Maria Salgado on “Champions of Winter”

Eight Sleep’s “Champions of Winter” campaign has garnered a Best of Best recognition in the 2024 Creative Communication Awards. The campaign defies winter’s chill by highlighting how a great night’s sleep can help you stay energized despite the season’s draining conditions. Below, Maria Salgado, Brand Creative Manager at Eight Sleep, discusses the project’s origin, the challenges her team overcame, and the creative journey that led to this high-profile award.

Award: Best of Best (2024 C2A)
Project: Champions of Winter
Company: Eight Sleep
Lead: Maria Salgado, Brand Creative Manager

1. Could you provide a brief background about yourself or your creative practice?

Maria Salgado: I’m a Brand Creative Manager at Eight Sleep, handling brand campaigns, design, and art direction. My career began in design, focusing on visuals and brand consistency. However, over time, I realized that my main interest was weaving stories, forging brand narratives, and shaping overall marketing strategy.

My role now spans from conceptualizing campaigns to directing photo shoots and collaborating with various teams: brand, growth, product, and social. I’ve worked on projects with athletes like Charles Leclerc and Taylor Fritz, driving our brand’s visual and messaging cohesion. Ultimately, my goal is to blend creativity with strategic thinking to make campaigns that truly resonate.

2. What was the brief for your award-winning project? What were the primary goals or instructions that guided its success?

Maria Salgado: For the Winter 2023 “Champions of Winter” campaign, we aimed to highlight how the Eight Sleep Pod recharges people during the coldest, darkest months. Winter can drain energy, so we wanted to show that you can still wake up feeling fresh and unstoppable, even when it’s freezing outside.

We rolled it out around Black Friday and the holiday season, relying on captivating visuals across paid ads, social media, and the website. This strategy amplified both engagement and conversion. Seeing the campaign recognized with a Best of Best award made the effort particularly rewarding.

3. What inspired your award-winning project?

Maria Salgado: The inspiration came from observing how colder, shorter days can sap motivation and make it harder to feel energized. We decided to position the Pod as the key to beating winter fatigue, waking up ready to conquer the day. It’s about flipping the winter blues on its head: you can be a champion of winter rather than a victim of the cold.

4. What challenges did you face during the creation of your award-winning project, and how did you overcome them?

Maria Salgado: A significant challenge was ensuring every shot aligned perfectly with the campaign’s vibe while also being versatile enough for multiple channels: ads, social, web, etc. Shooting in a controlled studio environment helped us maintain quality control, but it required detailed shot lists and collaboration across various teams to guarantee efficiency.

Balancing the artistic vision with the practical needs of an integrated campaign was another hurdle. We had to ensure that branding elements, typography, and design cohesively told the story. Meticulous pre-production planning and thorough post-production allowed us to deliver assets that looked and felt unified wherever they appeared.

5. What sparked your passion for graphic design/communication design/photography? How has your creative journey evolved over time?

Maria Salgado: I grew up surrounded by creativity. My parents designed shoes, and my sister is a photographer, so aesthetics and art were part of my upbringing. I explored different paths, but photography internships in Portugal guided me toward communication design. Over time, my role expanded from creating visuals to shaping entire brand narratives and managing campaign strategies. Now, as a Brand Creative Manager, I merge these experiences to create impactful, story-driven projects.

6. How do you stay updated on the latest trends, such as AI? What are your thoughts on their impact on the creative industry?

Maria Salgado: I keep my ear to the ground by reading, learning, and sharing new tools with my team. AI is exciting; it can streamline repetitive tasks and open up new avenues for visual exploration. However, the creative spark that comes from human insight and intuition is irreplaceable. So, I see AI as a complement. It can magnify our creativity rather than overshadow it.

7. What steps do you take to continue growing as a designer/photographer/creative professional?

Maria Salgado: I immerse myself in a broad spectrum of creative disciplines: design, photography, art, and fashion. I follow industry leaders, attend workshops, and continuously seek feedback. Every project becomes a learning experience, whether it’s refining a new skill or collaborating with experts from various backgrounds. Remaining curious and open to change is crucial to my growth.

8. What inspires your imagination, and how do you nurture creativity in your daily life?

Maria Salgado: My environment is curated to spark ideas, from following boundary-pushing creatives to engaging in learning experiences. I’ve lived in diverse cities – Porto, Barcelona, New York, Amsterdam, each offered unique design, culture, and energy. Embracing those varied influences feeds my curiosity and broadens my creative perspective.

9. Who are your biggest influences or the creatives you admire most in your field (past or present)?

Maria Salgado: I really admire Virgil Abloh for challenging conventional boundaries between fashion and design, Daniel Arsham for his artistic exploration of time and materials, and Gibson Hazard for his cinematic approach to video and motion design. Each of them reshaped expectations in their fields, inspiring me to continue exploring outside-the-box creativity.

10. How do you balance your clients’ needs with your personal creative style?

Maria Salgado: Whether it’s an external client or in-house, I start by internalizing the brand, its mission, values, and audience. Once I fully grasp that, I integrate my own creative spark. Clear communication is pivotal: I aim for solutions that respect the brand’s core identity while injecting fresh, on-brand innovation. It’s this balance that leads to genuinely resonant work.

11. How do you feel about receiving a Creative Communication Award?

Maria Salgado: It’s incredibly gratifying. Achieving recognition like the Best of Best validates not just my efforts but also the collaboration and creative synergy of the entire team. It’s a reminder of how powerful a united vision can be, motivating me to keep pushing boundaries and finding new ways to engage and inspire audiences.

Champions of Winter: Redefining Cold-Season Energy

By combining strategic timing, visually compelling storytelling, and an empowering message, Eight Sleep has turned the notion of winter fatigue on its head. The “Champions of Winter” campaign underscores how the Pod can transform sleep, making even the darkest days feel triumphant. It’s an approach that resonated strongly, ultimately securing a 2024 Best of Best honor, and confirming that great sleep is the cornerstone of conquering any season.