'Company culture is everything': Beyond the Brief with Anderson Oliveira, Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners

His clients include Dignity Health, Virgin America, Visa, Google, Apple, Beats, Oakley, Bank of the West, EA Sports and The Black Crowes among others.

In addition to his agency work, the native Brazilian is a fan of the band the Black Crowes. He has built an astounding collection of albums, cd's, memorabilia, etc., as well as launching a website that turned into an official site that he manages for the band.

Oliveira’s work in the advertising industry plus his love for music shows that he is living beyond the brief.

What makes you excited about going to work every day?

Company culture is everything. It helps you create amazing work. At BSSP the culture is built around making stuff for the agency - not just for clients. It is part of the agency's DNA. It makes it a fun place to work.

What was your proudest career moment?

[My] proudest career moment was creating the Virgin America First Class shoe. The idea was to recreate the first-class experience in a shoe. We had a pair of shoes designed in Italy and then I built technology into the shoe and programmed it so it had all the amenities of first class. It had Wi-Fi, a phone charger, etc. It functioned like a first-class seat. Then we auctioned it off on eBay raising $100,000 that was donated to Soles4Soles, a non-profit that provides shoes to the needy.

What was the moment you knew you wanted to be in advertising?

I was around 11 years old and I bought my first record. I loved the artwork and the logo of the record. I was hooked. Then I started collecting logos from magazines. The interest in visual communications grew and by the time I turned 15 I became interested in computers and what you could do with technology. I never looked back. I just knew I wanted to do something that combined my interest in art, logos and computers.

What’s your favorite thing about your hometown? What (in)tangible thing have you taken from there?

I was born in a small town in Brazil that bordered on Argentina. All my childhood I spent weekends crossing the border. I was exposed to different cultures, different languages and different people. I believe this is one of the reasons I am open minded and also curious about the world.

What’s your passion outside of advertising?

I love music. I can't work without it or think without music. Music has helped me discover advertising as a career. One of the first record albums I discovered was the Black Crowes. I heard them on MTV and then went searching for their records. The first one I found was Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. I listened to it endlessly and began to accumulate tapes, CD's, records from the band. I'd go to every concert I could and started collecting memorabilia. My collection grew and I decided to put it on a web page to share it with other fans of the band. One day, I got an email from their tour manager who wanted to talk about my site. It turns out they were unhappy with their site and wanted to turn my site into their official site. This turned into an ongoing relationship with me and the band. I managed their website, their Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram pages until the band broke up in 2013.

What non-advertising things do you draw inspiration from?

I'm obsessed with food presentation. The colors, shapes, smells and textures. That inspires me. At some point, I'd like to be a restaurant owner.

To pitch someone from a 4A's member agency for Beyond the Brief, please complete this linked form.