Page 4 - November 2020

who’s who in retail

MEETS

João

Cepeda

FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR,
TIME OUT MARKET

Q. Given the current market conditions, have you had to alter able to give good inputs but also, and more importantly, people that
or re-evaluate your key objectives over the coming 12 months? are able to prove that those inputs work. This can only be achieved by
A. Of course, I think it would be absolutely mad for any company in transforming whatever is in front of you. Authenticity is the key word
the world right now to not change the way they are looking at reality. of this decade. I don’t know of a single leader that the world admires
Twelve months is a short period of time and every solid company right now that was not authentic and that was not able to make his
should have a strategy and a plan for the coming five years at least, if company show its authenticity to its clients and customers.
not more. Our objectives are to basically keep alive all of the fantastic
achievements that we have accomplished in the past couple of years Q. What do you make of social media and its prominent rise
and to keep our projects healthy and exciting. in importance over the last few years, and how important do
you feel e-commerce and online activities will continue to be?
Q. How would you say the Covid-19 outbreak has affected A. Social media channels tend to mature very quickly, especially for
your business in the last weeks and months, and will it affect the younger generations, the post-millennials. We thought brands
your plans moving forward? like Facebook would be here forever but for the younger audience
A. Obviously it has affected us dramatically. We have been closed for a couple it’s already old news. This is one of the reasons why I feel social
of months in all of our markets which is definitely something that we, as an media will grow into something different. The other one is the
industry, were all unprepared for. But instead of trying to reshape the business more than predictable trend of many people to fight against the
or even changing our goals, we believe this is all temporary, so we are trying amount of time they spend on them. There will be an enormous
to cope with these difficult moments, focusing on short-term solutions. challenge here, on how to balance the use of these tools in the
Normality will come again and the new normal will be the old normal. future. E-commerce and online activities… that’s a different thing.
The pandemic made them win the fight against traditional retail.
Q. What key leadership skills do you feel are the most What’s next, in this specific battleground, is one of the most exciting
important in the current retail climate? business challenges of our time.
A. For me resilience is very important. We need to stay optimistic to
keep motivating all the members of our teams and ensure them that Q. What would you consider to be your career highlights?
the gloomy days will soon be over and that there is a light at the end A. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of good milestones in my
of the tunnel. Then of course we all need economical control. In that professional life but of course founding this concept with a team of
sense we are privileged as we have strong shareholders that believe in brilliant professionals is by far the most important one. The fact that it
the power and potential of this brand. We need to show this strength became one of the (if not The) benchmark of the whole food-hall trend
to all of our network and everybody that depends on us. around the world, is a fantastic feeling.

Q. As a leader, when making key strategic decisions, what Q. Do you have any words of warning for the industry as we
proportion of the decision do you feel is fact-based and what head into unchartered territory?
proportion is instinctual? A. Keep strong and wait if you can. I don’t think we should try to
A. It depends on the leader profile, I guess – being the Founder of reinvent the wheel as now is definitely not the time for it. I think for all
the Market project and the Creative Director still at this moment, I of of us that work on new products, new projects and new developments
course rely on the instinctual part in the decision making process and need to focus on what’s going to happen in 2021 and 2022.
that is what I bring to the companies I work in.
Q. Any final thoughts or anything else you would like to add?
Q. Do you think a leader can be both transformational A. I would just underline that confidence note – I still see a lot of
and authentic? business plans that put a very dark shadow in the numbers for next
A. I think they have to be. Transformational, to begin with, because year, 2022 and even 2023. Again, I don’t think it’s needed: we will get
that’s what every company needs nowadays. You need people that are back to normal!

04 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2020