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To coincide with International Women’s Day, WPP brings together 16 brilliant women and men from across its global network, in eight conversations about the industry, equality and the impact of our work on wider society.

CEO of Grey in Brazil, Luciana Rodrigues, and Business Development Director of Bookmark in Lima, Peru, Cristina Risso, discuss the importance of human connection with technology and its role in enabling ideas and greater collaboration. 

Cristina Risso: How would you describe the current creative and/or tech landscape in Latin America?

Luciana Rodrigues: There’s been a big change triggered by the emergence of technology companies that are less about content and more about data that informs content. For me, the biggest shift is how we use tech knowledge to help inform our ideas.

Last year I attended SXSW and after 10 days of absorbing a lot of information, I wrote an article for Forbes titled Human Connection. Even in SXSW, where everything is focused on technology and data, at the end of the day it's all about how humans interact with it.

Technology can enable us to do a better job in terms of creativity, in terms of content, even in terms of creating products. I believe advertising should not only start creating content but also cover everything from ideas, to products, to experience. And GTB Brazil are actually a great example of this, having created the Accessibility Mat for disabled drivers.

CR: Absolutely. Technology is enabling Bookmark, as a business with multiple offices around the world, to work much more closely. We can share best practice and increasingly learn more from each other, which is definitely helping us evolve more quickly locally.

Learning from other countries, other cultures and other industries is essential for us to continue to grow

On that point, do you feel technology is enabling us to have a greater connection with people – whether that’s clients, consumers or broader communities?

LR: Absolutely. With more information, we know more about what motivates and moves people.

What we do is not just about brand-building or selling products, it's helping people to have a better life and helping people find the services they need. Sometimes it’s even just about entertaining people. Simple as it sounds, first and foremost we need to understand “how” and then “where”.

More broadly, I feel one of the best things about the emergence of data is getting to know how different cultures work and the idea of a borderless world. We need to learn from other cultures. We can't just stick to what we know and say, “in Brazil we work like this”.

Technology can enable us to do a better job in terms of creativity, in terms of content, even in terms of creating products. I believe advertising should not only start creating content but also cover everything from ideas, to products, to experience

There is a saying that I really love: “Everyone wants to innovate, but nobody wants to change.” I think the increasingly borderless world will hopefully enable change and growth. Learning from other countries, other cultures and other industries is essential for us to continue to grow. I worked in advertising for 18 years and then moved to Time Warner and spent five years working on TV. Then I worked at Buzzfeed. I feel that I have a different mindset and different experience – diversity of experience is so valuable in our industry.

International Women's Day is important because…

CR: … it drives visibility. It's important to make visible the inequality that has historically always existed. These kinds of initiatives help us to understand and learn from those mistakes as a society.

LR: Absolutely, but at the same time it’s something that we continue to need, to be ongoing.

 

Read more from our #EachforEqual in conversation series