Valter Klug
28 years in agencies. Valter Klug started as an art assistant in São Paulo in 1998 and taught himself to code Flash, which pulled him into digital while much of the industry still treated it as an afterthought. Then came AgenciaClick (later Isobar), Euro RSCG 4D at Havas, Sapient in London and Miami, and Young & Rubicam at WPP, where he led AT&T's U.S. Hispanic account with a team of about 35. Two Cannes Lions in 2005, for work he built from concept to code.
He has been through agency integration from the inside: in 2009 Sapient moved him from London to Miami through the iChameleon merge, embedded in the acquired team to make two ways of working become one.
In 2015 he founded Samba Rock and spent ten years proving the model offered here: a small core, senior specialists per project, large-agency quality at boutique cost. Bauducco, Guaraná Antarctica, Natura, Tramontina, Grendene.
He also founded Soundcheck Insights, an AI-native market intelligence platform that delivers a US market-entry study in two weeks. It is what backs every expansion decision with evidence instead of opinion.
Opening in the US costs more than it looks.
The math most Brazilian agencies run is the office math: a lease, a US entity, an accountant, a local head. What never makes the spreadsheet is the time to first revenue, and the real odds of getting the positioning wrong on the first client.
Hiring a senior executive full time solves part of that and creates another problem: a US CMO salary with payroll load, before there is volume to justify it.
Four ways into the American market.
Your agency chooses the depth. All four work together or separately, always with your brand in front.
Your agency in the US, white label
The American arm of your agency. The relationship and the account stay yours, and local execution runs through senior specialists, following your strategy and your client's brand vision.
Fractional CMO, CEO or COO
A senior executive inside your agency, part time, leading the US operation: positioning, offer, pricing, team structure and commercial routine.
Market-entry planning for your clients
Market research, feasibility, positioning for the American consumer, and an integrated marketing and e-commerce plan. You widen the scope with clients you already serve.
Campaigns running in the United States
Local creative and execution with an American team, online and offline, from someone who has launched Brazilian brands here and knows what does not work in this market.
Chameleon Collective
The operation does not rest on one person. Behind it is Chameleon Collective, an American network of senior executives and specialists brought in per project. Your agency gets the seniority it needs, for as long as it needs it, with no payroll.
Julie Mantis
One of the original Chameleons, with more than 20 years alongside the partners. She positioned the Chameleon Collective brand itself. She worked on integrating iChameleon after the Sapient acquisition, inside the teams that defined how the merged agency would operate. Today she runs marketing and creative operations assessments and builds internal agency models, work she has done for Polaroid, Bugaboo, Vera Bradley and Blink Fitness.
Juan-Carlos Morales
Executive Creative Director at Chameleon Collective. He has led creative teams at scale, bringing together designers, copywriters and UX professionals. Agencies like CP+B and Sapient taught him how to earn attention; at PwC he co-created BXT, a framework uniting multidisciplinary teams. Today he embeds inside brands like WorkMoney, Pacific Life and Bugaboo, building in-house creative capability for their teams.
Austin Dillman
20 years in paid media and growth marketing, 14 of them in-house. Seven years at Chameleon Collective, where he builds and leads senior growth teams for clients managing up to $40 million in annual ad spend, often replacing the incumbent agency. He audits agency performance for private equity portfolio companies and has written several hundred statements of work.
Jeff Hunt
Built his career mostly on the client side, leading marketing across B2B, B2C and B2B2C, starting in classical CPG. He has selected agencies of record, structured how they work with internal teams and set the terms of those relationships from the client's chair. He has also worked inside an agency and advises agencies on differentiation.
Media, performance, creative, e-commerce, data, PR and trade. The team is assembled per project, based on what each of your clients needs.
250+ experts, ready to deploy under your brand.
When a client asks for something your team does not staff, or demand outpaces your capacity, you plug in the discipline you need. Delivery happens behind the scenes with your brand in front.
Why this beats the two alternatives.
It is not about being cheaper. It is about risk, speed, and what happens if the first bet does not work.
| Build your own operation | Hire a full-time executive | Fractional executive + collective |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to 12 months to first delivery | 3 to 6 months to recruit, plus onboarding | Starts in days, with the first project |
| High fixed cost before any revenue exists | US CMO salary with full payroll load | Cost per project or a defined monthly fee |
| Entity setup, accounting, legal, payroll | One head, with one specialty | No new structure to administrate |
| Learning the market by trial and error | A network you do not control | Ten years of mistakes already made and fixed |
| Hard to unwind if it does not work | Risk concentrated in a single hire | Scales up and down with real volume |
Widen your portfolio
Tell your home market that your agency now serves clients in the US. It generates PR and opens doors with brands thinking about going international.
Upsell the base you already have
Take the expansion conversation to the brands you already serve, with a concrete path instead of an intention.
Confidentiality and account protection
Contracts with mutual NDA and non-compete. Ownership and control of the client always stay with you.
You set the price. You keep the spread.
No revenue share, no exclusivity. You get a partner rate, bill your client at whatever you choose, and pocket the difference. Two ways to look at the number.
The cost of doing it alone
| Path | Estimated monthly cost | Time to first delivery | If it does not work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own US operation: entity, office, legal, accounting, a local head and a small team | $80,000 to 120,000 | 6 to 12 months | Unwind the structure, severance, sunk cost |
| Full-time American executive | $25,000 to 35,000 | 3 to 6 months | One wrong hire, start over |
| Fractional executive with the bench behind | A fraction of that | Days | You stop whenever you want |
Illustrative figures, not a quote. Actual partner rates depend on scope and seniority, and the markup applied is entirely your agency's decision.
Soundcheck Insights
No brand should cross the border blind, and no agency should defend an entry plan on opinion alone. Soundcheck Insights delivers a US market-entry study in two weeks, sourced and evidenced, at a fraction of traditional consulting cost.
Brazilian companies mapped
Original research on companies that entered the US since 1995, coded across 40+ fields, to understand what separates the ones that grew from the ones that failed.
Cross-border Viability Expansion index
Scores your client's entry plan against what actually happened to the companies that went before, and shows how much the plan improves with different decisions.
Weeks, not six months
A full report on market, competition, pricing and channel, ready to become a client presentation under your agency's brand.
Your agency can offer this as its own service, white label, and enter the client's expansion conversation through the evidence door.
What agencies usually ask.
A 30-minute conversation settles more than three months of research.
Tell us where your agency is today and where it should go. If there is a fit, the proposal follows with scope, format and investment. If there is not, that will be clear on the first call.
Start the conversation