Alice McKenzie is an Account Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi London. A kind and energetic soul with a Nothing is Impossible glint in her eye, and who better to send to Recife (a city perched on the Eastern tip of Brazil) in collaboration with TIE and D&AD to be the woman on the ground in helping local charity Solidare develop a brand strategy and sustainable place in the local community.
“I have been a Recifense for three weeks now and I think I’ve earned the right to call myself that. I’ve conquered so much, the public transport, the early starts, people even tell me (at times) that I’m actually speaking Portuguese.
It really has been a month of firsts. This past weekend, I dipped my toes in the Brazilian sea, I drank coconut water from a real coconut, I celebrated my Brazilian granny’s 87th birthday, I scoffed Churrasco and I bought the Seleteiras their first ever sewing machine.
None of this would have been possible without D&AD and Saatchi & Saatchi who have loaned me for a month to charity Instituto Solidare to help build a brand and marketing campaign to promote beautiful products made out of rubbish by women in the local community.
The brand is Seleta & these women are the Seleteiras; a unique group of passionate, fun-loving and resilient artists looking to develop their talents and skills to raise a sustainable income and create a better future for their children.
They come together every Thursday at Solidare for their weekly workshop run by local artist and designer, Livia. It is the happiest moment of their week and the very fact that many of them eagerly turn up half an hour early is proof enough. For them, Seleta is not only the hope of keeping a roof over their heads, it’s a chance to make friends, have some fun, get creative and escape an otherwise difficult and monotonous cycle for one afternoon a week.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been juggling 2 hour commutes, different time zones and my pigeon Portuguese to bring together the ideas, skills and experience of a handful of people at Saatchi with the fresh, enthusiastic and creative minds of local agency Ae! (a group of university students here in Recife) to together introduce Seleta to the world with a bang.
Conveniently as I’m just starting the day, the team at Saatchi & Saatchi London are already half way through theirs and so I can normally expect an email or two to get my brain in gear, “have I done this or that, have I thought about this, have I seen this?” or more excitingly last week, a sneak peak at the latest logo design and creative ideas – which hopefully you’ll see soon too! While the students have morning classes, I have a few hours to digest any comments, catch up with the Saatchi team and prepare for our afternoon session.
Despite the obvious obstacles in our way, we’ve formed a beautiful collaboration and with just one more week to go, we’ll be working closer than ever to get things up and running! I can’t wait to share it with you all.
Thank you Saatchi.
Thank you D&AD.
Thank you Aê!
Thank you Solidare!
Thank you TIE!
I’ve loved every minute so far and thankfully it’s not over yet!”
Guillermo Vega, multi-award winning CCO of Saatchi & Saatchi London, is a man in a hurry. His career includes setting up and growing W+K Sao Paulo from 3 to 100 employees in 4 years. He talks about learning to be patient, the Super London way.
Tide 2021 Superbowl spot: Saatchi & Saatchi New York
Publicis Groupe hires Natalie Lam
Daniel Lobatón is the first chief creative to be promoted from within at Saatchi & Saatchi New York.
Launched in 2012, Team One’s The Legacy Lab™ is a thought-leadership platform exploring the dynamics of long-term brand building in a short-term world. The Legacy Lab has researched influential brands including The Bluebird Cafe, It Gets Better Project, Girls Who Code, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, The Championships, Wimbledon and Taylor Guitars among others, and publishes many of its learnings online.…
Saatchi & Saatchi London has hired Guillermo Vega, the former ECD of 72andSunny New York, as its Chief Creative Officer. Joining on October 1, Vega will lead the agency’s creative department and build on its existing creative success. His appointment completes the Saatchi & Saatchi London management team, alongside Sam Hawkey (Chief Operating Officer), Richard Huntington (Chief Strategy Officer) and…
Cannes Lions 2018 saw Saatchi & Saatchi offices around the network pick up a total of 17 awards. The wins were split across Saatchi & Saatchi New York, Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, Saatchi & Saatchi Germany and F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi Brazil. Winning clients were Tide, National Down Syndrome Society, Toyota, Elanco, Sadia and the…
SKS365, a leading international betting company, has chosen Saatchi & Saatchi Italy, led by CEO Simone Masè, to handle the creative account for its sports betting and gaming brand, PlanetWin365.
Today Saatchi & Saatchi announces taking the pledge, and joining Free the Bid as a global network.
Publicis One Croatia today announces the appointment of three award-winning creative talents to Saatchi & Saatchi, promoting growth and creative excellence goals in Croatia and throughout the Adriatic. The three new appointments, who have extensive creative experience, will spearhead a re-energizing process of the agency in Croatia. Appointed are Ivan Tanić, who joins as Creative Director, Nebojša Cvetković as Art…
Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand has been appointed as Tourism Fiji’s global brand agency of record, following a selection process and creative pitch that began in mid 2017. Saatchi & Saatchi will lead the creation of a revitalised brand platform and global campaign to attract visitors to Fiji from all over the world, focusing on key markets – Australia, New…
Kraft Heinz China recently appointed Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai as their lead creative agency in China for all Kraft Heinz brand categories. Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai won this business after a fierce multi-way pitch against other agencies over the past months. Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai will lead creative services for all brands under the Kraft Heinz China umbrella. This covers…
Saatchi New York’s “It’s a Tide Ad” campaign for Super Bowl LII got the stamp of approval from a group of top advertising creatives today, winning the Super Clio, honoring the game’s best work.
Saatchi & Saatchi London have been named ‘The Best and Bravest Agency on the Planet’ by Contagious Magazine after topping their 2018 Contagious Pioneers agency rankings. The list recognises the top ten agencies round the world who consistently set the standard for creativity, innovation and excellence in marketing. The Contagious Pioneers list is based on an analysis of the Contagious I/O intelligence…
