Carlos Baccetti: ‘The creative who changed advertising in Latin America’.

Carlos Baccetti, the strategic vision of one of the best creatives in Latin America at the service of the strategic positioning of brands.

Carlos Baccetti is one of the most influential figures in the evolution of brand communication in Latin America. Co-founder of Agulla & Baccetti -an award-winning agency recognised globally for its ability to connect with audiences through disruptive and highly effective ideas-, he has transcended the role of advertising creative to become a benchmark in building brands with purpose.

Today, from Zertior’s creative strategy board led by Augusto Núñez and Sergio Liberona, Baccetti brings his vision to positioning processes that integrate culture, purpose and business. His approach starts from a clear premise: relevant brands not only communicate, but lead authentic, consistent and emotionally meaningful narratives. In an environment where differentiation no longer rests solely on functional attributes, his expertise represents a key value for companies seeking to build brand ecosystems with real impact, reputational sustainability and genuine connection with their audiences.

As Carlos says, we help companies not to become bigger, but to become more important to people.

Interview Carlos Baccetti

1. What is your process for discovering the essence (purpose) of a brand before you start working on its positioning?

Before being an advertising strategist and creative I am a consumer, a consumer with special characteristics from working in this for so long, I am more sensitive to observation and association, I am a social scholar, I see trends and study them in depth, I understand the social anthropology of change, I ask a lot of questions, I live intensely, and that combination allows me to understand what the consumer feels with that specific brand and how that brand should transform itself to be important.

In this process of discovery, I am very interested in understanding the tension that exists in the process of change, it is a moment where possible paths are breathed, it is a moment of extreme creativity.

2. Why is it relevant for brands to define a good positioning?

A good positioning allows us to have a north to advance coherently in the growth of a brand. Brands must be defined and emptied in communication to convey their values, but these must be perceived by people as unique. This is why it is so important before defining the positioning of a brand, to discover a communication territory that makes it different and unique.

3. How do you manage the tensions between what the customer wants and what the consumer needs?

The truth is always in the street, the client does not have it and the agency does not have it, we have to go out into the street to look for it and transform it into a communication fact.

When an agency is afraid of the client, it stops being honest and becomes cunning and instead of focusing on the problem to be solved, it puts all its talent into deceiving the client and giving him what he expects, which is surely not what he needs, the agency loses its dignity and instead of providing marketing solutions it thinks only of its survival, then commercials or campaigns arrive that do not solve problems, that do not connect and the client feels that the agency does not understand him.

First you lose your dignity and then you lose the client.

Briefs are not a is not is can and can can can and inscripción, a can and should be is a is is the can and can can can and can can can and is the can and can’t, and is the can and can. Because clients don’t pay us for advertisements, but for the capacity they have to transform a brand through communication.

The customer is not king, the customer is god, and with god you can talk.

4. Can you tell me about a project where you successfully repositioned a brand? What decisions were key to that change?

Many companies such as Telecom, Renault, YPF, Movistar, Itau, Hsbc, etc, but I’m not going to tell you how I did it because otherwise I would have to charge for this interview, haha. But if there is a common denominator, all these companies understood that our role is that of advisors and that we are part of the same team in search of results, a brand is not positioned overnight, it is a work of consistency and constancy, in the story of the brand is a lighthouse that shows us the route to follow.

The secret is love… the only theme that governs our lives, because trust is built on love, and only a brand can grow if it trusts its agency and lets it do so, just as brands that are loved by their consumers are the ones that last over time.

Mediocrity disguised as prudence is far more dangerous than creativity without strategy. The world belongs to the bold, but it must grow in the field of confidence.

4. What motivated you to join Zertior’s strategic team?

We fully agree on how to tackle brand building in a world that is evolving at breakneck speed and that in many cases companies find it difficult to keep up with, digitalisation has broken paradigms in the advertising world today. It has democratised access to powerful tools, it has made data the centre of decisions and it has generated a much more dynamic, fast and demanding ecosystem for agencies and advertisers alike.

People are hyper-informed and connected, but also saturated with impacts and information, adapting is no longer an option, if you are not relevant you don’t exist, this is why we fully agree that the solid foundations of a brand are built from a deep knowledge of the consumer and from the definition of a positioning of value for people.

I believe that from this strategic Zertior hub we will be able to help many companies, regardless of their size, to build a powerful brand that is loved by people.