Then and now... Django Weisz Blanchetta

In the latest instalment of Bdaily’s Then and now series, Django Weisz Blanchetta, co-founder and chief executive of Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles and Singapore-based creative advertising agency SuperHeroes, reflects on his career, from his first role to the present day, highlighting the lessons he has learned from his personal and professional evolution.

You’re co-founder and chief executive of SuperHeroes. What does your role entail?

Think of me as a creative navigator on our quest to save the world from boring advertising. 

I make sure our team members have everything they need to unleash their powers. 

Together, we battle dullness, spark imagination and keep the world inspired – one bold idea at a time.

Did you always want to work in marketing? Or did you have other ambitions when you were growing up? 

Definitely not! 

As a kid, I dreamed of becoming everything from a pastry baker to a police officer, then an inventor and later a photographer. 

Marketing came later. Though, if I’m honest, I think I always had a secret ambition to be Batman. 

Turns out, creativity and strategy were my real superpowers all along. 

And marketing is probably the closest I’ll get to taking down the real villains: boring ideas, bad ads and uninspiring copy.

What was your first job – and did you enjoy it? 

I’ve tried a bit of everything.

During college, I worked in a cheese factory, sold Christmas hats on the streets and even did security at Ajax football games. 

Every job was so different, but I loved the mix of experiences and the chance to work with all sorts of people.

Were there any mentors or individuals that helped shape your career? And are you still applying lessons you learned then to your workforce of today? 

I guess every senior person I’ve worked with has shaped me in some way. 

Each taught me something, whether they realised it or not. 

I had some amazing mentors early on who led by example. 

Above all, though, my parents shaped who I am, both professionally and personally. 

They taught me that with dedication, curiosity, genuine interest and kindness toward others, anything is possible. 

That mindset still shapes how I work and lead today.

What attracted you to the marketing sector? 

It’s all about using creativity and brainpower to solve problems. 

Marketing gives me that mix, along with the energy of fast-moving projects, the diversity of working with different brands and the chance to meet and collaborate with so many unique people. 

No two days are ever the same, and that keeps things exciting.

How do you feel you’ve changed as a person over the years? Have career roles brought new dimensions to your personality? 

I don’t think I’ve changed much. 

I still have the same drive and passion for marketing I had when I first started.

What has changed is perspective. 

With experience, you stop being surprised when things don’t go as planned, and start to see things coming before they happen. 

Early on, I believed in Lenin’s quote: “Trust is good, but control is better.” 

But as SuperHeroes has grown, I’ve learned real growth comes from trusting others and letting go. 

So yes, I’ve changed. Lenin was definitely wrong about that one.

You’ve seen many changes to the employment world across your career – how do you see the workplace evolving in years to come?

I’ve always been an optimist, and I’ve seen first-hand how technology, like the arrival of the internet in the 1990s, has changed everything in our industry. 

But artificial intelligence is on a whole different level; it’s a true revolution that will impact almost every job, including marketing.

Some roles will disappear, others will transform entirely. 

The coming years won’t be easy, but they’ll force us to reinvent how we work and create value. 

Marketing will still matter, but agencies will need to rethink what that means.

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