SAN FRANCISCO, CA - On Wednesday, November 15, San Francisco gathered to honor PJ Pereira, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Pereira & O’Dell with the prestigious Hal Riney Icon of Marketing Award. Pereira is an advertising and entertainment pioneer who believes agencies have to provide a return not only on the money brands are investing but also the time consumers are spending with the work.
The San Francisco Bay Area Innovation Group (sfBIG) introduced the Hal Riney Icons of Marketing Award in 2009 to recognize the amazing, talented people who have helped contribute to and create the legacy of innovation that we are able to benefit from in our industry today. The event was named in recognition of the late Hal Riney, who's agency was among the first to put San Francisco creativity and innovation on the map for marketers across the country.
With Pereira’s induction, this will be the first time the award has been given to a foreigner. Pereira got his start in São Paulo, co-founding AgênciaClick, the first Internet Agency in Brazil. Pereira came to the U.S. in 2005 when he joined AKQA as Co-Executive Creative Director alongside Rei Inamoto (San Francisco) Lars Bastholm (New York), Daniel Bonner and James Hilton (London). It was also this year that Pereira served as president of the Cyber Jury at Cannes Lions – he was the youngest to ever serve as president of a jury. His milestones at AKQA include a feature film for Red Bull titled “Unflinching Triumph”, which in 2007 was named by Sports Illustrated as the “Most Amusing Sports Parody of the Year”, as well as an alternate reality game titled “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s leading up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing. He went on to Co-Found Pereira & O’Dell with AKQA Vice President, Andrew O’Dell in April 2008.
Most recently, Pereira & O'Dell was behind the rare participation of a brand in the prestigious “Official Selection” of Sundance Film Festival with NETSCOUT and Werner Herzog's "Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World". The film was named in Esquire Magazine’s “Top 10 Best Non-Fiction Films”.
His agency is credited with the creation of the first-ever social film (“The Inside Experience”) for Intel and Toshiba in 2011, which combined Hollywood talent content with social media participation); and surpassed by the triple Cannes Grand Prix winner “The Beauty Inside”, also for Intel and Toshiba, which is now being turned into a major feature film starring Emilia Clarke. “The Beauty Inside” was the first piece of advertising to win an Emmy against regular TV programming.
Beyond advertising, Brazilian-born PJ Pereira is also a best-selling novelist. In 2015, his book trilogy "Gods of Both Worlds" spent a month as the #1 novel by a Brazilian author in his native country and was published in 5 other countries. In April 2017, he launched in Brazil his fourth novel "The mother, the daughter and the lady's spirit" (A mãe, a filha e o espírito da santa). Pereira also has two black belts in Kung Fu.
Pereira’s credentials in content, digital and advertising have made him one of the world's most influential and respected creatives. He was named the Top CCO in ADWEEK’s “Creative 100”, "Creativity 50”, the 4A’s “100 People Who Make Advertising Great”, and most recently, PJ served as the President of the Cannes Lions Entertainment jury.
Pereira & O’Dell has been recognized by Advertising Age and Creativity’s A-list multiple years, named to Forbes Most Influential Companies in Advertising, as well as honored by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies” in Advertising.
About the Hal Riney Icon of Marketing Award
In its first year, the Hal Riney Icon of Marketing award was given to Jeff Goodby, founder of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, who shared his experiences working for his mentor Hal. Other recipients have included; Paul Venables, Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalf, founders of Wired Magazine, Deborah Conrad, CMO of Intel, John Battelle, Author, organizer of Web 2.0 and founder of Federated Media, Tom Bedecarre, Chairman of AKQA and President of WPP Ventures, Larry Kramer President and Publisher of USA Today and in 2016, Willie Brown, Former San Francisco Mayor.
Benefiting USF and those affected by Northern California fires
The evening will be hosted at the spectacular San Francisco City Club. A dinner and silent auction will fulfill the night's festivities as well as the ceremony of presenting the next Hal Riney Icons of Marketing Award. This year, proceeds from the Hal Riney Auction will go towards the USF Marketing Scholarship Program as well as the Northern California Fire Relief Fund.
