CAMILA ORDONEZ

How did you break into advertising?

I didn’t break into it, I kind of sneaked in with curiosity, chaos, and a love for ideas that make people feel something. I started as a writer obsessed with why people do what they do, and somehow that curiosity turned into concepts, concepts into campaigns, and campaigns into little pieces of culture. Advertising became my playground to mix emotion, humor, and human truth – three things I’ve always been addicted to.

What stories are you most passionate about telling?

I want to tell stories that make people feel seen. I love turning the ordinary into something emotional, unexpected, or absurdly honest. Whether it’s a beer, a yogurt, or a perfume, I’m drawn to stories that celebrate humanity, our contradictions, our beauty, our chaos, and make us laugh or cry about it.

And even more than that, I want to tell everyone’s story, not just the perfect or polished ones. Because a good advertiser doesn’t invent fake needs – we solve real ones. I believe creativity should make life easier, kinder, or more meaningful, not just louder. So I was born to tell stories that don’t sell illusions, they solve something that matters.

If you could change one thing about the creative industry’s culture, what would it be?

I'm working on changing the myth that great ideas only come from people who fit the “advertising mold.” Creativity doesn’t belong to a title or an agency, it belongs to anyone who dares to imagine differently. I’d change how we hire, who we mentor, and what we celebrate so that ideas from a mom, a kid from Piura, or a girl who writes poetry at 2AM are seen as powerful as those from a CCO anywhere in the world.

“Creativity doesn’t belong to a title or an agency, it belongs to anyone who dares to imagine differently.”

Beyond traditional metrics, what does success look like for you?

Success, for me, looks like balance that doesn’t feel like compromise. Creating work that moves culture and being present for life – my son, my art, my rituals, my people. I want to keep building ideas that heal, inspire, and make noise in the best way, ideas that also teach, write, and open doors for more creatives to do the same, no matter if they are women or men, we all deserve to be seen and heard, let the work do the work. If my ideas make the world laugh, feel, or heal a bit, that’s success.

How do you view the role of technology in creativity?

Tech is the new canvas and it’s only scary if you forget who’s holding the brush. I see it as a way to expand storytelling – to make experiences more human, not less. AI, data, code, they’re just new tools to express empathy, craft, and imagination. The more we use tech with heart, the closer creativity gets to magic.

“The more we use tech with heart, the closer creativity gets to magic.”

What is the ad industry’s biggest challenge, and how would you fix it?

The biggest challenge today is that the industry takes itself too seriously. We talk about changing the world when, sometimes, the world just needs to breathe. People already live with enough tension, do they really need another campaign reminding them of it?

What if we accepted the challenge of simply entertaining again? Of making people laugh, dream, or escape for a second? Advertising, as Don Draper said, “is about happiness” and happiness can be as simple as the smell of a new car.

I’d fix the industry by bringing joy, curiosity, and lightness back into the work. Because sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do for people isn’t to save the world but to make it feel a little better and simpler for a moment.

“Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do for people isn’t to save the world but to make it feel a little better and simpler for a moment.”