Fabio Caveira OPPO China’s Senior Creative and Art Director: The World will return to a new normal

Last November, Brazilian art director Fabio Caveira joined OPPO China’s in-house agency as Senior Creative and Art Director.

He is also joining this year’s Ad Stars Awards jury, which are open free-of-charge until 15th May with a $10,000 prize for Grand Prix of the Year winners.

Caveira’s career has taken him all over the world from Brazil to Portugal, Poland, Romania, Jordan, Qatar and, most recently, China. After working at several multinationals including J. Walter Thompson, M&C Saatchi, Leo Burnett and Y&R, he became curious to know what it would be like to join an in-house agency.

So, Caveira (pictured) moved to Shenzhen City to join OPPO – the third biggest mobile company in the world behind Samsung and Huawei (Apple now sits in fourth spot). We spoke to him to find out how he’s settling into life in China.

China is getting back on its feet after COVID-19 first emerged. What have you learned from the experience?
On January 3, we were informed by the government that all companies, public transport, schools, and non-essential services should remain closed until further notice. OPPO was closed for over a month, with all employees working from home and meetings held via ZOOM or WeChat. In the beginning the kick off was a mess, but after a few days the situation was back on track. I hope we’ve realized that some long meetings could be a videoconference or even an e-mail.

But working remotely is not for everyone, for sure. For example, I really missed interacting with people to discuss ideas, even if it’s just one person. At the office I can concentrate easily and manage my time better, at home that are many distractions.

Do you have any advice for creatives in other markets who are still in lockdown?
If I have any advice, it would be to stay home and stay safe, try to avoid being focused 100% of the time on the social media, try to get information only from official agencies, avoiding fake news, which during this period, more than ever, disturbs only by creating panic and chaos. Use this time to rethink, not only the ways in which you can work, but also how you can live from now on. The world after this situation will return not to normal, but to a new normal.

We’re all having a chance to re-evaluate attitudes and behaviors that we take with the world and with other people. I can say that we can learn that most of the things that we believed to be necessary are not and we should try to live our lives in an easier and simpler way and stop complicating things.

Are there any inspiring projects taking place in China to help with COVID-19?
New services, such as meal delivery robots used to reach people in hospitals and quarantine areas, have been tested in some cities. Drones were used by the government to assist in the inspection of some quarantine areas and in the circulation of masks in specific areas. The QR code system was widely used to inform the daily health situation of the population and also to allow employee access in most companies, as well as temperature scanners.

You joined OPPO last November. Why were you curious to join an in-house agency?
The advertising business model is changing, but nobody knows where it’s heading to. Some in-house agencies are becoming real powerhouses, as they are close to marketing strategists and decision-making teams with fewer layers in the process. Some are hiring creatives disappointed with the way creativity is being perceived in the agencies, and building new formats of these structures.

What is OPPO doing to keep people connected in China?
In the early days of the outbreak in China, OPPO’s HR and IT departments worked together to develop an intranet system for employees worldwide to report daily health updates. Some of our workers were sent to assist in the production of facial masks at other factories and in late February, we also arranged cross-province buses to pick up employees and bring them back to work as domestic transportation was impacted by the epidemic.

The company still takes preventive actions, carrying out a comprehensive disinfection of offices and factories, providing face masks and disinfectant to employees on site and disinfecting stores daily. We also launched an online platform to provide services like COVID-19 news updates and online diagnosis inquiries to help people get access to the latest information.

OPPO donated 30,000,000 RMB, close to 4.5 million USD, to help buy medical supplies. Recently the company donated masks to European countries and Japan to help local healthcare professionals.

I believe that one of the factors that helped China to face the COVID-19 problem was the fact that culture is more connected in the collective than in the individual, as in most Western countries. The common good comes before the individual here.

What is the best part of your job?
The people from OPPO’s in-house agency are very young, eager to learn, and most of the team from my department is Chinese, so it’s a big challenge as some of them don’t speak English, thus exchanging experience can be hard sometimes. But as I said before, this is the best part and I guess I can say that after all these movements I made, I’ve become easily adaptable to different cultural backgrounds, and that I can manage the differences in my favor.

Here at OPPO I’m dealing with the launching of new products and working for markets overseas. The company started to bring people from abroad with experience in different markets, but it’s a new movement.

What can you tell us about OPPO’s vision and your goals for the brand?
OPPO understands technology as an art form and you can see it clearly in OPPO’s communication: all materials are wonderfully crafted and bring an excellent aesthetic sense.

For any creative, even more for an art director, it looks like paradise. We are always looking for the best partners to bring our ideas to life, whether they are in China, Europe, South America, or anywhere else.

I come from a market where you learn to do the best with almost nothing; now, for the first time in my career I have time and budget to work. So I give 100% to all projects, no matter if it is a big launch of a new product or a simple wallpaper. OPPO hired me to show different ways of working and see what can come out of this mix of different backgrounds, and that’s my main objective here.

Can you describe your creative process: what is the first thing you do when you receive a new brief? How do you find your way to a solution?
When I get a new brief, it’s always the same feeling. I sit and look at the blank page or screen and think… “I’m f**d”, ha, ha.

One of my young colleagues at OPPO asked me the same question, so I will give the same answer. We need to understand that ideas come first. Before you sit down and start doing something on the computer, you need to understand what has to be done. You need to write, draw, throw stupid ideas at your partner until you find a way to solve the brief.

A lot of your work features amazing illustrations and graphics. Do you like to draw or paint? Do you have a creative hobby outside of work?
My grandfather was a painter and there were always big portraits, paints and brushes around in his house, which certainly influenced me a lot.

I always liked illustrations and I drew a lot when I was a kid and, when I was younger, I collected all kinds of comic books and even my university’s final project was related to it: the theme was the history of illustration from cave art on.

I like to travel, to see different things and be inspired by them. I also make digital collages, but it’s very personal and some people don’t understand it. In my collages I don’t have a brief, I am the creative, the account and the creative director, and the result of it often does not depend on how I imagine the work, but on how others see it.

You’re judging Ad Stars in Busan this August. What are you most looking forward to?
I am honored to represent Brazil in the final jury of Ad Stars 2020.

As a festival in which almost all entries are free and with an international and diverse jury, you can say that Ad Stars is one of the most democratic awards we can find, where big networks, mid-size agencies, and small hot shops can compete.

This year will be atypical as Ad Stars will probably take place before other major festivals, so we will see many award-winning ideas before most of these festivals.

And it will always be an opportunity to see materials from Asian countries that have a very peculiar work with a strong local flavor, which is always very exciting.

* Entries to the Ad Stars 2020 Awards close on 15th May. Entry is free; submit your entries here.