Interview: Christian "Tin" Sánchez

How I got into advertising...

As a kid, I loved to draw. I used to I challenge myself, trying to make realistic and almost perfect drawings of what I saw. I also created my own comics and caricatures. My friends in school would even ask me to draw caricatures on their shirts and notebooks, something some of them still remember today. I would, however, do it intuitively, without any technique or knowledge, which is why one summer I told my father I wanted to take an Artistic Drawing class.

I remember I was 14 when my father signed me up for the class. I was really excited because, besides soccer, drawing was the thing I liked the most.

When I arrived at “Directores de Arte & Asociados” - such was the name of the art school - and asked for the Artistic Drawing class, they told me I was not registered in that class but in another one, instead. As it turned out, my father had signed me up for the Advertising Drawing class by mistake.

That is how everything started.

I took the class because the one I originally wanted to take was full and I could not get a refund. I had no chance but to plunge into the advertising world. I remember that at that time I thought advertising was merely about making classified ads.

By the end of the course, I was convinced advertising was my thing. So, once I finished high school, I majored in Advertising Design and before I graduated I was already working in my first agency, Forum & Forum.

At that agency, I experienced the pre-digital era, when art directors made their final graphic arts by hand, with texts, photos and logos made with photographic paper in a photomontage room, where they were cut with a cutter and very neatly pasted on cardboard using glue. I think there I learned the advantages of not depending on a computer to be able to design.

Today, my position as Executive Creative Director of Y&R Peru and the responsibilities it entails do not allow me to design as much, which is something I miss. However, I channel my love for designing through the work of my team.

That is why this award is more the creative team’s at Y&R Peru than mine (Thanks Coqui Soto, Jorge Rocca, Carlos Tapia, Gonzalo Paredes, Beto Noriega, Renato Martinez, Tony Cruz, Carlitos Fernandez, Luis Alonso Vega, Paulo Castro, Serggio Figueroa, Kevin Caro, Maicol Bravo, Javier Montoya y Tomas Alzamora). They are the ones who, day after day, bring their will to take the agency’s work to the next level.   

A run-down of the most recent campaign I worked on...

Our most recent campaign was that of our client Instituto de Idiomas Británico. The idea was based on a social experiment that proves the power of the English language over people who speak Spanish.

The campaign is about to be launched, so I cannot go into details, but as soon as I have it ready, I will share it with all of you.

The next big advertising trend is going to be...

I think the trend will be that this year advertising will drop the rather opportunistic concept of “wanting to save the world”, which is something all brands are doing, or trying to do today.

It has become common practice in the world of advertising to fall into the trap of looking for a safe way to win festivals, and sometimes we follow that trend.

So, this year I imagine the trend will be to stay away from that and start making advertisements based on the attributes of the brand, instead of looking for solutions to the world’s problems.

That is why the category of Design is the one I like the most in festivals. It solves real problems, it is more honest and sincere and above all, it is real.

The piece of advertising work I wish I had thought of is...

From the last work I have seen, the spot “100 years of Leica”. It is really challenging, and its level of crafting is mind-blowing.

And my all-time favorite is “Epoca” by Washington Olivetto

My favorite app at the moment is...

I like music, so the only app I use quite often is Spotify. I am not a very technological person.

The best piece of creative work around at the moment is...

I do not watch a lot of advertising. I take advantage of festivals to catch up a little bit, and I loved 100 years of Leica by Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi. I think it is one of those pieces that causes healthy envy. Both the concept and the art direction are impeccable.

In a film about my life, I’d like to be played by...

Given how fast I am growing old, probably by Morgan Freeman.

A word or phrase I overuse...

“More will than talent”. Also, I like to call everybody “bro”, short for “brother”, a friendly way of calling people.

My last social media update said...

Among the latest updates on my Facebook wall is the news that a spot by Y&R Peru for our client Colgate will be broadcast during the next edition of the Super Bowl. This great project was born from the talented duo of Creative Directors Erick Galván and José Rivera, who are unfortunately no longer working with us and with whom I had the chance to work as Head of Art.

That was spectacular news for us, not only because we feel extremely proud, but also because never before had a Peruvian spot had the chance of enjoying such tremendous exposure. It was a wonderful way to end the year 2015.

My dream collaboration would be with...

A few years ago I got interested in Peruvian creole music, a kind of popular music that appeared many decades ago and that many people believe is disappearing because the new generations know very little about it and do not appreciate it.

I would love to collaborate in a documentary about this music genre. I believe there is a lot of history, richness and material to be recorded and shared. I would love to see what happened years ago with the documentary on Cuban music “Buena Vista Social Club” happen here, as well. So, if Win Wenders wants to come to Peru and work on a documentary on creole music, I would be thrilled to carry some cables around for him :)

A piece of criticism I’ve received was...

From being very stubborn to working too much, the latter being criticism I get a lot from my family.

A great piece of advice I received...

Always be humble. There is always someone from whom you can learn. 

See all Christian "Tin" Sánchez works in Lürzer's Archive