Buenos Dias Furia World Buenos Aires
Almost at the end of my round the world trip and my final push is South America. Sadly I had to do the last part in a rush. Travelled 4 countries in almost 2 months and did not have time to visit some agencies in the big cities like Lima or Santiago while I was there. But as soon as I arrived in Argentina I asked Art Directors Club Global content manager Brett McKenzie for help. I wanted to know if he knew some people in Buenos Aires and he did. He organized a meeting with the CEO of Furia World called Rafael Barbeito.
Meeting with Rafael Barbeito
I want to thank Brett for introducing me to these amazing people and this agency. I met Rafael at the MALBA museum near the old center of Buenos Aires: Palermo. He’s an outstanding man with a lot of passion for creativity. He has been working or Ogilvy & Mather, James Walter Thompson and many others. Now he is working for Furia Buenos Aires. We introduced each other by telling our stories. I told him about my Round the World trip and he shared stories about his experiences in the United States, in English. I noticed during my travels through South America that English is not really familiar here. His English however was a lot better than my Spanish. The name Furia is the same like the English word Fury or Dutch word Furie. Furia can be interpreted negatively (like anger or as in Furious) but for me it’s more positive: passionate. Argentines and passion go hand in hand. They have a passion in food, in life but also in creativity. Rafael told me the benchmark in South America is pretty high, especially in Argentina. For example, in the United States it can take up to a month to create an entire concept but in Argentina and particularly Buenos Aires they create it in a matter of days. And I experience that when I did some assignments in the agency.
Differences
I explained to Rafael that in my country the client is not paying any more for 5 people creating a concept as they do if the concept is done by two or even one person. The time is shorter with less people. So the people must be more all round. We agreed that lowering the costs or budget doesn’t mean the level of creativity has to decrease as well. Always perform to the best of your abilities even if you lose some money. Eventually it pays itself back.
Changing the advertising landscape
The landscape of advertising has also changed. 15 years ago it was concentrated on print, TV, radio and events. Because of the digital revolution and internet the advertising landscape has been drastically altered. Several other media has been added like mobile devices such as tablets and mobile phones. Advertising is more dynamic and everything is a lot faster (and cheaper). Whatever kind of media you use today, it all start with a good idea. Even the client with the biggest budget is nowhere without a plan, concept and idea. It is also harder to work for a big client than for a small one. Even for a low-interest product you can make awesome things. It all depends on how open you are to that product and see the possibilities in design, photography and advertising.
Work at Furia World
Furia World is part of a network: Richards/Lerma. They have 2 other offices, one in the United States (Dallas) and one in Mexico City. Guillermo Tragant is the founder and Chairman of Furia World and the main chief of Rafael Barbeito. Guillermo is very talented, working for several big agencies and winning several awards. Furia works for amazing brands like Nike and Coca Cola. What makes them stand out is that always try to be creative in an innovative way. I saw great guerilla actions and incredible designs in their portfolio. The agency itself is located near the MALBA museum, a small office on one floor. Yet, it had a certain x-factor. The entire office is full of creativity. Great funny things on the walls, books everywhere, notes, memos, paintings but also amazing friendly and awesome people. They were very busy because the weather wasn’t really great in Buenos Aires the past weeks and they needed good weather for a photoshoot. An exception has been made to work in the weekend because it will be good weather by then. Despite them being pressed for time I was able to talk with several junior creatives (including one guy from Brazil), account people and the Art- and Creative Directors. I hope I inspire them to travel and visit different agencies as well. Even I was lucky afterwards working for a few days at the agency for food and shelter. And work with such creative people and improve my spanish!
My final stretch was amazing; thank you guys for welcoming me and work together. Rafael and Brett thank you for arranging this!
If you like this you also might like:
Working for the European Counsil and EYC Budapest
No Comments