IKEA's beautiful campaign reminding us what is truly important during the Holiday Season

For those concerned about the excessive consumerism that we all see around us during the Holiday Season, IKEA's new advertising campaign in Spain - called 'La Otra Carta / The Other Letter', created by McCann is a wonderful and timely wake-up call.  Even if you may not be fluent in Spanish the message is clear.  Ten families were invited to an 'experiment'.  Kids were asked to write two letters:  one for Santa and one for their parents... the result is emotional, powerful, memorable, a celebration to what is truly important.

Cheers to beautiful creative!

Cooking is cool!

My wife has enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu's Madrid Culinary Institute, starting next January. I'm thrilled that she'll be combining years of passion, reading, catering and experimenting with the discipline of formal training.

As a marketing guy, it's fascinating to see how the business of cooking has developed into a powerful element of pop culture.  From the adictive Food Network programming, to Masterchef-style reality shows, to the farm-to-table movement, to the anticipation of the Michelin Guide release, to the food truck festivals, to the evolution of our local farmer markets...  cooking is cool!

This past weekend, my wife and I watched the wonderful film "The Hundred-foot Journey" directed by Lasse Halstörm and based on the best-selling novel by Richard Morais, a beautifully sensitive story about how food has the power of bringing people together.

Worth watching.

Repositioning peanut brittle

My wife was in the kitchen the other day preparing peanut brittle for a school function.  She asked me to try It out.  I don't like peanut brittle but in the how-to-be-a-good husband manual there's probably a chapter on providing candid feedback to kitchen experiments.  My immediate reaction: "It tates burnt", I said, worried that my comments would trigger a hell's kitchen moment.  She surprised me by going back to work testing other variations without saying a word.  After finishing a batch she thought was promising, she asked me try it.  I really hate peanut brittle, so this time I politely refused saying I was sure she had gotten this recipe right.

The next day, knowing how much I crave ice cream, she told me she had made pralines that I could use as a topping.  I absolutely love pralines!  Her pralines over a dulce de leche scoop was heaven. Once the bowl was empty, I was a little suspicious, so I asked if she hadn't just broken the peanut brittle into small pieces.  Her answer: "Yes Honey, isn't that what you call marketing?".

Innovation harnessing the energy of soccer players

In one of Rio de Janeiro's favelas, called Morro da Mineira, Shell is lighting up the community's soccer field by using both solar panels and kinetic tiles invented by Laurence Kemball-Cook - CEO of Pavegen. The weight of a player's footstep is transformed into energy within the kinetic tiles: innovation harnessing the energy of the beautiful game. I love the concept and it speaks so well about Shell's sustainable energy initiative.

 How cool is that?

The Blindfold - Kevin Durant & James Harden featured in our new BBVA Digital Campaign

After a month working hard, it's finally out: our new BBVA Digital Campaign "The Blindfold" celebrating our renewed NBA partnership.

NBA Star James Harden playing blindfolded against three opponents on the rooftop of our Madrid corporate headquarters 28-stories high, guided by NBA MVP Kevin Durant across the globe at a control center in Oklahoma City.   Storytelling at the service of sports marketing.

I hope you enjoy it...




"At BBVA, we're here to make your life easier, by coaching people to reach their financial goasl, anytime, anywhere.  BBVA - Official Bank of the NBA"

Reminding Virginia to think about her future

Here at BBVA Spain, we just launched a Campaign called "Acuérdate de tu futuro / Remember your future" based on the insight that it's very hard for people to visually imagine themselves at an older age.  And because you don't build that imagine in your mind, you think it's never coming.  Worse, not everyone actually plans for the day it does.

Our ad agency DDB created this campaign that was produced with real people, non-actors, who went through a make-up session not knowing what was going on.  They were asked about what they wanted to do in the future.  Then, they were filmed seeing their reaction in the mirror.  The result builds a compelling case for people to take a second a thought about their pension plans.

This is one of the executions (in Spanish) from a woman called Virgina.



This is another execution with Sergio's story...

LigaBBVA Debit Cards launched in Spain

Here in Spain, we just launded the LigaBBVA  & Liga Adelante Debit Cards with personalized card designs for the 42 professional Spanish fútbol teams.  This is another example of how here at BBVA we're commecialy activating our global sport sponsorships tapping into the passion Spaniards have for their clubs.  As a Real Madrid fan, here's my card that just came in the mail this morning.

BBVA Branding on PES 2015 Videogame

Konami's exciting new PES 2015 Pro Soccer videogame for PS4 & XBox will be releaaed in Nov.'14 with BBVA-branded in-stadium billboards on LigaBBVA matches. Check out the official gameplay trailer. I'm thrilled that with this initiative we're able to reach a whole generation of gamers that are not traditional targets of financial institutions. Game on!

Simplicity - the killer app for any business disruption

I'm convinced that simplicity is the most significant ingredient in any business disruption.

Sound pretentious, maybe?  But think about it.  In Apple's highly anticipated media event this week, Apple Pay was presented as a revolution in payment systems based on a one click mobile solution to the hassle of opening your wallet, selecting a card, swiping... you know the drill.  What makes Apple Pay, special:  simplicity.

Four years ago, Zipcar totally disrupted the car rental category by launching the peer-to-peer car sharing movement.  Why?  Because the business model was based on simplifying the pain and paperwork of renting a car the traditional way.

Easy Taxi and so many other similar apps around the World are redefining the taxi experience because of how simple it is to call, track and pay for a cab.  Another example of a one-click app that is very useful during rush hour or on a rainy day in any urban jungle.

So the next time you complain about how difficult, awkward, cumbersome, complicated, frustrating, annoying, aggravating, painful it is do anything in your day-to-day life.... stop... and think that if you come up with a cool mobile way of simplifying the process, you're at the verge of developing a killer app with the potential of disrupting an entire business category.

Let's make things...

An Electric Car experience through Bluemove

Yesterday, my wife and decided to take our daughters to a water park in the outskirts of Madrid. Since the corporate car we ordered has not arrived, we needed to rent a vehicle.  So, my wife enrolled in one of Madrid's new car sharing services called Bluemove.

Through their app, we found out the car we had reserved was located a block away and, to our surprise, when we got there it was a Peugeot iOn 100% Electric.  My first experience driving an electric car (the golf cart doesn't count).  The park was an hour away so when we got there, I was a little concerned since the vehicle has an 130 km autonomy and I had to calculate the drive back home. The waterpark manager helped to find a place we could charge inside their maintenance facility.  He ended up telling us he would discuss the possibility of installing a charging station for the next year's season, since he recognized this is a growing trend.

Good service, cool electric cars, true digital model, no paperwork... I quickly became a Bluemove fan and will spread the news.  As a marketing guy, I love to see good business models thrive.

This is a Bluemove concept video I found on Youtube...

Travel light, stay fit... at Westin.. with the help of New Balance

Flying back to Madrid after three fantastic days in Lima.  I stayed at the Hotel Westin Lima, a chain that offers a service that is based on a great insight that business travellers want to travel light but also want to work out while on the road. Westin has an agreement with New Balance, which provides travellers to borrow athletic shoes and fitness apparel.  Brilliant.

A great example of a hotel that understands the needs of frequent fliers.  This is a benefit that will certainly keep me loyal to this hotel chain.

Smart packaging for frequent fliers

As a frequent flier, it's not easy travelling with personal care products with the restrictions on liquids, aerosols and gels.  So, since I use contacts, I was happy to see that Bausch+Lomb's Bio True multi-purpose solution launched a flight pack that even comes with the infamous zip bag - a simple idea to pack the essentials.

BBVA sponsoring the El Celler de Can Roca 2014 Tour

Here at BBVA, this is turning out to be a very special summer.  We're sponsoring the El Celler de Can Roca - the World's #2 Restaurant in the World. - Tour through the Americas.  Three culinary geniuses: Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca taking their culinary magic to clients in Houston, Dallas, Mexico City, Bogotá and Lima.  Besides the unique experience we're providing to clients, the Roca Brothers are researching local ingredients, scouting new talent who will earn scolarships in Girona and ultimately contributing to improve the culinary scene in the countries where they visit. Something never done before.

Today, I was happy to read in El País - the leading newspaper in the Spanish-speaking world - the impact this tour is generating.

Pretty cool sponsorship for a bank.

I'd love to go to Kenya to check out M-Pesa

In the world for mobile payments and microfinancing, a lot has been published about China's Alipay but it seems like Kenya's M-Pesa is also a case to study.  Amazing indicators: 17 Million users (one third of the country's population) with transactions equivalent to 31% of Kenya's GDP.

I'd lovt to go check it out.  What consumer dynamics are driving such strong usage, what can we learn that can apply to other markets?

Roadmap to the future of marketing

I received this interesting chart on the roadmap to the future of marketing. It didn't come with a source.  If anyone knows who developed it, I'd like to learn about the author.

Banks@Google in Paris & visiting the Google Cultural Institute

I'm in Paris today participating in the Banks@Google event. In the afternoon, we visited the amazing Google Cultural Institute to see how they are digitalizing the World's best artwork from the most prestigious museums. The hi-res artwork was projected on a massive screen and you could zoom in and look at all the details. Fascinating.

It made me imagine how much technology will impact they way future generations will learn.

Below a video I found on Youtube explaining how to use the their online resource.




 One of the pieces digitalized is Sans Titre from one of my favorite Brazilian grafitti artists: Osgemeos, from the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art. I loved the experience.

BrazucaCam bringing technology to the beautiful game

This week at the 2014 Cannes Lions, I had the opportunity to listen to Fabio Costa from TBWA Chiat Day Los Angeles present the Adidqs BrazucaCam in the Innovation Category. In a sport with such a huge global following, especially this month with FIFA World Cup, it was wonderful to see technology bringing fan excitement to the beautiful game.

Considering how complex sports rights are, I hope this initiative will gain traction, offering viewers with a different perspective of the game.

Inspired by Skype's Campaign

I'm waiting to board my flight to the 2014 Cannes Lions reading Adweek's article on the 25 campaigns they predict will win this year. I fell in love with Skype's "The Born Friends Family Portrait" campaign by Pereira & O'Dell, San Francisco. A truly inspiring story and how the brand seemlesly facilitates a beautiful connection.

It made me think of how certain brands are finding and communicating their higher purpose. In my marketing role here at BBVA, I wonder what real stories exist among our millions of customers we have around the World that could inspire our brand communication?  

Welcome to Knowledge Banking

Banking is going through fascinating change, the type of disruption that has impacted so many other categories.  This video was produced as a glimpse into the near future of the type of bank we're building here at BBVA, one that is more flexible to adapt to the transformation that is taking place with the advances in big data, smartphone penetration, simple product design and a combination of technologies that empower people to bank anytime, anywhere.

We're calling it Knowledge Banking.

How much has your banking experience evolved over time?

"Madrid We Are the Champions"

Being involved in sports marketing here at BBVA with the title sponsorship of LigaBBVA and NBA, I'm always looking at what other brands are doing in terms of sports marketing.  As Europeans get ready for next Saturday's UEFA Champion's League Final, I loved this Heineken billboard that appeared all over Madrid this week.  Since the city hosts the two finalists:  Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, the excitement here is amazing, almost religious.  Fantastic copy:  "What happens in Lisbon, stays in Madrid.  Madrid We Are the Champions."

In the world of marketing, few things generate more excitement than brands that do sports marketing well.

Ibiza, Phoenicians and the Balearic Salt Production

After a year travelling around beautiful Spain, I fell in love with the Balearic Islands.  In our last visit to Ibiza, two weeks ago, we drove past the Sal de Ibiza salt evaporation ponds located in the southern part of the island.  Beautiful scenery, which I later found out has an amazing history.

When I travel, I like to discover local brands as much as I do local flavors.  So, I did some reading about the origins of the salt industry on the Sal de Ibiza website.  I was amazed to learn that Ibiza was originally colonized by the Phoenicians in the 8th Century BC and the first official reference to Ibiza's sea salt dates back to 540 BC when the Carthaginians conquered the island.  Under the Roman Empire, the saltworks were run from 122 BC until the empire fell in 476 AD.

How many industries can trace their history so far back in time?

It's fascinating to see how Sal de Ibiza has brought innovation and design to such a traditional category:  sea salt with hibiscus, with chili, a line of chips lightly salted with Sal de Ibiza,  and even a chocolate bar a la flor de sal.  I guess once the snacks marketing is still in me.

BBVA's Corporate Responsibility Report

In this past year it has been fascinating to see the work that BBVA's Corporate Responsibility team is carrying out, led by an inspiring professional called Antonio Ballabriga.  How do you measure the impact of CR initiatives in society at large?  Here's a section of an infographic that they put together to tell their story.

Refreshing concept to sell architectual services

One of the good things about living an urban life in a pedestrian city is that you're more connected to the city dynamics.  Sorry suburbia, but I love checking out what's new in the neighborhood retail scene, stopping at a sidewalk café or buying the newspaper at the kiosk on my way to the office.  Life on the streets versus behind a wheel.  While walking yesterday, I saw this storefront that caught my attention.  It looked like it could have been a bagel shop but it's actually an office offering architectual and renovation services.

Simple name:  The Architect.  Simple concept:  Low cost architecture.

As my wife I discuss a real estate investment we're interested in, I'll certainly drop by to get to know these guys.  The way they promote their services feels refreshing.

New BBVA Spain Campaign airing tonight

Here are two BBVA spots that will be airing in Spain starting tonight.  The campaign, created by DDB Madrid, is called 'Quiero' and it communicates the many advantages of being a BBVA customer.

Reading about shades of grey overlooking shades of blue

Holiday in Ibiza.  Yesterday was the perfect day at one of the many amazing calas.  I just read a fantastic article in The Economist called 'A Billion Shades of Grey' about how an aging population in the developed world is changing demographics, the economy, the workforce...  and for marketers that means opportunities for new business models meeting new consumer needs for a cohort with time, disposal income and aspirations to leave a legacy.

Talking to Anuncios - Spanish publication on advertising

Meeting David Edelman

For the past months, I've been following David Edelman - McKinsey & Company - through different sources of social media, enjoying his posts, insights and pieces of wisdom.  He has a fascinating way of explaining how companies have to re-think, evolve and adapt to a business environment that is going through amazing change based on the adoption of technology.  A theme that is at the center of any business discussion no matter what category you work in, no matter where you are in the World.  Disruption is around the corner, a block away from opportunity.

After a few phone inspiring phone conversations, I finally had the opportunity of meeting him earlier today here in Madrid.  It's great to speak to people who make you think but who also provide rich discussion that enables you to find solutions to complex issues.  Great conversation.

Spring Festival combing 5K, Live DJs, Color... welcome to Holi Run

This past Saturday, our teenage daughter said she was going to a running event with her friends.  I didn't quite understand because she's not particularly into running at all.  Then, she told me it was an event called Holi Run, so I looked it up and realized it's an event inspired by the ancient Hindu religious festival, primarily observed in India, Nepal and other regions of the world with large Hindu populations.  The Holi Run event is a spring festival that combines a 5K, live DJ and a carnival atmosphere with lots of color.

Through Wikipedia, I learned that Holi is celebrated at the approach of the vernal equinox and the festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring and for many a day to have fun with friends, laugh, get drenched in color, forget and forgive.

By looking at the photos uploaded to her Instagram, I realize that for this generation event marketing takes on a whole new meeting.  As a marketing professional, it makes me think that to connect with this demographic we need to consider mashing up culture references like music, sports, entertainment... where social connection is the new currency.

Getting inspiration from Pixar

Yesterday, my wife took our family to the Pixar - 25 Years of Animation exhibit at CaixaForum here in Madrid.  An outstanding experience well worth visiting.  The exhibit is a wonderful peak behind the scenes of the creative process of the company's 12 feature films through drawings, models, videos and installations.  It's an amazing demonstration of the power of combining art, technology, storytelling... and business.

What a powerful inspiration for marketing teams as we develop campaigns with our creative agencies.  

How can we build more compelling storytelling for our brands?  

The Advantage of MyTaxi App for a Parent of Teenage Daughters

Here in Madrid, I'm hooked on MyTaxi App and like any good service I've talked about it to friends.

Since it has been a year now without a car, as a Family, we use a lot of cabs.  Anybody who uses these taxi apps today knows how convenient they are.  However, I realize there's another clear benefit for someone like me who has a pre-teen and a teenage daughter.  It's wonderful from a security perspective.  When we need to send a cab to pick one of our daughters up from an after-school activity we usually use a taxi driver we have known since we arrived in the city.  However, the other day he was off duty so I used the MyTaxi App.  The piece of mind is that the app displays the driver's name, photo, vehicle and license plate.  For someone who has personally been a victim of urban violence, this is a great product feature.

I wonder what other ways technology can provide people with a sense of security?