Zatorski had been working in Sweden as an educator and later a freelance creative before he decided to return to Poland and work for Leo Warsaw.

"Everyone felt we were creating something new and different. Myself, I had already been exposed to good advertising, but many people were not," says Zatorski of the turbulent early '90s. "When I got back I saw all the crap, bad TV and print ads. Polish TV commercials are crap but they are getting better. You see some good spots every year."

Zatorski points out that lack of exposure to keen ad ideas has resulted in the Polish industry's failure to rock the creative shop.

"Not being exposed to any great advertising means there are a lack of reference points. Of course, creatives can go the short cut and see whatever was produced last year, but when you grow up seeing good advertising you see the advertising culture being developed," he says, referring to the ad-free lives of most Poles prior to perestroika. "At the same time, people are not ready to take risks. The people who buy our services have not been exposed to good advertising either, they've only got what they've seen on Polish TV as reference points. It's really the same problem on both ends."

But in directing the roughly 40 creatives in his office, Zatorski and Burnett Warsaw are shaping new reference points for their peers and audiences with TV campaigns for Fiat, Ikea and Proctor & Gamble products like Vizir washing powder. Instead of assigning teams to particular accounts, Zatorski prefers to mix up accounts and creatives.

"People working on Ikea today might be on another project next week," he says. "It makes it competitive within the agency and you always get fresh ideas."

The agency recently picked up a Silver Lion in Cannes for their Vizir spot, "Snow-Blind." The spot depicts two snow-suited youngsters romping across a pastoral white scene. A chase ensues and one child runs square into a pure white sheet hung out to dry; the sheet is so clean it is well nigh impossible to separate from the blanket of snow.

"If you see washing powder commercials and then you see our commercials they are so different. They are fun to watch and smart at the same time, delivering the message in a very simple way," says Zatorski.

Lech C. Krol, Ula Turska and Renata Satanowska were copywriters and Martin Winther and Alek Januszewski were art directors on the spot, although Zatorski says these titles have little bearing on each creative's actual input.

"My background is in art direction but in our office it's different. The old times with 'he's the writer, he's the artist' are gone; we don't pay too much attention to that division," says Zatorski.

"Snow-blind" was directed by Chris Bartle through Prague's Flying Colours. Zatorski says it is very common for Polish agencies to work with foreign directors. He points to the experience and reliability of production companies based in London, as well as Sweden, Spain, Denmark, France and Italy as reasons for this trend. For example, director Pep Bosch, working through Lee Films in his native Spain, shot "Hypochondriac" for Fiat last year. The spot depicts a man so nervous he wears thimbles when peeling an apple and takes other such hyper-defensive steps at every opportunity; until that is, he relaxes in the security of his Fiat. Regarding this and all work from his creative department, Zatorski exudes both humility and respect for his creatives.

"I am very lucky. When you come to a place at the right time and meet the right people, suddenly everything works," he reflects. "I came here at the right moment, and now I am trying to keep that moment and preserve that great time, and I hope people think the same."

Webfiles:
Leo Burnett> http://www.leoburnett.com