Source LLB:
Photo Credit: LLB
Independent agency LERMA/ has appointed Paco Conde as its first chief creative officer, marking a significant expansion of the agency’s leadership structure since its launch in 2008.
Paco joins from Activista, the Los Angeles-based agency he co-founded in 2018 with Carl Johnson and Beto Fernández, who recently joined Translation as CCO. Before that, he held senior creative roles at Ogilvy Brazil, BBH London and Anomaly Los Angeles.
Across his career, Paco has led high-profile campaigns including Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Sketches’, Sport Club Recife’s ‘Immortal Fans’, Ally Bank’s ‘Watch the Game. Change the Game.’ – which helped bring women’s soccer into U.S. primetime broadcast – and the UNDP’s ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’.
At LERMA/, Paco will oversee the agency’s creative output and contribute to new business efforts as the Dallas shop looks to build on recent industry momentum. The agency has been behind campaigns including ‘He Gets Us’ and ‘Avocados From Mexico’, and has been named an Ad Age A-List Standout and one of Adweek’s Fastest Growing Agencies.
“Bringing Paco on board marks an exciting new era for LERMA/,” said Pedro Lerma, founder and CEO of the agency. “His passion for creativity that makes a difference perfectly aligns with our mission to create work that moves people and culture.
Speaking about the move, Paco said he was drawn to LERMA/’s independence and ambition, describing it as part of a “new wave” of agencies aiming to move quickly and make culturally relevant work.
“You don’t often get the chance to be the first CCO of an independent agency,” he says, speaking with LBB. “Of course, I feel pressure. But the good kind. It’s the responsibility I put on myself to help my teams do the best work of their careers and elevate LERMA/ to its full creative potential.”
“What drew me in is the opportunity to set the creative vision and culture for a young, independent agency that’s in a real moment. In a world of holding-company mergers, the free spirit and ability to move fast and not ask for permission matters to me.”
At the helm of LERMA/, Paco’s goal is to explore creativity in every form across genres, media and technology. He wants to make work people care about, talk about and share. Building the right culture and environment to bring those ideas to life is an essential part of his role, he says. “A place where diverse, multidisciplinary talent works with a ‘nothing is impossible’ mindset. A fertile ground for big, provocative, original ideas where everyone can recognise and rally around them, and know how to make them happen.”
During discussions with his fellow LERMA/ leadership, Paco felt a common truth: “That the most powerful tool in our industry is telling the truth.” For him, there’s no better way to connect a brand with people than by finding truths relevant to both – product truths, category truths, cultural truths, human truths. The bigger the truth, says Paco, the deeper the connection. “Why do certain ideas last for years in our memory and become part of pop culture? Because they’re built on a big, undeniable truth.”
Paco joins from Activista, an agency he co-founded that sat within the Stagwell network. The experience of becoming an entrepreneur proved transformative. “We built Activista from the ground up,” he says. “From the name and positioning to a business model aligned with the work we wanted to do. Having a partner like Carl Johnson was a privilege. Every conversation with him was a masterclass.”
To Paco, Activista is more than an agency; it’s a mindset that will stay with him. “The conviction that creativity is humanity’s superpower. It doesn’t just drive sales; it shifts culture, sparks change, and grows businesses by making a real, positive impact. It’s a conviction I share with Pedro Lerma.”
Looking ahead to the broader industry, Paco believes creativity is at a pivotal point.
“We’re in the most exciting moment to work in creativity,” he says. “AI gives us unprecedented scale, speed and precision. But we still live in a world where no one connects with humans better than humans.
“In most industries, technology is used to eliminate human imperfection. In ours, those ‘imperfections’ are the magic – the silliness, humour, surprise and intuitive leaps that make ideas great.
“The real evolution is in combining both: letting technology deliver the perfection it’s good at, while protecting the beautifully human imperfections that spark originality. That blend is what makes our industry so interesting right now.”
