Let’s be clear: JWT Costa Rica’s feat this year at Cannes is close to unrepeatable. Likewise, the role we played in the Caribbean last February, with 7 agencies winning statuettes, although more possible than four lions with one piece, is equally difficult. Costa Rica’s path to surpass what was achieved in 2008, as of August and with months to go, is challenging and suitable only for advertisers with a strong character and no definition problems in their creative north.
If with a piece like Nelka Rent a Car, a Costa Rican agency achieved a gold and four silvers in Cannes, what can we aspire to next year? It’s certainly not as simple as talking about five lions, nor is it a matter of beating established records. For this reason, after weeks of thought and some perspective, today I believe it is a matter of consolidating the trend towards a creative Costa Rica, to show the world that it was not a comet, but the reflection of a national commitment. Nothing will be better than a Cannes that establishes the new height of the bar for Costa Rican creativity, that closes the gossip for those who have not measured up to it and opens spaces for Costa Rican talent around the world.
Apart from all the awards on the road to Cannes, it would be simply spectacular for Costa Rica to have at least two lions of any color in 2009, from at least two different agencies. Certainly, it would be ideal if at least one of them were gold and thus consolidate our position in the world. That is to say, I would be fascinated if we could double the number of winning agencies and thus confirm the focus of a market that has defined itself to fight for the space that corresponds to us.
A creative Costa Rica is the obligatory return to those who inherited us a country with advantages of all kinds, including education, peace, health, civilization, hard work, music, art and so much more. Costa Rica’s social capital must evolve to return a winning creative product, as one of the consequences of a country without an army and with more schools than slums.
