After more than 30 years of a distinguished career leading one of the world’s most creative agencies, Luiz Sanches begins a new chapter in his professional journey. Kimberly-Clark, the global manufacturer of essential consumer products, has named Luiz its first global chief creative and design officer. Beginning this month, Luiz will be responsible for the global creative quality of the company’s brands including Huggies, Intimus and Kleenex.
In his new role, Luiz will report to and work directly with Patrícia Corsi, global chief growth officer at Kimberly-Clark. Kimberly-Clark’s hire of Luiz is one of many steps the company is taking to deliver on its commitment to put more investment and top talent against creative storytelling and design, as part of its global transformation strategy.
Luiz’s mission is to lead a global creative transformation within Kimberly-Clark implementing an innovative model, positioning creativity as a competitive advantage and an internal force of inspiration. His goal is to generate emotional value for the company’s brands across all regions where Kimberly-Clark operates.
“It is an incredible opportunity to work with Luiz Sanches. He brings a unique vision that combines creativity, strategy, and innovation that keeps consumers and brands at the center of his work. Under his leadership, and together with Kimberly-Clark’s breadth of global talent and experience, we are building a new model centered on market-leading creative as a force-multiplier for delivering cultural and emotional impact and exceptional consumer experiences. This will be a significant driver of our categories and brands, which are essential to the daily lives of one in four people around the world,” explains Patrícia.
“Our industry is undergoing profound transformation. There is no better time or opportunity to bring creativity into the client organization, fostering genuine inside-out change through an innovative approach. Creativity will be at the heart of our global marketing capabilities and narratives, driving efficiency,” comments Luiz.
He also highlights his role’s new perspective: “As an agency, we often lack the visibility or access needed to address the real challenges our clients face. Many changes align with the agency’s business goals but aren’t necessarily the best solution for the client. Now, I have a unique opportunity to leverage creativity to tackle these challenges directly.”
“I’m thrilled. After building the creative success of an agency for numerous brands, my next challenge is to lead the creative success from inside a leading global company—Kimberly-Clark—and its trusted global product brands, in partnership with various agencies. For the first time, agency CCOs will have a global CCO on the client side as a partner with our segment- and enterprise market-based creative teams to co-create ideas that resonate with people and become part of the culture,” Luiz adds. In this new role, Luiz remains based in the U.S., where he resides.
In the new model adopted by Kimberly-Clark, there is not a traditional CMO, but a CGO (chief growth officer) who positions creativity at the center of all stages of the process. “When Patrícia shared this vision with me, I saw an opportunity to reinvent the relevance of creative leadership. Today, clients value creativity as a competitive advantage more than ever. I am sure that, together with Patrícia and an incredible team, we will make a difference in this new model,” says Luiz.
To support this vision, Kimberly-Clark is building a collaborative structure of specialists, which will act as a strategic hub to lead and curate creative ideas in partnership with the company’s segment and enterprise market teams and agencies. This pioneering model—which is being deployed alongside a new agency model that is also being implemented globally—seeks to ensure consistency, agility, and global creative impact. Through it, Kimberly-Clark will ensure that creativity is present in every decision and touchpoint, both internally and externally.
Luiz Sanches’ Background
Luiz began his 30-year career as an art director in AlmapBBDO in Brazil and became a creative director in 2002, and soon thereafter was appointed to serve as general creative director. In 2013, he became a partner at the agency.
During his leadership, Almap has been named Agency of the Year at the Cannes Festival of Creativity no less than four times, making it the best-performing Brazilian agency in the prestigious event’s history. The agency also earned the top spot in the Gunn Report’s ranking on four separate occasions.
Luiz Sanches has received more awards than any other Brazilian creative to date and he is among the most lauded in the world. His awards include 248 Lions, 3 Grand Prix from the Cannes Festival of Creativity and more than 120 Pencils at D&AD international festival, including more than 10 Yellow Pencils and over 200 One Show awards, along with a number of Best of Show nominations.
He is a two-time winner of Best Creative Director at Cannes and was named President of the Jury in six editions in different categories (Film and Outdoor), Titanium and Mobile.
According to LatinSpots, Luiz is one of the best creatives of the decade. He has led juries at El Ojo for Film, Mobile, and Graphics. He is a three-time winner of Best Creative Director in South America, at El Ojo. He is currently active on the board for the One Club for Creativity and Google’s creative board.
Over the course of his career, Luiz has built and deployed creative that has helped to reposition the most iconic and prominent brands in Brazil. He believes that, in a world fragmented by the digital revolution, big ideas are crucial for brands that want to break through the noise and stay relevant.
