Give us a little bit of background on yourself and talk to us about your role at DDB Latina
I’m a creative guy. I come from a creative side, I started as a copywriter with Leo Burnett in Latin America. Then I moved to the US years ago to work at Leo Burnett Latin America. I started to run Leo Burnett as President of Leo Burnett Chicago in 2006. In 2008 I moved from Leo Burnett to DDB. Then I created a project that today we call DDB Latina. Maybe the first project to start thinking in our business not from a geographical point of view but more about culture. So we brought all Latin markets together and created a region. That means all Latin America including Brazil, all the US Hispanic business, and Spain. All of them are connected by one thing – same interest, same culture. That’s why it’s not called DDB Latin America, it’s called DDB Latina. Latin market worldwide. I run business out of Miami.
What sets DDB Latina apart from other agencies in Latin America?
This is the only office that is not just about Latin America, it’s about all Latina (Spain, all Latin America, and US). We have a different approach for the flow of business and the way we connect talent from three different points. USA, Spain & Latin America under one central umbrella. All the Latin markets are connected under one roof.
Could you talk to us about Bullseye, your role in it, the direction its headed?
At the DDB Latina region, we truly believe in creativity. For this reason, we created a creative Benchmark, the Bullseye system. We meet every 3 months with the top creative leaders from USA, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, and Colombia to see all the work from the countries and we judge all our work. We call the system the Bullseye system based on DDB icon. We judge the work and give reviews.
If the idea is average we call it “bye bye baby”, so it’s gone. If the idea has the potential but needs changes or rethinking, we put it in the black circle and that is called “maybe baby”. And if the idea is strong, that is yellow circle, we call it Bullseye. Those are the ideas we are looking for - that will give us strong reputation, improve business and win awards.
Do you have any advice for young professionals who want to become a CEO in advertising one day?
The first advice is: never forget this business is of ideas. The reason we live and survive is because we have ideas. The second is that idea should be connected with a passion. Ideas without passion mean nothing. The third is to remember that storytelling and data are the two legs. Always have storytelling and data connected.
What has been the most rewarding moment of your career thus far?
Many of them. Many, many, many. For example, a very good and recent moment is when I worked for the new President of Colombia, who was elected in June this year. I worked for him for a year and a half on his campaign. It was very interesting to put all my knowledge and experience with brands and putting it all on a person as a brand. The result was very positive, he got elected the president of the country. It was a beautiful experience.
Another remarkable moment was when we won the first Gold Lion at Cannes in Colombia’s history with a spot called “dandruff” for anti-drug campaign created for the government back in the time.
As a CEO how do you want to change or improve this industry?
As a CEO, I think that every day our business becomes more related to peoples’ live. It should be about connecting to peoples’ lives. Our industry is moving forward and connecting to people and being more relevant. And that’s our big move right now.