Ogilvy Australia has appointed international social specialist Cleber de Almeida as social strategy director, as the agency continues to build out its unified social and influence offering, Social@Ogilvy.
De Almeida joins the Sydney team after more than 15 years with Ogilvy Brasil, where he held senior strategy and social roles across major global brands.
Most recently, he served as the strategic and operational lead for Coca-Cola’s LATAM social capability through Ogilvy’s StudioX, overseeing a multidisciplinary team spanning creative, strategy, data intelligence and community management.
His remit included developing a unified regional social roadmap, real-time activation and the application of AI and social data to content production.
Among his work was the development of Coca-Cola’s AI co-pilot, which, according to his LinkedIn profile, lifted brand voice alignment to 95 per cent and reduced response times by 54 per cent.
He also led social strategy for Coca-Cola’s “POV: Rock in Rio” campaign, which he says delivered a 6.9 per cent sales lift, while his social-first strategy for “Share a Coke” generated more than one million first-party-data registrations at a 52 per cent lower cost per acquisition.
Earlier in his career, de Almeida spent almost eight years as a Strategy Director at Ogilvy Brazil, working across clients including American Express, BMW Group, Allianz and Hasbro.
He also led Coca-Cola’s LATAM social strategy between 2022 and 2023, including its real-time marketing strategy around the FIFA World Cup, which he says was adopted across more than 50 countries.
Ogilvy Network ANZ CEO Kirsty Muddle said the appointment reflects the growing intersection of creativity, data and speed within social.
“Social today sits at the intersection of creativity, data and speed. It takes ideas strong enough to earn attention, the intelligence to know where and when they will matter, and the capability to act in real time. Cleber brings all three and knows how to use WPP Open to connect them,” Muddle said.
Ogilvy group managing director, social & influence Daniel Young said de Almeida brings a combination of global brand experience and social innovation to the Australian and regional operation.
“Throughout his Ogilvy career, Cleber has been recognised as a beacon of innovation, creativity, and modernity. He brings a unique blend of global brand experience teamed with innovation and leading-edge social application,” Young said.
Speaking on his new role, de Almeida said: “Ogilvy has been my home for many years, and it’s been a privilege to be part of a global team that has developed what is now a world-leading social and influence capability,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to working within a new region that is clearly driven by constant innovation and an ability to apply both proven tools and approaches and develop new ways of thinking to drive growth.”
De Almeida’s appointment is effective immediately.
