It is not often that Latin American agency creatives undertake a career in Asia. Colombian Carlos Camacho tell us what lured him in the Far East.
Jose Miguel Sokoloff, President of the Global Creative Council of MullenLowe, a Colombian native and peace proponent behind successful campaigns Rivers of Light and Operation Christmas aimed at demobilizing guerrillas in his country, revealed to adobo in 2015 at Tenerife, Spain that he had sent two of his Latin American creative talents to Asia: Brazilian Erick Rosa, now happily settled as ECD of MullenLowe Singapore and Columbian Carlos Camacho, who he posted in MullenLowe Vietnam. Prior, Camacho led a senior creative team MullenLowe SSP3 Colombia, winner of Ad Age’s International Agency of the year in 2013.
Why did Sokoloff release Camacho from Columbia? “Because I trusted he would make the impact he eventually made in Vietnam. He was and has always been someone I could trust to do a job with dedication and transparency.”
In under two years, Camacho has catapulted the agency to become Vietnam’s number one creative advertising agency and the second most awarded Asian agency within Mullen Lowe and Partners Worldwide.
Left Behind
Columbia—the nation that gave the world novelist Gabriel Miguel Marquez, songstress Shakira, and actress Sofia Vergara—also gave up Camacho, who had to leave so much behind.
“I had my own business in Colombia—fast food chains, like burger joints, and I had a coffee brand that was my side business,” he recalls. The name of his coffee brand was Monarca—a premium and single origin coffee. The coffee plantations are located in his hacienda, which has been with my family for generations—200 years. Camacho’s restaurants had won a prestigious architectural award in Colombia, the Premio Lápiz de Acero (The Steel Pencil Award).
“I was doing really well in Colombia and I was really happy but at the same time I felt that I was in a big comfort zone. So Vietnam gave me an opportunity,” he explains. When his boss and mentor Sokoloff gave him a chance to go to Vietnam, he immediately said yes. “I didn’t even think about it.”
“I left everything. It’s weird. I didn’t go back to Colombia for two years. I only went back this year,” he confides. He did not even go back for Christmas. “The hardest was to leave my dog behind. You could get in touch with your family but your dog, even if you talk to your dog through Skype, they don’t understand anything,” he confides. Camacho adopted his dog off the streets and he has had him for five years. “My dog’s name is Sanchez. He is a bit loco but I miss him.”
When asked what his mother had to say, he smiles, “She loves it. Oh, I love her for loving that. She’s not putting any pressure. I came with nothing and now have a new girlfriend. I have a new life.”
He was also leaving behind a troubled country. “It’s very confusing and sometimes people tell you things are fine, everything is changing, peace is coming. And we have people say that no, peace is not really coming. You’re in the middle and can’t understand what’s happening.” In June 2016, the media reported that the communist guerrilla group FARC signed a ceasefire accord with the of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Havana, a historic step to ending the fifty year conflict.
Opportunities
He observes that while Latin America has remained very traditional, Asia is the opposite. “They’re trying to do more online and trying to do more creative stuff away from the traditional.” He finds work ethics in Asia are more flexible. “Here, they are more open to the new stuff that can work. And when that works, it’s fantastic.”
In Vietnam where the ad industry is still very young and media regulations are a challenge, opportunities nonetheless abound. “When they give you their confidence, you can start doing things that are out of the box and that’s very cool. Sometimes you can push the brief into a different path and you can come up with something innovative. That can help a brand come up with something new and fresh. You can create a new way of consuming the product, a new way of embracing or even interacting with the product. When that door is opened you have to go and take advantage of it.”
On his reel for the Asia Pacific Tambuli gold-winning idea for Omo Vietnam’s ‘Gallery of Dreams’ made by MullenLowe Vietnam, he says, “We did a campaign to encourage kids to get them to dream big and took their drawings and we put them on the roofs of the houses in a way that people can look over the villages and see the drawings and they get to know more about the kids living in that house. So that was amazing.” An initiative declared as a National Asset by Vietnam’s Ministry of Education, the campaign reached 50 million people, garnered 8,213,547 online views within two weeks, 400,000 submission of art work, 10 million impressions, grew sales by 6% with 24,2 millions unit sold.
Creativity and Innovation
Today, Camacho is a much sought-after juror for creative awards. “Brands are not selling how delicious a hamburger is but they’re selling happiness,” he observes. “We discussed the McWhopper campaign extensively at the Ad Stars judging. It was a good example that innovation doesn’t have to be related to technology.”
He applauds campaigns coming from Australia and New Zealand because “they are always on brand, and trying to create something new for the brand, a new experience for consumers.” A case in point is the highly successful ‘Brewtroleum’ campaign by Colenso BBDO New Zealand, which he judged at Ad Stars as part of the Innovation jury. “They’re like trying to make a joke but like a serious joke about it and they’re trying to do something new and fresh and the jury really enjoyed.”
He also notes that the Japanese are so far ahead that the rest of the world doesn’t even understand what they are doing, and this motivates him. An Argentinian creative genius whom Camacho looks up to is Carlos Bayala, executive creative director of Madre in Buenos Aires, a partner of the London-based agency Mother. Bayala and his partner and wife Gabriella and created great work for Coca-Cola, Unilever Super Noodles, KISS FM and Costa Coffee.
He declares that he himself is not obsessed with winning creative awards. “It’s just a way to prove that you did something that these people liked. But if they didn’t like it, you can’t kill yourself over it.”
Sitting in a jury room is a privilege for Camacho, a chance to take deeper dive into the craft. He feels empathy for the person behind the work and knows their expectations. “You have to be very fair. People put effort to send their work so it’s cool to play god for a while and sometimes it’s also cool to defend work that’s not even yours.”
His friend, Erick Rosa, a Brazilian ECD in MullenLowe Singapore and one of the “Soko boys” (Sokoloff’s boys), endorses Camacho good nature. “I can recall with precision the fact that every single time our office here in Singapore won anything—shortlists, bronzes, silvers, gold, pitches, no matter the color of the metal or the size of the account—a series of emojis bursting with happiness and exclamation marks would pop up on my phone from him, real time. He is that kind of guy,” adding, “If passion had a dial, his’ would always be on 11.”
Shanghai Bound
In October this year, Norman Tan, J. Walter Thompson North Asia’s chairman and chief creative officer, announced that Camacho is taking on a new role as ECD of J. Walter Thompson Shanghai. Even as he leaves for new opportunities, Camacho expresses his gratitude to those who paved his path to success:
“I will always be very grateful to him (Sokoloff). He gave me the trust and confidence to come here and take over the team in Vietnam. But sometimes you have to move on.”
Sokoloff has nothing but kind words for his protege: “Carlos is a good friend and a great human being. He has worked with me for a very long time and his ideas have helped propel the agencies he has worked in to international fame. He is a hard worker and will endure all sorts of sacrifices to protect his ideals.” And adds, ”I will miss him a lot more than he will miss me. He will work with another of my great friends, Norman Tan, who will respect, nurture, and help Carlos become better than he already is.”
As published in the adobo magazine September-October 2016 Digital Issue.
