Der Art Director Gaston Soto (links) und sein Text-Partner Omar Sotomayor.
Cannes Young Lions Competition 2010: Gold in der Kategorie Print geht an das Team aus Peru; Gaston Soto und Omar Sotomayor. Ein Jahr später sind die beiden in der Kategorie Film am Start, diesmal – weil sie mittlerweile in Chicago arbeiten – als Team "USA Hispanic". Und sie gewinnen wieder Gold. Wie schafft man das? Hype5 hat Gaston Soto 5 Fragen gestellt.
Where do you get inspired? Sometimes we’re lucky and we get a thought provocative brief, but ultimately I think the best ideas come from hard work. I don’t think there’s a specific place, source or moment for inspiration. Sometimes it comes from a past experience, an object you see, a person that walks by, an unexpected event, and sometimes it just happens.
You have won Gold twice at the Cannes Young Lions Competition. What changed for you after that? Thanks to the first award, my partner and I were able to come from Circus Leo Burnett Lima Perú to Lápiz Leo Burnett Chicago. So, yes, these awards definitely impacted my professional career, but didn’t change me as a person. I’ve always been very passionate about what I do and I’m still working hard to improve my portfolio and create better brand stories. After all, an award can open a window of opportunities (and we’re enormously thankful for that), but then recruiters hire people because of what their entire work can say about them.
What's your advice for the young creatives who want to win this year's Young Lions Competition? Start by deeply understanding the brief and do not skip parts of the process. Also, remember that an idea can't be great if it just lives in your head. It has to be great on other people’s eyes. So pay special attention to the final execution, because good crafting has more merit when time is limited. Play hard as a team; I think we were able to win because Omar (my partner and an amazing copywriter) and I were committed to achieve a final result we could feel proud of. And finally, have fun, tons of fun!
Any tips for Young Lions who come to Cannes for the first time? Don’t get drunk the first night! Everything is great at the festival and it can be overwhelming, but it’s definitely worth it to be a little disciplined. At Cannes Lions you’ll be exposed to the power of ideas at its maximum expression, so watch every single category (from big integrated campaigns to small internet banners) and attend as many speakers’ sessions as possible. Keep asking questions to yourself and you’ll find some great answers there.
If you had the choice: Which agencies would you like to work for? There are a lot of great places to work out there, but in this challenging world we live in I admire the consistency of Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5, BBH and different agencies such as Jung Von Matt. I would love to work for one of these agencies or any other place that supports great ideas. In the future, I would love to own a small agency in Peru and work hard to help my people there. But I don’t have that choice yet.
Cannes Young Lions Film Competition 2011: Der Siegerfilm von Gaston Soto und Omar Sotomayor.
Cannes Young Lions Print Competition 2010: Das Siegermotiv von Gaston Soto und Omar Sotomayor.
