5 minutes with… Carmela Soares

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne executive creative director on working in three continents, gender diversity and puppies.

Brazilian-born Carmela Soares has worked in South America, Europe and Australasia, in agencies from Ogilvy to DM9DDB, JWT and Havas. Late last year she moved from her role as Isobar Australia’s national creative director to become executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.

With her previous three years spent at digitally-focused shop Isobar, Soares approaches creative challenges from a digital and technological perspective, but with a background working in three continents and speaking five languages, she’s got a breadth of experience not often matched in the industry.

LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Soares to find out how her perspective affects her work as a creative leader at one of the world’s top agencies.

LBB: Growing up in Brazil, what do you remember about your early thoughts on advertising? Were you interested from an early age?

CS: Definitely. My father is a creative director, and my mother worked as an art director for ten years. I remember first reading One Show books when I was about seven. I thought the ads were funny, and I liked the charm of the ideas. I didn’t want to go into advertising though, I wanted to be a ballerina. Continue reading the article on LBB…