5 Minutes with… João Coutinho and Marco Pupo
Photo, left to right: Suzanne Barbosa, managing director, João and Marco
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Work eventually took them north to the US. After a stint at Grey New York, they went their separate ways, Marco to McCann and João to VMLY&R, before coming back together to launch Atlantic in 2021, whose name is a celebration of the vast body of water that connects their native homelands and the city they now call home.
Suzanne Barbosa joined Atlantic as its first managing director in the summer of 2022, leaving her role at MullenLowe New York. The three had previously worked together at Grey. What’s more, Atlantic’s Super Bowl 2023 campaign for Blockbuster - which it launched on VHS - was watched by an audience nine times that of the Big Game itself.
To find out more about that, the challenges of becoming “juniors again”, and the influence that the late Per Pedersen had on the launch of their agency, LBB’s Addison Capper chatted with João and Marco.
LBB> Tell me about the 'countercurrent' - what is it and what role does it play in how Atlantic operates?
João and Marco> The countercurrent is our way of searching for solutions to every problem. We believe it takes purposeful experimentation to find territories that haven’t been explored before. So we start by analysing where all things are going – where the trends and tides are headed (of course we make maritime analogies) – and then we purposefully navigate against them and ride that countercurrent
LBB> How did Atlantic come to be? What inspired you both to launch your own agency?
João and Marco> For years we had this idea in the back of our minds. We always spoke about it. But we lived in a country that wasn’t native to us, and always had good ‘stable’ jobs, so we teetered back and forth on the decision to jump ship and have at it. In 2020, however, the pandemic made that decision for us. And it was the best thing that ever happened to us.
The name Atlantic came to us after exploring a lot of options. We had some weird options, like ‘The Last Agency Before the Bots’, to beautiful names like ‘ZE’ in homage to our parents Zeca and Ze. But ended up with the name Atlantic, because we felt it was timeless and had a really nice meaning to it. João is from Portugal, Marco is from Brazil, and we’ve been calling NYC our home for a decade. What connects all these places we love is the Atlantic Ocean.
LBB> What did you want to do differently compared to the places you had worked at before?
João and Marco> We’re always careful not to be ungrateful for the places we’ve worked before. They were all part of the process to get us to where we are and we’re very thankful to all of them. But a lot of things are wrong with our industry right now. Most big agencies are, funnily enough, the least friendly places for big ideas to be nurtured. Too many layers, too many people in every meeting, and too many weekends and late nights leading to burnout. And In too many cases, we’ve become a creative industry run by people who don’t understand the true meaning of an idea. It doesn’t have to be that way. We need creatives at the helm again. We’ve been doing most of our work to improve those things: a better place for ideas to be discussed and made, and a good work-life balance for the people who make them.
LBB> Tell me a bit about yourselves as a duo - how did you begin working together and why has your partnership flourished for so long?
João and Marco> We met in 2013 while working at Ogilvy in São Paulo, Brazil. It was a really special time for that office. We learned so much alongside a stellar team, and made work that contributed to Ogilvy being named the best agency in the world by Cannes.
After that, we got an offer to move to New York. At Grey New York, we had the opportunity to work on incredible accounts like Volvo, Canon, Bosch, Gillette, Fitbit and States United to Prevent Gun Violence. Our work helped Grey to become the best agency in North America for two years in a row, and the number two agency in the world according to Cannes, also for two years in a row.
After that dream season, we split up for a couple of years. Marco went to McCann New York and João to VMLY&R. We were doing well by ourselves, but at the same time, we missed the fun of being a team. We always complemented each other really well, not only creatively, but also as business leaders. We’re different, but our skills mesh perfectly. So the time came and we decided to get back together. Now here we are, with our own independent shop.
LBB> You are both creatives - how did you find the challenge of having to also act as CEO, CFO, etc. while setting up Atlantic? And how does that creative experience influence the way you run the business?
João and Marco> We make fun of ourselves every day about that. After decades of experience as creatives and seasoned creative leaders, we became juniors again. Junior entrepreneurs. Junior CEOs. Junior CFOs. We made as many mistakes as we could possibly make, especially in the beginning when it was just the two of us. Now we’re lucky to be surrounded by incredible talent that can do all those things with tons of experience.
LBB> Your website says, "We rather stay small." What are the benefits of that and how does it influence your future vision for the agency?
João and Marco> We of course want to grow when it makes sense for our business and our clients, but it’s never going to be our sole driving force. To us, it’s all about sustainable growth, where you still maintain control of the business, and still put out the highest quality work. Nothing suffers.
We never want to be in a place where we say yes to every project just to maintain our overhead. Nor do we want to say yes to unfair pitches, or deal with brands that bring ourselves and our staff to burnout.
We didn’t start Atlantic to chase money. We started Atlantic because we wanted to find our way to be happy in this industry again while making the best work of our careers. And we will continue to make all the decisions to create that place, even if that means slower growth.
We believe this mentality is good for our clients, too.
LBB> As the agency does grow, what are your key considerations when hiring new talent and staff?
João and Marco> We can all agree that nothing is more important in this industry than talent. So we’re picky. Not only when it comes to craft and skills, but also when it comes to their passion for making this industry more pleasant for everyone who works in it. Make great work while leaving the industry better than you found it. That’s a philosophy we will continue to build - and always have done - the foundation of Atlantic on.
We also look for people with a better vision for this business than ourselves. We don’t want to be control freaks and impose our vision. Of course, we do have one, but we’re always looking to be challenged and to support better ways of doing things. We want people who don’t want just another job. We want people who want to shape the agency with us. We’re still a blank page. Everything is yet to be written.
LBB> Speaking of, last year you hired Suzanne Barbosa as your first MD. Why is she the perfect person to help lead the agency?
João and Marco> To our last point, Suzi is not just a phenomenal business leader, she’s a real force for change. What made us so passionate about working with her was how aligned she was with creating an agency that is not all about growth and profit, but that’s a special place where people can be happy while making great work. We had multiple calls before making a final decision, and every call reassured us that it was the right move. Plus, the three of us worked together previously at Grey, and we were a great team.
Suzi continues to surprise us every day with her power, positive energy and constant outperformance of all of our expectations.
LBB> Tell me about some recent work you're really proud of and why.
João and Marco> We’re really proud of three campaigns we launched recently. Our last work for Blockbuster, where we launched a Super Bowl commercial on VHS, was a fun one to make, but the results for the brand were the best part. The brand saw an uptick of 1400% in rentals and online merchandise sales on the week after the Super Bowl, and its commercial was watched by an audience nine times larger than the actual Super Bowl, with no media dollars spent. That’s straight proof of how creativity and a good idea can impact any type of business. (You can read more about the creation of this campaign here.)
Another piece of work is ‘The Prime Ball’, for Amazon Prime Video. We’re proud of the partnership and the trust and optimism the client put forth to make this idea a reality. We were up against a tough challenge of not only having to define a new space for the brand’s partnership with NFL’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ but also to turn avid sports fans from sceptical haters into faithful users of the service. The work needed to have the right personality and gusto to connect with these sports fans, and we’re super proud of the lasting impact it’s had for the brand, the fans and streaming platforms overall.
The last one is ‘The Streaming Undies’, for fashion brand Maison Pixel. More than just an advertising campaign, we presented and created a new collection of underwear for its brand, that used a very interesting human insight (and crafty AR filter) to bring innovation to its product. And we found a unique, quirky and super effective way to turn screen time into sexy time, a shift sorely needed in a day and age where technology has been proven to decimate relationships. The campaign raised Maison Pixel’s brand awareness and innovation factor, at a time when competitors were attempting to develop similar collections that ultimately paled in comparison.
LBB> Atlantic is part of By The Network, which was founded by Per Pedersen, who sadly passed away last year. How does his vision and legacy influence how you run Atlantic?
João and Marco> Per was a great mentor since our time together at Grey New York, and always a huge supporter of Atlantic. In fact, we have a fun story about this. During the pandemic, I (Marco) gave Per a call to pick his brain about the idea of starting the agency. Without stopping to think for even one second he said, “You should 100% do it, and you should call João right now and convince him to do it with you. Together, you guys will be unbeatable.” A few months later we started Atlantic and our very first briefing, when the LLC was not even properly set up yet, was a Super Bowl spot brief for a great brand. He put our agency in front of the client without an ounce of hesitation. That was the level of trust he had in us, and that was what gave us so much of the confidence to do what we are doing now. We’re so fortunate to have had a great relationship with him. Rest in peace, Per.
