Guilherme Marconi makes money while he sleeps.
This Brazilian artist has designed his creative business so that he is truly a creative entrepreneur rather than a creative labourer. It’s his business policy never to sell his intellectual property but always to rent it. By licensing his work for commercial use in this way, his art generates ongoing income streams, even when he isn’t working on a project.
Despite having no formal training as an artist, Guilherme, aged 30, creates outstanding and distinctive commercial art that is used in advertising campaigns for global brands such as Vodafone, Microsoft, Sony, AT&T, Absolut Vodka and Nokia. His works are also used on a range of products including t-shirts, mobile phones and posters.
He lives in the small city of Nova Friburgo in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro State, yet his business is global. He licenses his works through four selected advertising agencies around the world: BDH-UK in London, Shannon Associates in New York, Who Creative Talents Agency in Portugal and Art Pimp in Brazil. His creative enterprise ‘We Design’, is a business partnership with fellow commercial artist Dario do Nascimento.
Guilherme retains ownership of the copyright in his works and licensing arrangements vary according to the needs of clients. For example one piece was licensed for use for one month in two Nike stores, and four works were licensed to the Bank of Brazil for two years’ use. By retaining ownership of the intellectual property in his creations, they are available for renting out again for further use. These licensing contracts are managed by his agencies, who typically take a commission of 20% on the deals they negotiate with their clients. This arrangement means that Guilherme can focus on what he does best – being an artist.
Talking about his business values, he says: “I care about the people I work with. Despite many lucrative enquiries from companies around the world, I always channel work through one of my agencies: it’s a matter of loyalty. The most important thing in my business dealings is my relationship with managers in my agents’ offices. I have built up working relationships based on trust and because of this, I’ve stayed with most of them for a long time.”
His business is truly international and he communicates with clients by email and Skype. Amazingly, he has never actually met his clients in New York in person, despite having worked with them for five years, and he has only met his Brazilian client in São Paulo twice in nine years!
Speaking as a creative entrepreneur, Guilherme says: “My business strategy creates an income from licensing, and this means that I can choose the kind of creative work I do. I work in my own distinctive style and decline commissions if people ask me to imitate other artists’ work. I do what I love to do.”
Text copyright © David Parrish 2012. Some rights reserved (Creative Commons Licence)
Images used with permission
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