Argentina Special: Luis Sanchez Zinny

Luis Sanchez Zinny, executive creative director of Leo Burnett Argentina, lives up to his nickname, ‘Lucho’. He fought against his friends’ disapproval to follow his dream career in advertising, he has fought to change the creative ways of staid, traditional agencies and clients and now, he tells Olivia Atkins, he’s fighting to do the best work he can for a country in crisis

Born and bred in Buenos Aires, Luis Sanchez Zinny – also affectionately known as Lucho – is a loyal guy. Loyal to his country, loyal to his creative partner and, above all, loyal to his interests. He’s not shy when it comes to talking about the current crisis that’s taken hold of Argentina, yet he’s noticeably saddened when asked what the future looks like for the nation. Confused and disappointed by the fluctuating economy, the executive creative director of Leo Burnett Argentina is also fearlessly fuelled by the crisis. With his revolutionary air, which he channels into his work, he has a strong desire to change the world around him, even if that means moving away from his beloved goggle box.

TV-obsessed Zinny spent most of his youth perched in front of the screen, annoying his mother by not studying. He knew he was fascinated by adland, but he didn’t know what to do with these interests and was discouraged by his peers who disparaged the advertising industry. So initially he pursued a career in graphic design. But it didn’t last long. After three and a half years, he packed it in to chase his dream. In 2000 he enrolled on a copywriting course at the local university and secured a part-time, unpaid role at McCann Erickson Buenos Aires to fill the gaps in his timetable.

Inspired by Argentina’s biggest agencies of the time – Agulla & Baccetti and Vegaolmosponce – he was determined to enter the industry using any means, no matter how rebellious and unconventional. “Before I got into advertising, I had a girlfriend who lived two blocks away from BBDO’s Bueno Aires offices,” he says, remembering one particular experience. “Whenever I stayed late at hers and went home at night, I’d pass the agency, go through their rubbish bags and steal different versions of commercials that I’d seen on air – the short versions, the long versions and the versions that the client didn’t want. This was where I first learnt that commercials had names.” Fortunately for Zinny, when he started working at BBDO 15 years later and confessed his crime, the agency celebrated it as proof of his commitment.

Impressing the team at McCann Erickson with his ingrained TV knowledge and deep understanding of advertising, Zinny quickly rose to the role of full-time copywriter. He stayed five years and met his lifetime creative partner there, art director Carmelo Maselli. Although the duo didn’t work together initially, they have been inseparable since 2005 when they formed a partnership and joined Young & Rubicam. There they made lots of work – and lots of friends, including Fernando Bellotti who later became president at Leo Burnett, and who, in 2007, invited the pair to join him there as creative directors.

Big Nose strikes again

Zinny and Maselli joined Leo Burnett before it had built up its formidable creative reputation. The agency was still establishing itself and the pair, who were used to this kind of climate, worked hard to change its culture.

“At that stage in our careers, we worked well when the agency wasn’t prepared to do good advertising and we were used to pushing them to create good work,” Zinny says. Under their watch, Leo Burnett transformed from a traditional agency and began to embrace a more creative approach.

During their first season, the pair won their first two Lions – one gold and one silver for Car One spots Inheritance and Blueberries, in which men imagined what cars they could have if they inherited money or managed a successful business. But when quizzed about his first award-winning campaigns, Zinny prefers to list other works that made him proud during his first Leo Burnett stint. He claims that one of these, Fiat’s Big Nose – a funny TV ad about how a car can transform self-confidence – started to get the pair noticed and paved the way for more work on the agency’s bigger accounts.

Soon job offers came flooding in from rivals. Zinny and Maselli, tempted by the agency’s strong creative reputation, accepted positions as creative directors at BBDO. “We were keen to find out about president Carlos Perez’s work philosophy and get to know his two executive creative directors – Rodrigo Grau and Ramiro Rodriguez Cohen [both of whom featured in shots’ last Argentina issue, 138]. We were used to entering agencies as they were developing, so it was invaluable for us to experience working in an agency that had been producing great work for 20 years. It was completely different.”

During the couple of years spent at BBDO, they earned another Lion for Nike’s The Day The Stadium Spoke, an innovative campaign that surprised the underperforming Boca Juniors team in practice, with a rousing motivational speech, seemingly coming from the stadium itself. Zinny looks back fondly on his time with the agency: “We were very happy at BBDO.”

But it wasn’t long before Leo Burnett came knocking to offer them a second stint there, this time as executive creative directors. While the duo had matured since their debut at Leo Burnett, they quickly realised that the agency had progressed too. Together they worked hard to transform its culture even further and started to attract international attention. This year’s Safety Truck campaign for Samsung secured seven Lions – including Argentina’s first ever Cyber Lion, one Titanium and three golds. The campaign tackled the danger of vehicles overtaking long-haul trucks by attaching plasma-screen TVs onto the back and projecting the lorry driver’s view, allowing cars behind to see what was going on in front. As well as its Cannes success, the campaign enjoyed huge public recognition, encouraging greater road safety not just in Argentina but throughout Latin America. And it’s getting bigger still, as governments and investors are keen to adopt and adapt the idea, making it a permanent fixture on the roads. 

Love, loss and loyalty

Zinny acknowledges that this type of pioneering campaign has a far wider reach than traditional TV commercials. Creating innovative digital work can be exciting, but convincing the clients of the initial idea can be tricky. “Once we pulled [the Safety Truck spot] off, the client realised the advantages of working in a non-conventional way. It took a lot of persuasion because with this type of work you get insecure that it won’t be a hit or shared online. I understand the client’s fear as they don’t want to waste their money on an idea that won’t be popular. But I think we just have more ways to do our work and reach people’s hearts. As creatives, we must be prepared to adapt,” Zinny says.

He expresses some concerns over Argentina’s current economic crisis and wonders what effect the looming election will have on the industry. “In reality, our currency is weaker, our clients are smaller and our budgets are tighter. But we try not to make excuses and we continue to strive for great work.” He thinks TV-led briefs will remain popular, due to the medium’s ability to guarantee an audience, while digital work is riskier. Ultimately, though, Zinny remains excited by the direction that the industry is taking and wants to continue creating work that moves his heart and soul… and maybe even saves people.

As he approaches a fork in the road of his career, Zinny is beginning to weigh up his future. He may not be sure about where it lies, but he’s sure that it will include Maselli – a man who shares his passion for agency life and family values. Despite their loyalty to Argentina and to the agency, the time is ripe for the pair to get some international work under their belts. It’s a tough decision, though. “I love working with Fernando and the others at Leo Burnett – it’s not easy to form a partnership with the president of an agency. So once you find that, there has to be a good reason to break it.”

Zinny knows that Leo Burnett is looking to secure international projects from its Argentine office. However, he isn’t ruling out working abroad. “Ideally we would love to continue working here. But it’s the first time that we’ve begun to listen to offers from agencies overseas.” 

Argentina’s current financial crisis surely plays a part in this. They will both need to ride the national rollercoaster, alongside the daily stresses of being executive creative directors. Zinny is prepared: “There are so many battles to fight every day, but if you’re passionate about the work, you have to suffer.”