When Max Geraldo arrived in Canada, he expected to find the familiar challenges of a smaller market: tighter budgets, a smaller population and the inevitable comparisons with the U.S. Instead, the Gut Toronto chief creative officer says he found something else entirely: one of the best environments for creativity anywhere in the world.
Fresh off a strong start in Cannes, where Gut picked up four Silver Lions for Tim Hortons (3) and Asics (1), Geraldo sat down with strategy to discuss why Canada is having a creative moment, why constraints are an advantage and why he believes the country’s diversity is forcing agencies to rethink long-held assumptions about audiences.
Good way to start the Lions this year
It’s great. It’s crucial for us. Tims is one of the most iconic brands in Canada, and we want that to become a globally iconic brand. That’s the way to get there, with the kind of work that I believe does that.
We are really, really excited. We haven’t gotten to the end of the festival just yet, but we have reasons to be very optimistic.
You’ve worked at some of the world’s top agencies in Brazil, the U.S. and now Canada. As someone who has experienced three very distinct markets, what do you think Canadians don’t fully appreciate about their own creative industry?
People have asked me: “Why have you come to Canada? What do you like about working in Canada?” I think that I found almost the perfect storm for creativity in Canada.
That is surprising to people because they’re always complaining about budget limitations because we’re a smaller population than the U.S., or because we have local brands and our own local culture. There are so many reasons why people think it’s not fruitful for creativity. I think it’s the opposite.
Think about budgets. I’ve never needed to convince any of my clients since I moved to Canada that they needed to do great work. Seriously, never. They know that, with the budgets they have, they need great work or it won’t be feasible.
Hopefully my CFO doesn’t read this. But what I’m saying is that constraints are actually propelling us to do better work because, competitively, we’ll never have more money.
Image courtesy of Tim Hortons
I worked in the U.S. for eight years. I’ve seen brands solve marketing problems with more investment in media. That isn’t the case in Canada because that money doesn’t exist everywhere. So, the solutions come from the creative side.
Obviously, not every client is equally open to creativity. Some are braver than others. But Canadian clients understand that the way to stand out is creativity. That’s a strength of the Canadian industry.
We obviously have challenges. The production landscape is shared with the U.S., which has much greater economic power. That puts pressure on local production, but it also propels our production industry.
The talent is there. It’s getting better and better. Canada feels to me like the place for creativity at this time. And that’s not just me saying it. If you use festivals as a reference, the results we’re having are disproportionately better than the size of our industry.
I’m very positive about the present and the future of this industry. Challenges will happen. Economic challenges. The eternal fight for talent. I understand that. But we’re in a position to fight through them.
Canadians are often described as cautious or conservative. From your perspective, is that true? And if so, how do you convince clients to move beyond it?
Canada has something that other markets I know have as well, like New Zealand or Argentina at certain times. It’s a consumer market that is very demanding and sophisticated when it comes to messaging. That’s a strength.
There are paradigms that I encountered when I first started working here. People would talk about “the Canadian sense of humour.” I don’t think there’s such a thing. Canada is so diverse. I’ve heard that phrase so many times, but it’s much more diverse than that.
Canada has probably changed more than most countries over the past three decades. I work on Tim Hortons. We have access to a lot of data. I can see how Canada has changed demographically and culturally. Advertising needs to follow that.
If we keep doing the same advertising that worked 30 years ago, it might not work for everyone today.
Do you think there’s still a perception that work can either be really creative or really effective?
Canadian clients understand that they need to stand out to justify their investment. Even clients you might consider conservative are starting to understand that. You can see it happening in the market. More brands are breaking through. More brands are challenging the status quo.
For us at Gut, there’s no difference between creativity and effectiveness. We believe creative work is the only way. Creative work is a multiplier. It’s actually the most affordable work because it costs the same and works much better. If you’re conservative, do great work.
I’ve always said that to my clients. Don’t think that when we bring you something great it requires bravery. It’s almost the opposite. If you’re conservative, do great work because that’s the safest way of getting results.
Canada is changing. It’s no longer one community – it’s hundreds or thousands of communities. How is Gut evolving? Is your offering changing?
Philosophically, we’re constantly changing. Our ambition is to be the most diverse, influential advertising agency in the world. That requires changing all the time because diversity cannot be stagnant.
Structurally, we’re enhancing our offering. We’re a global yet local entity. We work with creatives and capabilities from everywhere. We now work with our entire network in real time. We integrate creativity, planning, insights and production globally to serve clients locally. We’re not just offering an economic advantage. We’re offering high quality with competitive pricing. We’re also exporting creativity out of Canada.
We work for global clients from Canada because we can offer Gut quality with an economic advantage. That is diversifying our offering and adapting to clients. We’re in constant change.
If every Gut office thinks the same way – in the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil and Canada – that’s how we become the best agency in the world.
