Carlo Cavallone is dedicated to growing 72andSunny's diverse group of talented individuals, and focusing the creative efforts for the brand partners. Some of his favorite work features world leaders smooching for Benetton and unpacking history for Samsung. Hailing from Italy, Carlo has worked for multicultural companies in both the Netherlands and the US.
Life outside advertising revolves around his love for comics (he once was the Italian translator of Batman), bad movies, following conspiracy theories, and supporting underdog sports teams. He currently works as Partner and Executive Creative Director for 72andSunny Amsterdam.
Traveling is one powerful emotion as it represents an inspiration for every creative in search of a great idea. Also, reading or just observing people on the street can be the highway towards a formidable concept. Creativity and inspiration are everywhere and it is important to invest in your passions and curiosities in order to nurture it.
For Anca Calugaritoiu, Brand Manager at Ursus Breweries, creativity offers the opportunity to have an impact on various projects, and to imprint a small part of your personality on them. For her, creativity is an important factor in innovation and to improve the work process, as only with an open and different approach you will get better results.
Moreover, Anca says creativity helps train your mind as it is always looking for a fresh solution. On the other hand, people around you can be an inspiration and offer you various challenges. So, the more people you have around, the more ideas you can get in order to build your own projects. You can find creativity in every thing you do: from daily outfits to the method you prepare and present a project or just the way you cook breakfast every morning.
Carlo will join the stage at IAA Global Conference, on October 24-25, but prior to his official speech, Anca had the opportunity to ask him a series of questions about how creativity can change the world.
It's a personal, individual expression of a point of view, communicated by employing different skills and through different media.
Does creativity differ from one domain to another? Is it easier to work for some brands than for others?
Not really. Creativity is not dictated by the brand or the medium you work for, it's always a personal expression.
How do you "train" your creativity besides working on campaigns for Brands?
You feed it by exposing yourself to culture and experiences; you train it by constantly making and doing things, from cooking to writing, from drawing to playing sport.
What would you do if you lost creativity?
I don't think one can lose creativity. It never runs out. If by "losing" you mean "not being able to write ads anymore", that's not a big deal.
What advice would you give to a brand/marketing manager?
To understand creativity, you need to know more about art, music, cinema, literature, history, politics, and people than you need to know about marketing.
Could you share a life story (personal or professional life) on how creativity improved the world?
Recently we've created a campaign for Axe/Lynx that talked about the pressure young guys feel when they think they have to act like a "guy". It was a very heartfelt piece of work, made by a team that strongly believes in the subject matter.
After the campaign launched, we found a video response to the campaign online. Kids from a junior school had re-interpreted the ad in a way that was relevant to their situation; they were talking about their own problems. It was amazing to watch. We all felt we had a real impact on these kids. And what the kids did impacted us in return.
You tell them to be optimistic about what they do - that what they do matters - and you tell them to be a bit selfish, to always express a personal point of view in their work.