how a well-told story can go far, it completely changed its level and figure. I started not only to have freedom in campaigns, but to be sought after because of it. I became sought after not only as a face, but as a screenwriter, as a creative director, as the head behind major campaigns. It’s been three wonderful years since then, in which I was able to dare much more, learn much more and, today, I can say that I started a bit badly with advertising, because I didn’t really like the way it was, and today I love working with it. I feel well accomplished with all the campaigns I’ve been doing.
Where does the creative process of the campaigns come from?
Manu: I think the unusual factor that exists in all campaigns for all brands is entertainment like that, I think what I would like to see is how I make this content which is just an advertising brief, right? About a product like I make it something I want to watch until the end that I’m going to watch twice, so whenever I think like this, how do I make entertainment that what I like and what I know how to do.
What is the definition of the Manu Gavassi brand and why do you believe brands look for it?
Manu: I think the definitions would be authenticity, quality and entertainment. I think those are the three things I always try to print and I think that’s why brands have been looking for me more and more. With a lot of work and dedication, I managed to make it clear that these are my concerns. I always want to be authentic, both in my image and in my speech, I always want to entertain, I want people to watch it again and again and have fun. I think this helps to create an affection for the brand. Quality is included in this, a big concern I have, so I always think about the team and the way I want to do things, whether it’s a smaller campaign or a giant campaign.