VML’s Rafael Pitanguy on Making Truly Global Work for Coca-Cola

“When you get to New York and work on Coca-Cola, it's like, wow! Now I truly understand what it means to do global work…”

Rafael Pitanguy is the deputy global chief creative officer at VML, and helps lead the Coca-Cola account as global chief creative officer for WPP Open X. Having cut his teeth in Rio de Janeiro, before seeing great success in São Paulo, where he first joined Y&R in 2016, he and his family then moved to New York in 2022 for his global role – and to experience the ball game hot dogs and everything else that comes with the Big Apple.

“It’s the first time I'm reaching a global audience on different projects, with different tones, on different platforms. It's truly amazing,” he tells LBB’s Ben Conway. “I don't know if there's any possible move bigger than [working on] Coca-Cola in Manhattan. I don't know, maybe if they opened an agency on Mars?”

Having joined Y&R São Paulo eight years ago, Rafael has experienced the mergers and business shifts that have resulted in the modern VML network of today. Through these processes, he’s derived an unexpected lesson – that it’s “the best way to find new talent”. He explains, “Creativity is a lot about finding the right people and when you go through a merger, suddenly you're like, ‘Wow, I'm going to be able to work with this person and that person?’ and ‘Wow, they’re a talent, I'm so happy now they’re part of the team!’. So I look at it more from a creative lens, in terms of more talent getting in.”

After the most recent merger between Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, a creative global board meeting gave Rafael and the other leaders a ‘meeting the in-laws’ moment – a “stimulating” experience for him as his horizons opened up to new people, structures and creative opportunities, all while remaining at the agency he had rooted himself into.

“In terms of my role, it's kind of the role I used to have. I’m still the deputy global CCO to Debbie [Vandeven], and I'm one of the creative leads on Coca-Cola for Open X. I stayed in the same place but the floor got bigger. I’m in the same place, doing the same kind of work but with more talent. The difference is the size and the amount of talent that we have around.”

Due to the scale of the account, a lot of Rafael’s focus goes to Coca-Cola. However, because of how wide-reaching those campaigns are, it also gives him an international “x-ray perspective” into the work across the VML network. “To work with Coke is to work in this global deputy role – things intersect and are super combined, so things kind of happen naturally.” 

Of course, working on the Coca-Cola account means collaborating with the other agencies and leaders that form WPP’s Open X agency, led by global CCO Andrew Keller. “He’s a legend, he built the best years of Crispin Porter + Bogusky,” says Rafael. “It’s about sharing a vision and sharing inputs… Things happen in a more conversational style – Andrew contributes, we discuss, we get to a conclusion together. [Open X global president] Kyla Jacobs runs the account and is amazing [too], which is needed because Coke is gigantic. You need a radar to understand what’s going on with the different products.”

With so many brands within Coca-Cola’s portfolio, Rafael says it’s vital that there’s a central pillar with a unique vision and classic branding to come back to. Open X’s VML-led ‘Every Coca-Cola is Welcome’ campaign recently explored this, showcasing how dozens of business owners around the world advertised the drink with their own creative – yet unmistakable – interpretations of the Coke branding.

“I don't see this project coming to life without a strong network, where I can call the CCO in South Africa and ask for a producer to scout the most random places, or call Australia, Spain or Mexico. Everyone got together because they believed in the idea and we said, ‘let's make it happen as a network’.”

Noting the difficulty and weight that comes with working with the “sacred” Coca-Cola logo, Rafael says the campaign brings a human element by embracing the imperfections and quirks of its many, albeit unofficial, replications in the world.

“We are super happy with it. The markets are happy. And it’s funny, now I get sent random pictures from friends saying, ‘Hey, here's another one for the campaign!’. People are being more incorporated into the campaign because it's something that you see everywhere.”

The variety in Coca-Cola’s work means Rafael oversees smaller projects as well as things like big shoots with Academy Award-winning directors, or the recording of an original song with the likes of Jon Batiste for Coke Studio. “This is what makes it more incredible,” he says. “These huge perspectives around it.”

Recently, one key driver of change within the work has been the rise of AI – especially with WPP’s Open platform. Explaining how it’s evolved the work he does with Coca-Cola, Rafael says the change was rapid. Within a month or two, the teams had to adapt to a new approach and processes, especially in the art department. “It changed completely. The quantity of [different] looks and feels that you can get, in terms of different visuals and illustrations in the craft is really great.”

Using the AI tools primarily at the start of projects, he says, however, that it’s vital to not lose the human aspect of the work. “You need to go all in, but keep your criticism and your human vision in control of the entire process.” 

He continues, “In a way, AI simplifies the work, but it can make it too simplistic as well. We need to look at a deeper layer, in terms of emotions and the way you touch people's hearts. So the combination, with the tech and the craft that it brings on one side, needs to have heart on the other. This combination is where the great work comes from.”

Looking ahead to the rest of 2024 and beyond, it’s not just this combination of tech and humanity that excites Rafael. He is also looking forward to the global collaboration and integration provided by VML’s network of agencies and talent - “bringing the network together as one unique team”.

With so many agencies in different countries, he says his “mission” is to make VML “even more combined” as a network. “Let’s combine our powers like the Marvel heroes do and go as one combined team,” he says. “This is how the best work comes to life! You have more fun during the process and you have different local visions and backgrounds in the work. This is the most interesting part of advertising and agency life right now for me – the different perspectives that you can bring to the work. It’s something that wasn't here maybe 10 or 15 years ago. It's a huge change, and for the better.”

And this drive for collaboration extends beyond the limits of VML too – expanding to the entire WPP family of network agencies. This is most apparent in Rafael’s capacity with the Open X team for Coca-Cola, as he works on a creative board alongside leaders from AKQA, Ogilvy and more. “Of course, at some point we are, let's say, competing for one specific piece of business. But we are mostly contributing and discussing work and sharing opinions, which I think is great. I love to be in the same building with all these people that I admire. I can just press a button in the elevator and get into a great conversation.”

Above: WPP Open X's Grand Prix-winning campaign 'Recycle Me'

This certainly helps as, like with any major brand, several huge projects are always underway for Coke. At the beginning, this can be overwhelming for creatives who aren’t yet familiar with the tone of the work, or who don’t fully understand the importance of each aspect – the bottle, the logo, the ribbon. However, after a few projects, he says, “It gets less hard once you start to understand what the brand represents and learn about its iconicity… Probably by the third project, their work will lean much more towards what the brand represents.” 

This is assisted by Coca-Cola’s own team, who are happy to contribute, and many of whom have an agency background too. “They're really smart. If you’re working in the communication or marketing department at Coca-Cola, you are one of the best - so there's a lot to learn [from them].”

He adds, “You feel that you need to get to a meeting with something amazing, because you’re in front of super smart people that have done amazing work before. So you can't get there with work that you don't truly believe in and expect it to be well-received. You have to bring the best.”

So whether the spark for the next campaign comes from his creative team, or from a WhatsApp message from the client, one of the benefits of Coca-Cola’s societal omnipresence is that inspiration is never too far away. The brand can be found on most streets, outside businesses, in magazines and films. “The Beatles sang about it!” laughs Rafael. “So if the brand is around, ideas are also floating and circulating, so it’s not rare to get an insight at different points.”