Sébastien, originally from France, is a Creative Director at DAVID Madrid. He has been instrumental in helping the newly opened DAVID European office grow from 10 to 60 people, become the most awarded Spanish agency, and be named Adage A-List International Agency of the Year.

Prior to DAVID, he worked at Publicis Italy and Publicis Conseil where his campaigns for global brands such as Heineken, Leroy Merlin, Renault and Diesel helped both agencies make it to the top ten most creative agencies.

Throughout his ten-year career, Sébastien has already worked on two continents and four countries. He has been awarded more than 100 times in festivals like Cannes Lions, London International Awards, D&AD, One Show, ANDY and Eurobest, amongst others. In 2021, Cannes Lions named him sixth best copywriter in the world.

Attended Creative LIAisons in 2018

From my very first jobs as intern copywriter in Paris and Lima, the imposing winged figures of the LIA trophies always stood out from the award shelves. Today, I feel it’s only suiting that a creative festival that does so much to inspire and mentor the next generation of creative leaders is embodied by statues that look like guardian angels.

In 2018, along with dozens of other creatives, I got an email notifying me that I’d be flown to Las Vegas for week of inspiration, mentoring and observing statue discussions during judging along with some of the most influencing creative leaders in our industry.

Fast-forward to four years later and I still remember the passionate talks and Q&As:

Ricardo Wolff telling us about his own journey from Creative LIAisons to Executive Creative Director at Innocean Berlin.

 Malcolm Poynton taking a stand on the importance of the relationship with your client.

Susan Credle illustrating the importance of generosity and how to be(come) a good creative director.

Sompat Trisadikun’s rationalization of the crazy pieces of work coming from his agency and country.

Getting in a jury room, witnessing CCOs from some of the best agencies in the world debate about what makes an ad “non-traditional” nowadays and getting a chance to join the debate was a career-changing experience.

Looking back at this eye-opening experience, I can’t help but be grateful. The four years that followed LIAisons have been truly transformative for my career and I don’t think for a minute that it’s mere coincidence.

I got to do some of my most creative and awarded work for brands such as Diesel, Renault, Burger King and Leroy Merlin. I also applied many of the lessons I took home from Las Vegas as I became a Creative Director and had to mentor and inspire junior and aspiring creatives.

I really hope that more and more young creatives get the same opportunity as I did and that this amazing program from LIA lives on and grows over the years with the help of all the many creatives it inspired.