From Lisbon to London: Sara Soares & Maria Inês Leiria
Tell us about you how you met and how long you’ve worked together?
We met over a decade ago, at JWT Lisbon. We weren’t a team then, just friends. We worked in the same agency again, a couple of years later, at McCann-Erickson Lisbon. That’s when we “cheated” on our partners, won the Portuguese Young Lions together and decided we wanted to be a team and leave Portugal. You know, total mayhem, burn the house down and leave the country. For better or worse, we’ve been creative partners ever since.
How would you describe the relationship between you two? In what ways has the dynamic changed since you first began working together?
We’re both very strong and very opinionated individuals. It’s not always easy to manage a creative relationship, especially the more you grow, the more you do, the more you know yourself too. But we try very hard to always respect the other and we have big chats about our relationship. We also learned to navigate better and worse periods. For teams like us, that have been together forever, it really feels like a long marriage. (We know what the other is thinking, finish each other sentences and never have sex).
Tell us about the first campaign you’ve worked on as a duo.
The first campaign we worked on together was an all-agency brief for Amnesty International, to increase signatures for Amnesty International’s petitions in Portugal. We won with “Give your name to freedom” - a campaign that explained why signatures have so much power and encouraged people to donate their signature to Amnesty International, via the first Signatures bank in the world.
Do you have a favorite campaign you’ve worked on together? What makes it special?
Recently we’ve relaunched Avon, with a new global platform. You know, that stuff on your grandma's dressing table? Well, that stuff is not only affordable, it’s actually amazing quality. And it comes from a company that has empowered women even before female empowerment was fashionable. Avon. Watch Me Now.
The premise is simple. Avon, like their products, like their representatives, like women across the globe, are suffering from low self-esteem and underselling themselves. And we’ve had enough of that. Especially in the aftermath of this pandemic, when the world faces a huge regression on gender equality. From women disproportionally losing their jobs to being overburdened and in burnout, as the primary caretakers in the house, and with domestic violence numbers rising overwhelmingly worldwide.
We’re not claiming one campaign can change all of that, but it can (and good advertising always should) help empower women to own their story, celebrate their journey of becoming, recognize and act on their potential.
What has been the hardest part of working together? How do you resolve creative conflicts?
Like any relationship, communication is queen. And you need to want to make it work. There are plenty of different people out there and if a team isn’t working, don’t stay together. Also, if you need a break, try working with someone else. That can be very inspiring too. And maybe you’ll find you like each other best, even with your problems (does anyone else feel like a marital counselor?) In relation to our creative conflicts, because we’re quite senior now, we tend to allocate projects where one of us will lead. And even though we always give suggestions on each other’s work, each has final say on our own fields (copy vs. art).
Is there any advice you’d give to young creatives looking for a partner or a duo just getting their start?
If you’re at the start of your career, it’s best for you to find someone with a similar vision and criteria, that you fully trust. When we started, we were completely open to the other’s inputs and fully trusted each other. It was a true partnership, that made us both better creatives and better people. Don’t stop searching until you find a partner that makes you grow like that.
Do you have a dream account that you haven’t had the opportunity to work on yet?
Pepsi was probably one that got away (we almost went to TBWA/ Chiat Day LA and we would have worked on that). We’re 90s kids, and Pepsi is at the same time nostalgic and in need of a big revamp. They have a challenger attitude, they have strong connections to music, they are a fun brand. If they weren’t unhealthy as hell, they’d be perfect!