July, 2026.- Clients today face a paradox: they need the sophistication, capabilities, and consistency of a global network, but they also need speed, cultural relevance, and decision-making close to the market. Priscilla Ceruti, Executive Director of Strategy & Insights at INNOCEAN Brazil, believes the agency represents a “third way” that the market is looking for—global scale and identity with local autonomy.
Ceruti joined INNOCEAN after leading strategy and content at Leo (Publicis Groupe), where she contributed to seven Effie wins. What attracted her to INNOCEAN was the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of the agency. The ambition was clear from the beginning: elevate strategy to the center of the business and strengthen the integration of intelligence, data, culture, and creativity. She was also inspired by the network’s global leadership—Jung A Kim as Global CEO sends a powerful signal, not only as the first woman to lead the network globally but also as the first leader to come directly from a creative background.
In this interview, Ceruti discusses what making strategy a central pillar means in practice. Historically, strategy in many agencies has been concentrated around campaign development. Today, clients expect something broader: strategic partners who can connect market dynamics, consumer behavior, business objectives, technology, and culture. Making strategy a central pillar means bringing that lens into every conversation from the beginning—using strategy not only to brief creativity but to identify opportunities, rethink experiences, unlock growth, and create competitive advantage. The objective is to make strategy less of a department and more of an operating system.
On the integration of data and creativity, Ceruti notes that data is incredibly powerful, but by definition it reads the past. The risk is that if we only follow averages, we end up producing more averages. Data tells us what is common; strategy’s job is to uncover what is uncommon, and creativity’s role is to make it matter. The most valuable opportunities rarely sit in the center of the spreadsheet. They live in tensions, contradictions, emerging behaviors, and signals that haven’t yet become obvious.
Ceruti also reflects on what Brazilian brands need today: not more activity, but more clarity. They need partners who can help identify where growth will come from, what trends truly matter, and where to focus resources. The best agency relationships are not built around validation; they are built around progress.
- The “Third Way” Model: You described INNOCEAN as representing a “third way” that the market is looking for: global scale and identity, but with local autonomy. What does that model make possible that neither a global holding company nor a purely independent agency can offer?
I believe clients today are facing a paradox: they need the sophistication, capabilities, and consistency of a global network, but they also need speed, cultural relevance, and decision-making close to the market. Many large holding-company structures have extraordinary capabilities, but they can sometimes become too standardized. On the other hand, independent agencies are often more agile and culturally connected, but may struggle to scale solutions across markets or access specialized expertise. What excites me about INNOCEAN is that it sits in a unique middle ground. We have the strength of a global network with a clear identity, but also the freedom to build solutions that respond to local realities rather than imposing global templates. That allows us to be both strategically rigorous and culturally adaptive.
In a world where markets move faster than organizational structures, that combination becomes a competitive advantage. It’s not about choosing between scale and flexibility anymore. It’s about being able to operate with both.
- From Leo to INNOCEAN: You led strategy and content at Leo (Publicis Groupe) and contributed to seven Effie wins. What made you leave a network agency for INNOCEAN, and what specific opportunity are you most excited to build here?
I had a fantastic experience at Leo. We built strong partnerships, won new business, and achieved meaningful recognition, including seven Effie Awards. But at a certain point in a career, the question becomes less about what you can manage and more about what you can build.
What attracted me to INNOCEAN was the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of the agency. The ambition was clear from the beginning: elevate strategy to the center of the business and strengthen the integration of intelligence, data, culture, and creativity.
I was also particularly inspired by the direction the network is taking globally. Having Jung A Kim as Global CEO sends a powerful signal to the market. Not only is she the first woman to lead the network globally, but she’s also the first leader to come directly from a creative background.
I believe that’s incredibly relevant because creativity is no longer just the output of our industry—it is one of the most important business capabilities brands can have. When someone with a deep creative perspective leads a global organization, it naturally encourages more innovation, greater cultural sensitivity, and a stronger commitment to breakthrough thinking. Both clients and agencies benefit from that because creativity becomes a driver of business transformation, not just communication.
- Strategy as Central Pillar: INNOCEAN is reinforcing strategy as a central pillar of its operation. What does that mean in practice—and what was the gap in how the agency approached strategy before you arrived?
I wouldn’t describe it as a gap. I’d describe it as an evolution.
Historically, strategy in many agencies has been concentrated around campaign development. Today, clients expect something broader. They want strategic partners who can connect market dynamics, consumer behavior, business objectives, technology, and culture. Making strategy a central pillar means bringing that lens into every conversation from the beginning. It means using strategy not only to brief creativity, but to identify opportunities, rethink experiences, unlock growth, and create competitive advantage.
The objective is to make strategy less of a department and more of an operating system.
- Connecting Intelligence, Data, and Creativity: Your mandate includes integrating business intelligence, data, behavior, and creativity. Which of these is hardest to integrate, and what’s your approach to making it work?
Data is incredibly powerful, but by definition it reads the past. It tells us what happened, reveals patterns, and helps us understand existing behaviors. The risk is that if we only follow averages, we end up producing more averages. We optimize for what’s already familiar instead of discovering what’s next.
For me, the real challenge is learning how to defy the safe comfort of averages. Data tells us what is common; strategy’s job is to uncover what is uncommon, and creativity’s role is to make it matter.
The most valuable opportunities rarely sit in the center of the spreadsheet. They live in tensions, contradictions, emerging behaviors, and signals that haven’t yet become obvious. That’s where strategy plays a critical role: using data not just to validate decisions, but to challenge assumptions, uncover unseen opportunities, and question the status quo.
The most difficult integration is often between analysis and imagination. The best work emerges from the combination of creativity and evidence – and from knowing that evidence does not necessarily mean certainty
- Brazil’s Market Opportunity: You’ve worked with Ford, Toyota, Microsoft, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Heineken. What does the Brazilian market need from a strategic partner right now that it wasn’t getting, and how is INNOCEAN positioned to deliver it?
Brazilian companies are navigating a period of enormous complexity. Consumer expectations are changing faster, technology cycles are shorter, and cultural conversations evolve in real time.
What many brands need today is not more activity—they need more clarity.
They need partners who can help identify where growth will come from, what trends truly matter, and where to focus resources. Too often, the industry responds to complexity with more channels, more initiatives, and more noise.
But I believe clients also need something increasingly rare: honest conversations. The best agency relationships aren’t built around validation; they’re built around progress. Sometimes our role is to challenge assumptions, ask uncomfortable questions, and bring perspectives that help the business move forward.
I also think agencies need to be more provocative and brands need to be more willing to experiment. The market moves too fast for excessive certainty. Winning today is often about moving faster, testing more, learning, and adapting continuously.
INNOCEAN’s ambition is to help brands move from reacting to the market to anticipating it—and to do so through a relationship built on trust, candor, and action.
- Beyond the Current Model: You said you want to “take the work beyond the current model.” What does “beyond the current model” look like—and what current industry practice would you most like to leave behind?
Brands don’t compete only through advertising anymore. They compete through experiences, products, services, communities, technology, content, and culture. The role of agencies should evolve accordingly.
That means participating earlier in the process, closer to strategic decisions, and helping identify opportunities before they become communication challenges.
I also believe INNOCEAN Brazil has an enormous opportunity ahead. Historically, the agency has operated with a relatively low profile compared to the quality of the work and talent it has inside the organization. That made sense in a different moment, but I believe the market needs to see more clearly what INNOCEAN is capable of delivering today.
One of our biggest differentiators is our experience design capability. Very few agencies have experience, brand strategy, creativity, content, media and business thinking living under the same roof with the same level of integration. Too often, brand communications and experiences are developed separately, creating fragmented consumer journeys.
The most powerful experiences are not created as an activation that comes after the campaign. They are born from the same strategic idea that shapes the brand. When experience is integrated from the beginning, brands become more coherent, more memorable, and ultimately more valuable.
That’s one of the opportunities I see for INNOCEAN Brazil: bringing to the forefront capabilities that have been here all along. The talent, the expertise, and the ambition are already in place. The challenge now is to connect those strengths even more intentionally and turn them into a more visible competitive advantage for our clients.
