MAD STARS preliminary judging is over and the finalists have been announced. Manuel Hoffmann, regional creative director on General Motors at South America Pacific HUB, McCann Colombia, was one of the judges.
Hoffman has a long relationship with McCann, with prior roles as creative director for Chevrolet Ecuador & Peru at Commonwealth//McCann and senior copywriter at Casanova//McCann Prior to his current McCann position, he was creative director at Lanfranco & Cordova New York. During his career he has made work for Chevrolet, OnStar, The Coca-Cola Company, Mastercard, AB InBev, Nestlé, New York Lottery, Walmart, US Army, Thumbtack, Dole Sunshine Company, Jansen Pharmaceuticals, as well as a range of NGOs and government organisations.
His work has been recognised with over 100 awards at The Andy’s, D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio Awards, Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards and the Effies; and he has been invited to judge at Clio Health, Effie Awards Latin America, Effie Global Best of the Best Awards, New York Festival and MAD STARS.
What does he believe a great campaign is made of, The Stable asked? And what does a great creative career rely on?
The Stable: Nominate three to five campaigns – from any period in time outside MAD STARS’ 2025 submissions period, that you think are the greatest of all time (so far).
Manuel Hoffman: This is a tough question 😱. There are many campaigns done by great creatives to pick only five…
For Everyone: Coca-Cola. You know it is one of the greatest campaigns of all time when the idea is still relevant to date and the brand keeps relaunching it.
Original (McCann Argentina)
2025
The most interesting man in the world: Dos Equis. Countless campaigns, great copywriting through all the years it ran and a phrase that some times pops up in conversations, internet memes or… interviews.
Winning isn’t comfortable: Nike. Love all the work from Nike, but for this interview I chose one of their most recent campaigns. It’s an example of strategic accuracy, a lesson on how to leverage insights and creativity that connects 100% with the audience.
Shot on iPhone: Apple. An example of brand consistency at a global scale where the product’s benefit is king. I think it has ran since 2015 and Apple keeps giving it a cool spin without forgetting its strategic foundations.
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like: Old Spice. This campaign sets the bar and became part of culture. Personal care (deodorants) is a tough category believed it was a boring one until this campaign launched. I believe is an example of how unusual ideas always makes the difference no matter what.
Bonus Track 😬
The Ice Bucket Challenge. Although it wasn’t done by an ad agency, I believe it should have its place as one of the greatest campaigns of all time.
The Stable: What skills, attributes and experience do a creative need to reach the top tiers?
Passion. I will say passion for what you do is the most important thing, in advertising or any industry. If you don’t truly love what you do it will be very difficult to succeed.
Listen to understand not to respond. When you’re a CD you spend a lot of time listening to creative teams, account executives or clients and if you start to truly listen, your work and the environment will be a lot better.
Curiosity about advertising and outside of advertising. You need to be curious about advertising to the point you become an ad nerd. This will help you know what has been done, how it was done, who did that piece of work you admire and inspire you. You also need to be curious about what is happening outside of advertising. Begin your day by reading the news, read about other industries and innovations and most important, bring your personal life experiences to every brief.
Learn more about the agency and client business. If you’re a creative, learn how does an agency makes money by talking to your CFO or someone with more experience in this area. Get more interested about your client’s business too, it will give you more credibility and earn you more trust from your client.
Work hard and stay humble. I take advertising as a sport (let’s say soccer), where the players who put in the hours, practise more and are committed, make the goals. If you work hard, success will come – and when it does, be humble.
Patience. If you are starting as a creative, follow the work not job titles or money. Try to go where you can do your best work, because eventually that will attract better opportunities.
