“What if clients and agencies both want bravery?”

In October last year, GUT opened its first office in Asia and its tenth worldwide. It was also the third office to open in a year of ambitious expansion, that included the creation of the Globant GUT Network in June. GUT New York was launched in September and GUT Madrid in August. Carlos Camacho became the office’s founding chief creative officer, Belynda Sim-Mak its head of strategy. Camacho joined from DAVID Bogotá in his native country, Colombia, taking with him eight years’ Asian agency experience as an executive creative director at Lowe Asia-Pacific Vietnam, J. Walter Thompson Shanghai and Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong.   

Belynda Sym-Mak joined the agency from LePub, where she was cultural strategy lead APAC for the Heineken Group. Her strategic smarts have also been developed as head of strategy APAC at VCCP, senior strategy director and head of cultural intelligence at TBWA\Group Singapore and planning director at Ogilvy. 

Carlos and Belynda will unravel the complex topic of bravery at ADFEST, in their session, When Bravery and Business Collide, on Thursday, 20 March 16.15-16.50. Their session begins with the truth that too often, the creative industry positions agencies and clients as opponents. Agencies want to do brave work that wins awards. Clients want to do work that drives their business. But what if they are the same thing? They will provide an understanding of what makes work “brave,” explore how to quantify bravery, the impact of brave work on client business and how often the collision between agencies and clients is actually the best opportunity to create growth-driving creative magic for everyone. 

ADFEST: There are two stories about clients and agencies - the cats and dogs one full of clashes and skirmishes, and the besties one in which the agency extols the virtue of its “awesome” client. What are your experiences at Gut and what is the agency philosophy for managing the relationship? 

Carlos Camacho: No clichés here ????, at Gut, we believe in working closely with our clients. That partnership makes our work stronger/better. We don’t see clients as just clients; we see them as part of our team.

Belynda Sim: Most great relationships (no different from personal ones) start from a place of conflict and evolve into something better from there. The important thing is making sense of the conflict and finding resolutions together as a team.

ADFEST: Last year was tough. Traditionally, clients get more conservative in tight economies. What did you experience at Gut? 

Carlos Camacho: Obviously clients can feel greater strain with certain economic pressures. We find that the best response to that is to be a partner to our clients in the truest sense, understand where and how we can help them solve their challenges with creativity and give them the bravery to push forward.

Belynda Sim: I like to look on the bright side of things. I've seen how bad times and tighter budgets have led both clients and creative agencies to collaborate closer together - being bold or more innovative in how we approach the problem/creative solution.

ADFEST: What is brave work in Gut’s view?

Carlos Camacho: At Gut, bravery is at the heart of everything we do. That’s why we created the Bravery Scale, basically a tool we use to push creative boundaries together with our clients and help them go as high as possible.

When I think about brave work, I love what we’ve done for NotCo, Pedidos Ya, Mercado Libre, and Hertog Jan. Each of these brands started as underdogs in their categories. But thanks to the bold thinking from our teams across Gut’s offices (Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Amsterdam, and Miami), they broke through, stood out, and consistently pushed creative boundaries. Some of this work has been recogniSed at major ad festivals and continues to inspire others.

Belynda Sim: Bravery isn’t only about creative work, bravery can also be about how we approach strategy or processes. Doordash (delivery) choosing to focus its Valentine’s campaign on giving flowers to men (vs women). Or quick service content with Popeyes where a live newsroom was created, setting up production in-house and involving lawyers (unheard of!) as an integral part of the creative team.

ADFEST: Creating brave work isn’t only about getting a client to buy it. How do you foster brave or “gutsy” work at Gut? 

Carlos Camacho: For us, bravery isn’t just a mindset, at GUT it means business. The Bravery Scale helps us build cultures of bold marketing, and it all starts by understanding where our clients are today and how we can help them level up.

Belynda Sim: We’ve been lucky - most clients come to GUT asking us to push them, and push the work. Bravery is dependent on where clients are on the Bravery Scale and taking small steps out of the comfort zone together. Once they get a taste of what bravery is like (and where it pays off), it will naturally become a more conscious choice to be braver than before. At GUT, we like to think that bravery attracts more bravery.

ADFEST: Why are you coming to, and speaking at, ADFEST? 

Carlos Camacho: I love ADFEST. Apart from being awesome, it is the most genuine festival in the region. There’s something special about how the creative community gathers here; you can truly feel its soul. I also love how the work is showcased because it gives you both a broad and deep perspective on what’s happening across agencies in Asia.

Being here as a speaker is incredible. I've attended many speaker sessions at previous editions, and they've given me so much inspiration. So, I believe it's a great opportunity for us at GUT to share our vision, our principles, and our work with the creative community. Hopefully, it will inspire others.

Belynda Sim: ADFEST is one of our longest running, independent advertising festivals celebrating creativity in this region. I remember growing up with ADFEST, so if there’s any creative festival I would prioritise my support, it would be this.

Why and how can bravery impact a client’s business and how is the collision between agencies and clients is “actually the best opportunity to create growth-driving creative magic for everyone”. 

Carlos Camacho: I will answer using Anselmo’s words: “life is too short to do shitty ads”.

Belynda Sim: Einstein’s classic quote “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. It’s OK if you’re fine with the status quo, but if you want a different outcome, short or long term, you need to figure out a way to cultivate courage in ways that work for you. Bravery takes effort – from both agencies and clients. Mercado Libre is a great example. It’s now the most valuable company in Latin America. (It started working with GUT in 2019). Our ambition is to be creating this kind of relationship with clients in Asia.