After 21 years at Mother, Gabriela Scardaccione – billed as the agency’s “global voice” as well as a global creative director – is leaving to “explore the world of communications.”
Scardaccione started at Mother as a creative placement in 2000, having begged founder Robert Saville to take her on despite the fact that she was too experienced for the job.
Since then, she’s been part of some big moments at the agency. She played an important role in an early Coca-Cola pitch victory, and in 2005 she set up and ran satellite agency Madre in her native Argentina, returning to London in 2018.
Robert Saville, who usually keeps a low profile these days, has stepped up to wish Scardaccione well. He said: “Gaby is like family. We’ve laughed, cried, argued and then made up. Often all at once. Her passion for ideas and people is second to none. And we’ll be rooting for her in her next chapter.”
Scardaccione’s style of work is encapsulated in her long-running “Mama Luchetti” campaign for the Argentinian pasta brand.
Scardaccione said: “I will be forever grateful to Robert for allowing me to be part of Mother when I arrived from Argentina with little English and a big dream. He saw potential which was hard to see at the time. This place has been fundamental because it not only empowered me to be the best version of my professional self but also made me into a better human being.”
Scardacciones’ fellow Mother veterans Ana and Hermeti Balarin are also leaving the agency at the end of the year, on their way to be ECDs at Wieden + Kennedy Portland.
This is an updated version of an earlier story.
