“All you need is love!”

Replying to filmmaker David Constantin on the most fundamental moment in CIRCUS!’s history, Vincent Montocchio pointed to the agency’s name itself, “CIRCUS!”, which he described as the original “Big Idea.” That remark later inspired the title of David Constantin’s documentary, La Grande Idée, produced to mark the agency’s three decades in the industry. When Bizweek asked how he would summarise CIRCUS’s DNA, he replied without hesitation: “Love of people. Love of good work. Love of brands. In a single word: love.” It is this very word that inspired the title of the interview.

To mark CIRCUS’s 30th anniversary, Bizweek met Vincent Montocchio, Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer of CIRCUS! at the agency’s headquarters in Moka. In a conversation that ranged from creativity and culture to the evolution of advertising, he suggested that emotional intelligence may well become the last frontier of humanity, particularly in a world where consumers increasingly buy according to conviction, and where brands must serve people, and not the other way around.

Rudy Veeramundar

CIRCUS! is celebrating its 30th anniversary. What is your dominant feeling? Pride, nostalgia, or simply the desire to write the next chapter.

Not nostalgia. Nostalgia doesn’t allow us to move forward. When you’re nostalgic, you slow down, sometimes you grow sad. The past should guide us, not hold us. It reminds us of what worked and teaches us from our mistakes.

Pride, yes. Running an agency isn’t easy. There’s no formula. You start from zero every time. It’s not a quiet journey. The subjects we deal with are diverse; the field evolves fast; challenges arise daily. So, yes, I’m proud of the path, proud of the team, proud that we’ve managed to stay ahead of time. And yes, I’m excited about the future, about the next chapter. It’s a mix of feelings.

When you say, “next chapter,” I notice a big smile. Is that your natural motivation? There is always a next chapter.

Absolutely. That is what motivates people who love to reinvent themselves and who are energised by novelty. Many fear change, but change is what guides us. When major shifts come, it’s better to lead them rather than resist them. We see threats as opportunities

There are many exciting things coming for us. So yes, it’s exciting.

After so many years, is it still easy to create? Have you ever wondered: “Am I running out of ideas? Have we reached the top and, can I still be at my best again?”

There is always a small anxiety. The need to start again. In a factory, production is programmed and you just ensure the machines keep running.

For us, it’s different. Ideas are tools to solve problems. Each problem is unique. Each product, each brand, each market. The possibilities are endless.

One morning, we might work on chicken. Later that morning, on a bank. Then on an insurer. Then for a corporate group. Then for a French textile brand. Everyone has different challenges. Sometimes we even build an entirely new brand from scratch. So, inspiration doesn’t run dry because the problems never repeat. Neither do the solutions.

But our work isn’t about pure art. We use creativity in service of purpose, and before creativity, there is strategy. Today, CIRCUS! is no longer just creatives, we have become strategic partners for our clients, consultants, specialists, analysts. We’ve launched new services. It’s a wider structure now.

“Emotional intelligence is the only thing we’ll have left.”

 

“Public Relations… Circus…” It reminds us of P.T. Barnum — the father of PR and advertising — and he ran a circus. Was he an inspiration?”

To be honest, not really. PR is relatively new for us. Of course, we have always had indirect PR when we create something and journalists write about it. But a structured PR department is quite recent.

Two or three years ago, we launched two major units: One is Research, for market studies, surveys, segmentation, both quantitative and qualitative. Clients sometimes come to us only for research, simply to get data. We also offer Retail Research on market share analysis based on checkout data, supermarket audits, pricing analysis, promotion tracking. It is highly data based.

The second is a PR department, led by Axelle Mounier. We felt there was a need from our clients for such a service by CIRCUS! And the way we do PR is integrated: today a brand cannot just do PR or just do billboards. We think everything must be part of a coherent whole, where the same message lives across different formats, each adapted to its audience. You don’t talk to a journalist the same way you do a radio ad, TV or social media. Yet, the different executions need to build a coherent message.

We also have a solid digital communication department. Around fifteen people manage brands on social media. But nothing works in silos. A TV ad often has its social media extension, sometimes with PR support, sometimes with offline activations. We also do media monitoring.

Our agency does not only offer creative solutions. Integration is key.

So, integration is not just a structure. It’s a philosophy.

Exactly. Some agencies specialise in one thing and thrive doing so. For us, we believe the ecosystem around the brand must be managed holistically. It’s a way of thinking and not a rule for everyone.

“Today, more consumers buy according to conviction.”

After three decades, what values have never changed?

From the beginning, our inspiration came from the circus.  That’s how the name was born. Circus values: enthusiasm, precision, rigour, hard work and emotion. What looks effortless from the outside often hides immense work.

Today our values are audacity, togetherness, precision, with agility added more recently. One value we let go of was perfectionism. Perfectionism can block action. It delays decisions. Instead, we say: let’s give the best of ourselves. Perfection does not exist, but doing our best does. One thing has remained since day one: enthusiasm.

Do you have an anecdote regarding perfectionism, when it became counterproductive?

Not a specific one, but the mindset itself creates frustration. You want everything perfect and you never launch. Yet sometimes, by launching, you learn. It is better to push forward and improve along the way.

For those who know you and those who don’t, how would you summarise CIRCUS!’s DNA?

Love of people. Love of good work. Love of brands. In a single word: love.

Thirty years ago, there were no social networks. Even the internet was barely beginning locally. Now we have influencers, unknown individuals becoming role models. Does this era scare you or does it push you to be more creative?

It doesn’t scare me at all and not from overconfidence. I’ve never feared change. Advertising and communication evolve rapidly, and each era has its context.

Originally, brands were simply identifiers. There were no emotional connections, they just needed them. No emotion, just recognition. That lasted until the 1960s and 70s.

Then brands entered storytelling and pop culture. Think of Pepsi with Michael Jackson. That’s not just advertising, that’s cultural influence. That lasted until the 2000s.

The Internet arrived, but it didn’t radically change the brand–consumer relationship. Social media did. It shifted power. Brands used to speak down to people. Now people speak back, and lately people demand accountability: How do you treat your employees? Do you care about the planet? Do you practise CSR? Is gender equality real? How were the chickens raised? Who stitched the clothes?

Ten years ago, hardly anyone asked these questions. Today, more and more consumers buy according to conviction.

“Social media created the counter-power.”

So, advertising must now integrate those convictions: vegans, animal lovers, ethical consumers?

Completely. And it’s positive. Brands should serve people not the other way around. Media pressure pushes companies to change. Without it, many would not have reinvented themselves.

People say advertising drives overconsumption but today it also pushes transparency. You must do good before you say good. But when communication is honest it becomes a force for progress.

Let’s talk about the 30th anniversary film: La Grande Idée by David Constantin. How did this collaboration begin?

We love this industry deeply. We wanted to honour the industry, not just ourselves, by producing and financing a documentary about Mauritian advertising.

It is not a documentary about CIRCUS!, although we appear. It tells the story of advertising in Mauritius through many voices, including our competitors: Vino Sookloll and his son Yanis of FCBCREAD, Géraldine Neubert of Moris Pub, Pria Thacoor of P&P Link, Céline Planel of Beyond Communication, Stéphane Mackay of Gung Ho and the participation of the University of Mauritius, media specialists, former team members, social observers.

From the start, we knew we could not make it ourselves. We would be too close. We entrusted it to David Constantin, whose critical eye was essential. He crafted a personal, structured story, moving through eras and themes: women’s image, humour, consumption, the planet, AI… He had full freedom and we’re very happy with the result.

Wasn’t that risky?

A little, but risk is part of the fun. We gave him the keys, and he created something intelligent, genuine, and human.

And the title ‘La Grande Idée’, whose idea was that?

In the film, he asks: “What is the most fundamental thing in CIRCUS!’s history?” And I answered: “the name.” Finding the name CIRCUS!, that was the big idea. In advertising terms, the ‘Big Idea’ is the central concept around which everything revolves, like Kapav for MCB. That became the film’s title.

What did you feel when you first watched the film?

Pride for the industry. It felt like a journey. Mauritian advertising is resilient. Maurice Publicité is over 100 years old, and few agencies in the world can say that. Our country has always believed in branding, and we wanted to honour that legacy.

“Our country has always believed in branding, and we wanted to honour that legacy.”

Did the film teach you anything new?

It was enlightening to hear other agencies explain how they see the world and how they see advertising. It broadened my perspective.

You often say that Mauritius and Mauritians inspire CIRCUS! How does that translate into creativity?

Advertising in general is built on something very simple: it starts with what we call an insight. An insight is a truth about someone, a consumer reality. A great ad, even before it becomes a great ad, is a good ad because it is based on a real insight.

Let me give you an example. An insight could be: “People are in a hurry in the morning; they feel frustrated because they don’t have time to eat properly.” That’s an insight, a truth. Then there is the brand, and within the brand, what we call the Unique Selling Proposition (USP), the strong benefit of that product. Let’s say its advantage is being ready-to-eat breakfast.

The role of advertising is to connect these two elements: the insight, people’s frustration that they can’t eat a proper breakfast, and the solution, a product that is ready-to-eat, balanced, microwavable and ready in minutes.

That’s the theory of advertising, but the magic happens when this insight is brought to the next level through creativity. Or, for example, could only exist in Mauritius, or in a specific cultural context. That’s when I say, “Mauritius inspires us.” Our strongest campaigns are the ones that could not exist anywhere else.

Let me give a few examples: For an HIV campaign, we used the image of Bruce Lee, and called it “Met Li” (wear a condom). A Creole pun that does not make sense in France. It only works here. Or more recently, for Pepsi’s repositioning, we used “Mwa Mo Kontan”, which resonates with Mauritian youth who want to be different. Again, it works because it speaks our language and our mentality.

So yes, Mauritius inspires us through its humour, diversity, rhythm, language and contradictions. That is where insight meets magic.

You used the word “magic.” Must there always be a bit of magic?

Absolutely, and a lot of hard work

You mean, a circus cannot exist without a magician?

Exactly. It would be impossible. We must keep in mind: people don’t need advertising. When we air an ad, we interrupt their lives during news, during a movie, during football. We arrive uninvited in prime time. If we don’t bring beauty, humour, magic, we’re dead. They must get something out of it.

I remember that ad from childhood exactly, “Pomme d’Amour rant dan tou lasos…”, and it was during the news.

Yes! An ad for Regal! And it appears in the documentary. It was created by Cread and Vino Sookloll’s voice, in fact. A perfect example of creativity rooted in society, part political satire, part theatre, genuinely Mauritian. It stages a political-style assembly of vegetables, with Pomme d’Amour (Editor’s note: a tomato) as the main speaker, denouncing the way consumers squeeze and reject tomatoes at markets and calling for all vegetables to unite and vote to be canned instead. A brilliant metaphor! Fun, satirical, and rooted in Mauritian culture. That ad simply cannot exist elsewhere. It’s ours.

What has been your boldest move?

One moment stands out. A pitch in Kenya for the rebranding of Orange Kenya. We were the outsiders, competing with agencies from London and South Africa. We didn’t know Kenyan culture. But we went. And we won.

I asked the CEO why. He said: “You were technically as good as the others. Pricewise, not the cheapest. But you had something extra: enthusiasm.”

That word is written on our wall since day one. That day I realised: Values matter and they’re not decoration. Being Mauritian is an asset. We are used to different cultures, religions, languages. We adapt easily. Put us in Paris, India, South Africa and we adjust. That adaptability helped us succeed as a country.

Do you think advertising is becoming closer to the public or more standardised?

Both. It has become a bit more standardised, less daring overall, because content is everywhere, and caution has increased. But this isn’t just in advertising, it’s society wide. Look at comedians: people fear the wrong joke. In the 1980s–90s, everything could be said and it was rarely questioned. But that doesn’t mean it was right. Take Serge Gainsbourg. Interviews from that era, if you watch them today, are shocking.

The episode with Whitney Houston was surely the most embarrassing one…

In the famous episode with Whitney Houston, no one can claim she had a good time. There was no counter-power then. The hosts were men; the ambience was male; and they found it funny.

Today, that could never happen, and it’s a good thing. Social media created the counter-power. Some say content is now smoother, but that doesn’t mean it’s less interesting. It simply has more conscience.

In your view, what skills will be essential for future creatives?

One above all: emotional intelligence. It is the only thing we’ll have left.

What advice would you give young people who dream of working in advertising?

Don’t be afraid. Work hard, and remember, teamwork matters more than individual genius. No one can say, “I made this from A to Z.” Even if the idea comes from you, someone will challenge it, build on it, make it better. Ideas emerge from people, from conversations. They don’t fall from nowhere. I’d always rather have someone slightly less talented but with team spirit than a genius who blocks everything.

Today we often work remotely; Zoom, work from home. Does that kill creativity?

I don’t believe in remote work as a long-term model. During the pandemic, yes, but now people are coming back because creativity requires energy exchange. Unplanned conversations. Someone goes for tea, a dialogue starts, and perhaps the solution comes from that moment. 

What are the challenges ahead for the agency?

First, ensuring we embrace technological change wisely, especially AI, using it as a tool, not a replacement. People fear AI will take their jobs. AI won’t take someone’s job. Someone who knows how to use AI will.

Secondly, our ambition is to work more internationally. We already work in Reunion Island. We just pitched to a major French brand, and they in fact reached out after seeing our work. Hopefully that goes through. The goal is to work with major brands abroad from Mauritius, without opening offices abroad.

We also want to further develop research, PR, and new services. There is strong potential.

If we have this conversation in ten years, what will it look like?

I honestly don’t know. Ten years ago, would we have imagined AI generating images from text? Twenty years ago, would we have imagined video-calling on a phone? Our minds struggle to predict the next ten years. So, let’s meet again in ten years!

And in ten years, when will you be proud of CIRCUS!?

I’ll be proud if our values are still alive every day. I’ll be proud if CIRCUS! wins a Lion at Cannes. I’ll be proud if we work regularly with international brands, on an ongoing basis. That would already be amazing.