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 […]
From Competitors to Great Friends Competition is a temptation I can’t resist. I’m driven by an overwhelming desire to win. That’s why I choose my battles carefully, only entering those where I sense a chance of victory. I have to admit, I’m [...]
I blinked. Usually, it takes barely a tenth of a second to blink; at most, five milliseconds more. And that’s how it goes: in the fraction of a second it takes to blink, more than 650 days have passed since the last [...]
Hello, everyone! It’s been ages since we’ve connected here on the blog. I can barely remember where the tilde or the em dash is on the keyboard. It’s so easy to let good habits, healthy eating, or work-life balance slip away. In [...]
In October 2019 I listened to a chat led by an influential professor at the IE Madrid Business School – Dr Teresa Martin Retortillo. Her talk posed a powerful idea: purposeful transformation. I was listening to it alongside members of the G50, [...]
I’m writing this as I listen to Don’t Call by Desire – it’s on a Spotify playlist made by my dear friend Charlie Ranalli called Retro 80s. There’s a bottle of Glenlivet and a Cuban cigar by my side, and I’m looking [...]
A short line in between words is known as a ‘hyphen’ in English, while in Spanish it’s referred to as a ‘guion’. It comes in varying lengths, including -, –, — and a few more, as I understand it. In the language [...]
The remarkable and competent government authorities have reported that the new country brand, Esencial Costa Rica, was achieved with a process that began in 2008 and whose cost amounted to $650,000 dollars. Therefore, the first thing I must say is that by [...]
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 [...]
