PANCHO GONZÁLEZ
Pancho González is co-founder and chief creative officer at Inbrax, Santiago de Chile. He tried his hand at advertising when he didn’t get the test score to do medicine at university. “It turned out to be the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Image: Pancho González
At the moment I am working on...
We have just created the first notebook recycling campaign in Chile, “The Rhein Ecollege Award 2013” (a word blend of ‘ecology’ and ‘college’). It was developed for our client Rhein, a local notebook company.
We invited schools in the country to recycle their books and the school that collected the most for recycling in a month would be the winner of the award. The Minister of the Environment even got involved. The funds raised went to Fundación San José (a children’s adoption NGO).
We had recycled thousands of books; hundreds of schools had participated; and we had hundreds of press clips. As a direct result of this campaign, Inbrax has since been selected as one of the 100 innovation projects of Imagina Chile, a government innovation project. We are in the process of preparing the 2014 campaign.
The best piece of creative work around at the moment is...
Environmental initiatives have always attracted my attention. After every festival, I dedicate special attention to analysing winning works. So, for me, the best piece of creativity at the moment is "Invisible Car" from Mercedes Benz, created by Jung Von Matt. An electric car is a car that doesn't pollute, and a car that doesn't pollute is as if it does not exist. Just great. Very well produced and with a social performance that recently made this idea one of the most award-winning around the world.
I am inspired by...
My wife, my family, my colleagues at Inbrax, worldwide advertising stars, life, skateboarding, and snowboarding. Also, entrepreneurs who start with small ideas and which have today become sustainable business projects with value.
This year I’ll be attending...
This year I was invited to be a jury member at the Webby Awards in the US, Mercury Awards in China, Cresta Awards Grand Jury (USA), Final Jury at Festival of Media Global (USA), Creativity (USA) and a guest speaker at Commercial Association of Maranhão, Brazil. This year I was also invited to be an associate member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in the US.
In up and coming talent, I look for...
People who love this profession and who are more concerned with what to do and not with what to be.
The next big thing in advertising is going to be...
Media alone will not survive; they will need to coexist with other media, even with direct competitors. I'm talking about the popularity of trans-media at all levels, working in conjunction with new media television (social networks, videogames, smartphones, storytelling, street actions, etc.).
This includes press and graphics acting together with e-books, augmented reality, mobile apps and digital channels, mixed with social networks. Videogames know social networks and TV storytelling and written copy complements this.
For instance, social networks collaborating with TV and create new channels, achieving never-before-seen levels of interaction; profiles existing on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest who are really actors or characters from a trans-media series (which could be action, fiction, non-fiction, documentaries or reality) simply taken from TV commercials or from ad campaigns. Brands, at this point, will bet on social placement in addition to this trans-media phenomenon.
The piece of digital work I wish I had thought of is...
Twitter has become an interactive channel of communication with consumers; a channel that helps consumers. Taking advantage of this input, Best Buy created Twelp Force, a combination of ‘help’ and ‘Tweet’, to connect their sales staff with consumers' questions.
This is an idea that I wish I had thought of - the simplicity of the implementation and the empowerment of the salesperson is simply inspiring. I’m sure that many brands after seeing this campaign have decided to activate their social networks and, of course, would like to create a similar idea like Twelp Force, but with a different name. Twelp Force is an idea that has created added value for clients and brands.
In a film about my life, I’d like to be played by...
Tony Hawk. The skateboarding could jeopardise my career as an advertising man.
The screen background on my mobile phone is ...
Carol Pinheiro, my wife, my partner, my personal coach, my friend, my lover.
My last social media update said...
What is the ethnographic vision of the Chilean consumer?
My dream collaboration is...
Dream that someday Inbrax will collaborate with or be part of a global network of agencies.
A piece of criticism I’ve received was...
“Pancho, don’t be a Pirelli (power is nothing without control)”.
The last piece of music I listened to was...
Depeche Mode’s “Delta Machine”.
Video: Best Buy "Twelp Force: Case Study"
