20 Questions with Chris Moreira, LevLane's Recently Named Chief Creative Officer

We searched far and wide to find LevLane's next Chief Creative Officer, and we struck gold with an exceptional find from Down Under.

Meet A. Chris Moreira , the newest member of our team and an award-winning creative with 16+ years of leading creative teams, building brands and cultivating what he refers to as a culture of “empowered creativity.”?

Read on to discover how Chris draws inspiration in today’s industry and masters the art of uniting people to bring brand stories to life.

1. Where did you grow up? Sydney, Australia.
2. In your opinion, what is the most important element of creativity within advertising today? Curiosity. It's the fire the fuels the creative product, and keeps us striving to always be doing better work.
3. How do you stay inspired? It's an amazing time to be a maker or creator these days. This generation is all about making stuff. It's pretty awesome. I try to see as much of it as I can - art exhibits, social and other digital content. Sometimes it's just as simple as hoping on a bike and keeping your eyes open.
4. What’s your drink of choice? Coffee.
5. Name one song you could listen to on repeat forever. The Day I Tried to Live - Soundgarden.
6. What advice would you give your younger self just starting in the industry? Think bigger.
7. Briefly tell us what you’re most excited about when it comes to stepping in as CCO at LevLane. To be part of an agency that's been around for over 40 years as an independent is pretty amazing. And to be able to be part of that history and what we might all make together seems an exciting opportunity.
8. Describe your perfect Saturday. What’s on the agenda? A day on the beach with family and friends. Then keeping the party going back home with a bbq and a cold beverage or two.
9. What’s your key piece of advice in balancing creativity with client expectations? One has to always work to understand and appreciate the business realities of clients. In turn it's our job to make the work that helps add value and truly impacts the business.
10. Name your top three “ingredients” when it comes to your recipe to success? Surround yourself with smart people. Stay humble and hungry. And don't fear the unknown.
11. Where’s your “happy place?” The beach.
12. What would you be doing for work if you weren’t in the role you’re in today? I'd be still trying to make cool stuff with people I love work with. Maybe a startup of some kind, or a band. One of the two, or both :).
13. Name a marketing or creative resource worth following –?could be a social page, a person, blog, newsletter, etc. Designspiration.com - is pretty rad.
14. Tell us about a professional accomplishment you’re really proud of. Walmart's 'Greenlight A Vet', it was a project that took over 2 years to bring to life. The scale of the project was huge. But also the logistics of making it as impactful as possible. In the end, it was a very humbling and rewarding project.
15. What qualities do you look for when you’re building a team? Hungry more than anything as you can't teach that. And then I try to bring as unique of a team as possible. Different backgrounds, skillsets so as the group can benefit from its diversity. You know its kind of like building the creative version of Voltron - each cat does it thing.
16. Name a recent book, podcast or musician you’ve been feeling lately. Radiohead.
17. Name a creative campaign that you think was executed perfectly. Orange's French Women's World Cup ad 'WoMen's Football' is an amazing piece. It confronts the bias in sports, in this case football creatively and compellingly.?Brilliantly executed.
18. Favorite food? All day breakfast. I know that's not a food. But anything breakfast outside of breakfast tastes better.
19. What’s one marketing misconception you want to set the record straight about? I strongly believe the best creative/marketing is done because they are thinking "within the box" not outside of it. Sometimes the greatest tools for making amazing work is knowing the limitations of the brief, business or situation you're trying to impact.
20. Lastly –?the golden question: Who Loves Ya? My family.