Who's Who: Andre Sallowicz & Simon Vicars
Simon and Andre are Creative Directors at Adam&EveDDB London. As Creatives they’ve won 57 Cannes Lions, including an Outdoor Grand Prix, Titanium, and 19 Golds. They’ve featured in the prestigious Cannes Top Ten Rankings more times than any other Creatives in the festival’s history. Their work on DB Export, Getty Images, Samsung, Pedigree, and Burger King have become case studies in advertising creativity and effectiveness. In 2017, their Pedigree Child Replacement Programme became the 3rd most awarded campaign in the world.
How did you get into advertising?
Andre: I did a Career Test before university, and advertising was the first option on the list, so I trusted my young heart and here I am.
Simon: My partner and I were interning at JWT, but during our lunch break we’d sneak down the road and work at Saatchi & Saatchi. We double interned long enough to get a job but not quite long enough to kill ourselves.
Can you give us a run-down of the most recent campaign you worked on?
Cat Borrowers. It’s a campaign for Temptations treats. Rather than just selling cat food to cat owners, we’re selling it to the millions of cat borrowers around the world. Shake a pack of Temptations, and the neighbor’s cat will come over. It’s like the Uber of cat ownership. Cat borrowers are everywhere. It’s one of those ideas based on solid truth, that’s made for a really disruptive integrated campaign. If you don’t have a cat, borrow one.
What do you think the piece of advertising work you wish you had thought of is?
Andre: Tide Ad. It’s simple to understand, carries a truth at the heart, was executed in an unexpected way, and the sales results were instantaneous. All the elements of greatness were there.
Simon: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, for Old Spice. The execution was so different from anything else I’d seen, and the thinking behind the madness was so strategically sound. It turned a dusty brand into an icon. It still makes my envy boil.
Your favorite digital tool/app at the moment is?
Andre: My Monzo App. It's an incredible mobile app that comes with a prepaid debit card. Finally, my financial life is organized.
Simon: Yup, Monzo. Best app in the world.
A word or phrase you overuse?
Andre: “Do you know what I meant?” (to check if people understood my Portuguese English)
Simon: “Um.” I need electroshock treatment.
What did your last social media update say?
Andre: An Afternoon at the Farm. (It was about a fantastic day during my last holidays at my parent’s house in the countryside of Brazil.)
Simon: Second powder day in Chamonix.
Your dream collaboration is?
Andre: Adidas. I love the tone of this brand, it’s disruptive, underground and it comes with soul.
Simon: New Zealand is an amazing global brand. Maybe I’m a little homesick and surf-deprived, but any project that positively benefitted an entire nation would be something I’d jump at. I’d also like to work with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Wrestlers are some of the best Copywriters in the world.
A great piece of advice I received…
Andre: It was actually from a movie. It’s a quote from “The Last Samurai”. The quote is about mind control, it’s about focus, and being in the moment. “Mind the sword, mind the people watching, mind your enemy. Too many mind...”
Simon: “I hate good meetings” was something that Nick Worthington (Creative Chairman, Colenso BBDO) used to say. It was his way of always focusing our energy on making the work, rather than talking about the work.
The last piece of music you listened to was?
Simon: Baby Shark.
Andre: Mariana Froes is a young Brazilian girl. She's only 15 years old and has an incredible voice. The video featuring the music Girassóis de Van Gogh went viral in the first week. She is great!
