Luciana Haguiara believes that ideas must be bigger than technology. For the executive creative director of the Media.Monks Brasil agency, each idea has to captivate, but “the more discreet, the better,” she says.
Her passion for digital experiments with art, music and data led her to change her professional direction in the early 2000s. From an offline editor -and already with some awards in her pocket-, she went on to follow the creative trends to create campaigns and projects made with the stamp of digital innovation.
Haguiara worked for AlmapBBDO, Suno United Creators and Ogilvy agencies and has won more than 400 awards at creativity festivals such as Cannes Lions, ADC, Clio Awards and D&AD.
Today his work is focused on finding innovative ways to solve problems and build brands. But his voice and philosophy will also have a vote at Cannes Lions 2022, the highest advertising contest that rewards creativity on a global level, as he chairs the jury in the Digital Craft category.
“The category description says it all: Let’s celebrate digital art through works of exceptional form and function. Digital Craft is one of the most visionary categories of the festival, as it represents the most innovative projects in digital production. Our goal is to curate a body of work that can inspire brands to take risks and invest more in amazing and exciting experiences for people.”
Expansion (E): What is the most valued of Digital Craft campaigns at the time of evaluation?
Luciana Haguiara (LH): The category is about craft, but of course we have to find a balance between idea and execution. At the same time, when we talk about effectiveness, our angle will focus on the emotional outcome, not the media parameters. Because truly amazing digital craft work needs to impress people and create an emotional response to serve as a benchmark in the category. The criteria is to find work that demonstrates exceptional form and function, impeccable design, masterful execution, and exceptional user experience for all digital environments.
E: Nowadays, what do you consider to be the challenges to create a memorable piece in Digital Craft?
LH: I think it’s a question of culture. We still have clients and agencies that are struggling and don’t see the potential to invest time and budget to create more immersive experiences. Even with the acceleration of digital in the last two years in some markets, brands still prefer to use video in digital format. There’s nothing wrong with that, it sure works, but people spend more time online to meet other people and do a lot more than just click and play. We have the opportunity to create more relationships with them through experiences.
E: What is your vision of the advertising industry at the regional level?
LH: I think we have the most amazing creative people and also very brave and creative clients who love to see the work shine and get people talking about it. Latin America is the most emerging creative region in the world at the moment and we always export the best talent. Now is the time to preserve them.
I: Which country in Latin America has the greatest chance of winning the most lions and why do you think so?
LH: Brazil has traditionally always been a big winner at the festival, but I’m really excited to see the sheer amount of amazing work coming in from Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Argentina. So we are getting stronger as a region.
