VX 20 years: a success story!

A museologist by training, Leonardo Ciannella, CEO of VX Comunicação, is largely responsible for the creation and success of the agency that celebrated, in 2022, 20 years of existence. Growing every year, with more and more partners, cases and professionals, VX was created after Leo came into contact with advertising in his original trade.

“This world came into my life through the things I did related to museology when I worked with the creative team and helped with the visual programming of the museum’s advertising pieces – folders and all that sort of things. I liked that creative part,” he says.

After a while, he realized that he was happier with advertising and design than as a museologist. He then dove into this universe for good.

The beginning of it all

After leaving the National Library in Rio de Janeiro, Leonardo decided to take a risk and take his first steps in advertising, designing books and creating the most diverse marketing pieces.

All that from home! Alongside Andrea (known as Dea), his wife and lifelong partner, the adventure began to work out and with the increase in demands it became necessary to ask for help and divide tasks. They published an ad in the famous (and ancient) Yellow Pages, with the goal of hiring a professional partner.

Shortly afterwards, Leo and Dea already had people working with them, serving mainly the gastronomy segment and supporting agencies with less expertise in technology and web design. Finding a larger physical location became necessary – they rented an office in a mall on the coastal part of Niterói.

VX Comunicação: naming

The company hadn’t been named so far. With the increase in customer base and personnel, Leo and Dea decided it was time to name their “child”.

Founded in 2002, VX initially had the name Vorax, which referred to the rock band the couple was a part of back then. But the name was difficult to pronounce so the idea of using the first and last letters – VX – came up. At that time, VX was not yet an agency, but a design company.

Having broadened the scope of services, the company was renamed VX Comunicação and became a marketing agency.

The VX’s growth

The beginning was not easy. It took years of hard work until they were able to move out of the bedroom at Leo’s mother’s house, rent a business office and keep the other employees. In a shopping mall in Itaipu, in the city of Niterói, Leonardo and Andréa had seven other people, including Chevrand, the current creative manager, who took part in that beginning, went to other places and, after a few years, returned to VX, where he currently remains.

“I think my personal story is very much intertwined with that of VX. I am the professional and manager that I am today because someone saw potential in a 3D drawing of a lobster 20 years ago. There is no other way to return the recognition and trust without feeling and showing gratitude!”, celebrates Chevrand.

Leo did a little of everything: he took care of the financial part and embraced other functions, such as customer service, creation and web design.

After some time, a VX got a new address, in Niterói, but new challenges appeared. Members of the small team would rather not stay with the company due to the move to the new location. With just one employee, Leo found himself working exhausting hours, getting few hours of sleep and having difficulty reconciling his professional and personal life.

After that period, a new hiring announcement led to the company names that remain as Leo’s trusted employees until today, such as Matheus, Diego and Ébano, among others. VX kept on growing, conquering new partners and major clients, such as Grupo Globo and Canal Telecine, producing posters, websites and various other pieces.

With the growth of the agency, it became necessary to look for a new address, a larger location, and, in 2018, VX arrived at its current office, located in Plaza Shopping, in the center of Niterói, facilitating access for employees and customers and expanding the connection with their partners.

The challenges of the pandemic and the home office boom

In 2020, the world was faced with a major concern and a huge challenge: the Covid-19 pandemic, which, in addition to being a serious health issue, imposed a general reorganization and restructuring of labor relations.

“Our customer base began to invest heavily in online possibilities for retail, and segments such as streaming, for example, grew a lot. The work demand has increased a lot for VX. We repositioned ourselves in the market and, with the help of digital services, we were able to get back on top and go through this moment of global crisis, with the pandemic”, recalls Leo.

And in order to preserve everyone’s health, the agency established the home office model of work. This modality favored the growth of VX, which continued to develop with excellence, without having to make cuts in its personnel – on the contrary: it gained new professionals and tripled in size.

With the increase in the quality of life of professionals and the productivity of the agency, Leo does not intend to change this way of working, adopting the hybrid format once and for all, which has been providing regular face-to-face meetings between teams, for greater integration and synergy between them.

20 years of learning looking towards the future

Over these 20 years, Leonardo Ciannella has been proud of realizing the dream that started in his mother’s bedroom, and VX continues to conquer ever larger spaces, including overseas.

The expansion of the business outside Brazil, arriving in Portugal with a headquarters dedicated to that market and with a representative in loco, is a source of pride, as well as the brand of almost 200 “VXzêros” inspired by Brazil – possible growth due to the format work hybrid adopted by the agency.

“When people see VX as the large company that it is today, it makes them feel really proud. I also really admire all the people who built VX, who were – and are – part of it, and the work they did to make it grow so much and be where we are today”, says Leo.

When looking at the past and rethinking his trajectory, he believes that being afraid is part of it, for sure, but what cannot be allowed to happen is to take charge of us to the point of preventing us from moving forward. Having the courage to take risks is essential for the growth of any business.

“The concern was great to handle everything. But you also need to learn to delegate and to believe in your team. From the moment I placed more trust in the potential of VX and its professionals, the agency moved forward. Vx has grown. And it flew” he concludes. Even more years of life and more flights are certainly waiting for us.