2025 has been a year of contrasts—intense, emotional, transformative. It began with a heartfelt farewell and ends with my soul wide open after the magical, peaceful family moments we usually share in Escondida. In between, there was laughter under a sky full of fireflies outside Kuala Lumpur with my grandson Mauricio; a spiritual retreat in […]
The creative advertising world applauded “ The Most Popular Song” at Cannes 2012, awarding it Lions and a Grand Prix. Because a simple idea can be powerful enough to influence a country, make a difference and contribute to making it a better [...]
A few days ago I published a note that claims that creativity that wins at festivals is 7 times more effective, according to the Gunn Report. That is to say, advertising creative awards, such as Cannes, Ojo, Volcán or Pregonero, nowadays have [...]
First of all, I remind you of Zanders’ rule #6: don’t take yourself too seriously. Then, the question always jumps to a simple “and what are the first 5 rules?”. The answer then is to be expected: they don’t exist and it [...]
Every day, advertising influences the world intensely, profusely and repeatedly with creative ideas to change the world. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation know this, and have teamed up to promote the use of creativity [...]
If you are not, let’s assume that you are among the general public, and not a puclicist, advertiser or any media or digital media. So, with everyone leveled up as busy people going about their happy lives, is there anyone out there [...]
Exactly 25 years ago today, Alexandra Franco opened the doors of the Casa de los Niños Montessori in Escazú, the kindergarten that today is called Hometwo. This long journey triggered the modern Montessori movement spread throughout the country in early childhood education. [...]
For years I thought I would die young. A few days ago I became aware of the fact that once again I have been wrong. However, as a Nike commercial from years ago says, I may have gray hair and wrinkles but [...]
Year after year and for many years, Del Campo Saatchi Saatchi has surprised us with their ideas, and when it seemed that they could not beat the last one, they come up with an even better one. With “Almost Identical” they already [...]
In a practical simplification, there are two types of countries: those that prosper and those that do not. Apply the concept also to companies, institutions, families and all types of human organizations. Some advance and others stagnate or regress. Encapsulated in this [...]
There is a lot of talk, conversation and advice on how to win a Lion at Cannes. No wonder, because there is more chance of being struck by lightning than winning a Grand Prix. It’s that difficult! From a company’s perspective, there [...]
Three words were repeated most frequently at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity: storytelling, purpose and big-data. In his opening remarks at the Cannes representatives meeting in London this morning, Phil Thomas, CEO of Lion Festivals, provided concepts that clearly set [...]
This is a blog post that is likely to be relevant only to advertisers, as it has happened before and will surely happen again. However, since what wins is usually only known to advertisers, it is not out of place to invite [...]