May, 2026.- A great campaign delivers results. A transformative idea alters trajectories.
Diego Guerhardt, recently named the most awarded Creative Director in Latin America, now sits on the jury for the Creative Business Transformation category at Cannes Lions. And he is looking for something specific: not just communication that drives short-term results, not even strong brand building alone. He is looking for creativity that changes something structural within an organization. Ideas that become part of the business system itself, not just its voice.
Guerhardt brings a unique lens to this evaluation. His background is in art direction and cinema, disciplines that taught him that nothing exists in isolation. Framing, rhythm, atmosphere, sound, visual language—everything contributes to a storytelling arc and to how people emotionally connect. Strategists sometimes focus on logic and structure, he argues. But filmmakers understand that transformation is built through coherence. When both meet, transformation becomes not only functional but meaningful.
As a creative director working across Brazil’s leading markets, Guerhardt has learned to turn constraints into strategic advantage. Brazil, he explains, is not a homogeneous market—it is layered, emotional, and expressive. That complexity forces creativity to be sharper. Ideas need to connect quickly, feel culturally true, and still deliver impact. What other markets can learn is not a “style” of creativity, but a mindset.
In this interview, Guerhardt reflects on what has changed in two decades of award-winning work, the tension between craft and business results, and why he hopes to see less “transformation as narrative claim” and more ideas that genuinely reshape how companies behave, grow, and contribute to culture over time.
1. The Creative Business Transformation Category: You’ve been selected as a jury member for the Creative Business Transformation category at Cannes Lions. How do you define “Creative Business Transformation” versus traditional creative effectiveness or brand building? What distinguishes work that truly transforms a business from work that simply performs well?
Creative Business Transformation, to me, represents an expansion of what we traditionally understand as creative effectiveness. Communication driving short-term results or even strong brand building alone isn’t enough anymore. It’s whether creativity is capable of changing something structural within an organization that counts.
What distinguishes transformative work is depth and permanence. It performs in the market while also reshaping how a company operates, how it creates value, how it relates to people, or even how it defines its own role in society. Strong campaigns can deliver results, but transformative ideas alter trajectories. They become part of the business system itself, not just its voice.
At the center of the evaluation is a simple but demanding question: did this idea actually change something in a way that lasts?
2. Most Awarded Creative Director in Latin America: You were recently named the most awarded Creative Director in Latin America. What does this recognition mean to you, and how has your perspective from the Latin American market shaped your understanding of what world-class creative work looks like?
Firstly, I see this recognition less as a destination and more as a reflection of a collective effort. Creative work in Latin America is rarely individual, it’s built on strong teams, strong clients, and a market that constantly challenges you to do more with less, and to do it with relevance.
Coming from this region has shaped my understanding of what “world-class” really means. Scale and resources matter less than clarity of ideas, cultural truth, and emotional intelligence. Many of the most powerful ideas I’ve seen globally are powerful precisely because they are rooted in constraints and real human context, something very present in Latin America.
So, this recognition is also a reminder of where these ideas come from: a region that constantly turns complexity into creativity.
3. From Art Direction and Cinema to Business Transformation: Your background is in art direction and cinema. How does that visual, narrative foundation inform your approach to creative business transformation? What do filmmakers understand about transformation that pure strategists might miss?
My background in advertising, art direction, and cinema deeply influences how I approach creative transformation. Working in advertising teaches you very early that ideas only become powerful when strategy, emotion, and execution are completely aligned. Art direction, in particular, trains you to think beyond aesthetics. Every visual choice communicates something
Cinema reinforces this mentality that nothing exists in isolation. Framing, rhythm, atmosphere, sound, visual language; everything contributes to a storytelling arc and to how people emotionally connect with a story.
That perspective is very relevant when you think about business transformation. You’re not solving a single moment, you’re shaping perception, behavior, culture, and systems over time. In that sense, creativity isn’t an isolated execution, it has to show continuity of intention across experiences.
What filmmakers and creative directors often understand intuitively is that transformation is built through coherence. In advertising, a strong idea only works when every touchpoint reinforces the same narrative. Strategists sometimes focus on logic and structure, but storytelling brings emotional truth, memorability, and momentum. When both meet, transformation becomes not only functional, but meaningful and culturally resonant.
4. The Brazilian Market as a Creative Laboratory: You’ve worked across Brazil’s leading markets. Brazil has long been recognized as a creative powerhouse in advertising. What is it about the Brazilian market that produces such consistently strong creative work, and what lessons can other markets learn from Brazil’s creative ecosystem?
Brazil has always been a very intense creative environment because it combines complexity, diversity, and constant constraint. You’re working in a market where attention is limited, resources are often challenged, and audiences are highly sophisticated emotionally.
That combination forces creativity to be sharper. Ideas need to connect quickly, feel culturally true, and still deliver impact. In the long run, this creates a very strong creative instinct across the industry.
Another important aspect is cultural richness. Brazil is not a homogeneous market, it’s layered, emotional, and expressive. That naturally feeds creativity with real human insight.
What other markets can learn is not necessarily a “style” of creativity, but a mindset: how to turn constraints into strategic advantage and how to keep ideas deeply connected to people.
5. Judging Business Impact vs. Creative Craft: The Creative Business Transformation category asks jurors to evaluate work that drives measurable business change. How do you balance the appreciation for creative craft and artistry with the hard evidence of business results? Can a brilliantly crafted piece of work win if the business transformation isn’t proven?
This is one of the most interesting tensions in the category. Creative excellence and business transformation are not opposites — they need to coexist.
Strong craft is essential because it’s what allows an idea to travel, resonate, and scale. But craft alone is not enough if there is no real shift in the industry or in the way the organization operates.
At the same time, results without a strong idea or cultural relevance rarely feel transformative in a true sense. So, the balance comes from understanding causality: how did creativity actually lead to change?
Can a beautifully crafted piece win without proven transformation? In this category, it’s very unlikely. The expectation is that creativity is as expressive as it is causal.
6. 20+ Years, 100+ Awards: Across two decades and more than 100 awards, what has changed most significantly in the work that wins at festivals like Cannes? What trends are you hoping to see – or hoping to see less of – in this year’s Creative Business Transformation entries?
Over the past two decades, the biggest change I’ve seen is the shift from “big ideas in communication” to “ideas that operate inside systems.”
Winning work today is less about isolated brilliance and more about integrated intelligence, ideas that connect brand, product, experience, and business model.
Another clear trend is that audiences and juries are much more focused on authenticity and real impact. There is less tolerance for surface-level storytelling or inflated narratives without substance behind them.
What I hope to see less of this year are ideas that treat transformation as a narrative claim rather than a proven reality. And what I hope to see more of are ideas where creativity genuinely changes how a company behaves, grows, and contributes to culture over time.
