VegaOlmosPonce/Lowe Lintas, Buenos Aires is a creative hotspot on the Argentine agency landscape, with creative directors Hernan Ponce, Gustavo Taretto and Gabriel Bacchus guiding eight creative teams through the spot landscape. Horacio Ciancia, chief of AV production for VegaOlmosPonce oversees production on the roughly 50 spots the agency produces for these clients each year. Working with two other producers, Ciancia recently wrapped production on campaigns for Axe, La Nacion, Hi-C and Raxona.

Four 20-second spots for deodorant Axe were shot by Marcelo Szechtman of Flehner Films. Sweaty situations ensue. One shows two men pursuing a beautiful woman through an underground parking garage. A lone motorist takes her in and she buries her head in his lap to avoid detection; sadly his nether regions are less than fresh. Another shows a man riding a crowded bus; he gives up his seat to a well-endowed female commuter, whose bosom he then observes from a plum vantage point.

Another Axe spot, directed by Diego Caplan of Wasabi Films has two competing pizza makers showing their dough for a group of admiring females. In a bizarre twist, they use the dough to gauge their armpits' sweatiness; the Axe-wearing pizzalero stays dry and cool. Caplan also shot a spot for La Nacion, likening learning to use the Internet from one's children to being taught how to drive by one's offspring.

"We always work with three or four production houses when I am designing each commercial's production," says Ciancia. "I never receive a budget until the director and creative directors talk about the commercials. We talk to each director to see their point of view to make a good design. When we have the creative evolution, we decide with the director on the budget. The basic budget is around US$150,000-200,000, depending on the client."

The Hi-C campaign, directed by José Luis Garcia of Blue Films makes use of post-production from Buenos Aires' Post Bionica, with Discreet-compositing technology shaking up three spots. "Oxygen" for Raxona is an exercise in "contraposition," comparing the filth and heat of the subway with the clean feeling of the skin cream on a sassy model. The spot was directed by Esteban Sapir of AA Films.

Ciancia says there are a wealth of large and boutique production houses in Buenos Aires, with more established companies like Flehner and Cinetauro alongside younger companies like AA, Wasabi and Peluca. At the same time, Ciancia is making use of his Lowe Lintas connections to bring together VegaOlmosPonce with international directing talent.

"We're now working on a new project with foreign directors," he says, referencing France's The Gang Films in particular. "We're receiving help from Lowe Lintas UK. We're trying to make a good design and we have a nice script, but it's very difficult for Argentine agencies to get top international directors to read our scripts. So Lowe Lintas UK is helping us send out scripts."

A newer addition to the international creative jet-set is Age, the Brazilian member of Havas' Arnold Worldwide Partners network. Launched in late 1999 by partners Ana Lucia Serra, Carlos Domingos and Tomás Lorente, the agency has quickly acquired clients ranging from ISP Cidadeinternet.com.br to cable networks GNT and MTV Brazil and newspaper Valor Economico.

Creative directors Domingos and Lorente worked at creative powerhouse DM9 DDB before setting up shop with Serra. Their humorous and poignant campaigns have helped launch new brands into the crowded Brazilian media environment. For a Cidadeinternet.com.br campaign, a hapless single man and several potential mates of varied description are seen running, slow-mo towards one another on a beach -- each time, before they embrace, our hero gets kneed in the groin. The spots were directed by Rodolfo Vanni of Cia de Cinema Production. A GNT spot directed by Willy Biondani, a boy is seen walking through an expansive hall of banners adorned with the faces of famous figures from Ghandi to Hitler; when he stops under der führers' mugs, the spot cautions that the documentary channel ensures kids are given the right information.

"In Brazil, channels are providing programs with a low degree of information, erotic dances and soap operas, and GNT is an oasis in this desert," explains Domingos. "Our aim with this campaign is to show parents so they can realize the importance of information in the intellectual formation of their children."

In spots for an MTV sex program, lurid voice-overs relate directly to onscreen text describing different archetypes of lovers (i.e., a woman's voice cooing, "baby, baby" is termed the nanny).

"This was the best way to show the idea. Most men and women react differently when they are making love so the sound is the most important component and any image is unneccesary," says Domingos. "The second reason is the low cost. This is not a big deal for us because we were born in an unstable economy and we have experience in this atmosphere. I believe this is one reason Brazilian publicity is known all around the world. We base our campaigns on very good ideas and low fund productions. We and our clients bet on very impactive and creative moves."

TBWA\Latin America, run by president Robert Rosenthal out of New York has recently seen some high-profile management changes in its Brazilian and Argentine affiliates.

Ernesto Savaglio, founder of Buenos Aires' Savaglio/TBWA has turned over the presidency of the agency to strategic planner Omar Bello in favor of returning to the creative leadership of the Argentine agency of record for CarreFour, Brahma beer, Banco Frances/BBVA and MetLife.

"What's fun about this is, at a point in time when more and more creative people are taking over the mantle of leadership at Argentine agencies, Ernesto, a ball-bending rule breaker is going the other direction," notes Rosenthal.

Meanwhile in São Paulo, creative head Atila Francucci of TBWA\Capsula (acquired by TBWA earlier this year -- see Boards, February 2001) has a new partner: Ricardo Sodré. Sodré comes to TBWA from Euro RSCG and brings with him hefty account management expertise.

Webfiles>

Lowe Lintas & Partners> www.lowelintas.com

Age> www.age.com.br

TBWA\Worldwide> www.tbwa.com