Interview with Amaya Coronado, LOLA’s Head of Strategy
by LOLA
Hi Amaya, to start off can you tell us what was the idea behind “From Heart to Heart”?
At LOLA we’ve always thought that Latins are more emotional and have the ability to talk to the hearts of people, regardless of their background, culture or where they live. And in a way the idea was to prove this particular hypothesis. So we started digging into the universe of emotions and lots of interesting things came up – what initially began as a small investigation turned into something much, much broader.
Describe the process and some of the difficulties you encountered in undertaking such a study.
It started off as an initiative of the planning department here at LOLA. From the very first day we were supported wholeheartedly by Chacho and Miguel (Partners at LOLA), who believed firmly in the project, always offering us their backing. The study began as a secondary investigation in which we looked for existing sources related to the world of emotions and how they impact our behaviour as human. In the second phase of investigation we contacted 70-80 experts who could enrich our first analysis and link it to our latin hypothesis. The next step of analysis, tabulation and evaluation etc. was very laborious. Finally, we wrote the White Paper, the exhaustive document with all the results, and then drew up the scripts for the videos to be accessible and easily understandable… That was hard. Not to mention the fact that all of this came parallel to all our day-to-day work at the agency!
And are you happy with the results?
Very much so. We’re all happy because ‘From Heart to Heart’ started out on a much smaller scale and ended up being very extensive and revealing! And we truly believe that it adds something to the existing conversation regarding emotions and brands. This is because we go from the more “scientific” side of things – trying to understand the origin of emotions – to neuroscience, then on to the opinions of those interviewed.
What are the most interesting and/or relevant discoveries of the study for you?
There are two. On one hand there is the part about neuroscience testing the relationship between our emotions and the mechanisms for taking decisions. That is absolutely fascinating. And on the other hand all the discoveries about “Latin-ness” are great: how the Latin way of being, of working, of getting on together is highly valued. And how these qualities fit in very well with the kind of skills that the new world requires, such as the capacity to innovate, to connect in a certain way with people, to do things that seemed impossible. These are all qualities that will be needed to adapt to the world in the next 30, 40 or 50 years.
Do you consider LOLA to be a leader at getting to the heart of people?
I believe so, principally because of the people who work here. LOLA has built up a team of people who firmly believe in it, who believe in the importance of connecting emotionally. And all of this strategic and creative muscle is based around the everyday man in the street, normal people. In LOLA, it’s almost a sin to talk about ‘consumers’ or ‘buyers’ and this is reflected in the work we do. What interests us, from the creative to the planners and the account managers, everyone here, is the heart, what people feel, and what moves them.
On the same day the study was launched, you and Chacho (Puebla, LOLA Partner & Executive Creative Director) were in Lisbon presenting it at Eurobest. How was the reaction over there?
Really positive, straightaway. We immediately felt from the energy in the room that people felt involved. It was very much an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ audience and we challenged them, made them think. From all the questions they asked us afterwards, I believe we really made them want to let their emotions out more. Our final message was: “We invite you to allow yourselves to be more emotional”, and there was a real sense of wanting to break down those barriers of political correctness that you see more often in the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ world.
It’s not the first time we have seen innovation from LOLA outside of the day-to-day sphere of work. There was ‘LOLA Hace’ earlier this year, for example. Where do you see LOLA going with this sort of thing?
At LOLA we are committed to resolving the business problems of our clients. That’s our “leitmotiv”, as it were. To find out the origin of the problem and to find a solution that it can be adapted to. But sometimes, when communication and messages alone aren’t enough, you have to open up the field of activity. Maybe that’s to do with developing the product, or the service, or something else. It’s true that the agency is undertaking several different initiatives to broaden this side of things. These are initiatives that aren’t borne overnight, however. They will bear fruit, but only after a big commitment on our part, of course.