Cerveza Victoria is a client that constantly challenges the creative team of the Ogilvy México agency , which has been running the account since 2018. Not only because it already has a won and differentiated territory on the Day of the Dead festivity, but also because it always demands to be at the forefront and a step forward.
“We have to be very up-to-date on everything that is happening digitally, in social networks, in trends and in data to be able to provide business solutions that are a watershed,” says Verónica Hernández, CEO of Ogilvy Mexico. “We always have to be at dawn to be able to perform well with them,” he adds.
The immediate challenge is to go beyond Icnocuícatl, the poem with which the brand honored those who left due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Xibalbá, an installment of the series “Chingones even in death” , which debuted with the Mictlan: a journey to the Aztec underworld. Both campaigns were Marketing Monsters in 2021 and 2020, respectively.
But there are also other bets unrelated to this holiday and that still deserve a total commitment from the agency. These include Perreo Virtual and Nuestra Tierra which, along with El Sabor del Reencuentro, earned Victoria the Advertiser of the Year award at the recent IAB Mixx Awards, while Ogilvy won seven metals.
The bar is very high. Hernández reveals that a little over a month ago the client gave them the brief for the next campaign in November and by this week the agency should have already presented a proposal for the next Day of the Dead, “the idea is that it be something spectacular like every year. It is a difficult challenge because you have a one-year benchmark and you have to overcome it, people are already waiting for Victoria’s dead campaign”.
Expansion (E): What do you think has been the key to successfully running an account like Victoria?
Verónica Hernández (VH): I believe that the key to taking Victoria lies in the client’s openness, in letting us enter the bowels of the business. If they didn’t see us as strategic partners, we wouldn’t be where we are with them. The brand building trajectory has definitely been a joint effort.
It is a very creativity-oriented client. The marketing director, Fabio Baracho, is very craft oriented, the production of ideas and not just the idea per se . And a digital piece is just as important as a television commercial. Attention to detail is what this client demands of you.
I: How has Ogilvy remained an attractive strategic partner, considering that there are more and more independent agencies?
VH: We have been the number one agency, according to Scope. But the difficult thing is not to arrive but to stay. I think the key is that we are never satisfied. Our mission is to create and inspire brands and people. That inspires me a lot, we are not here just to generate customer sales, but for advertising to have a social impact.
It is a vision that we bring from the new global CEO and that has driven us a lot to generate ideas of this caliber. There is a great team, I would not be here without the passion and commitment of the people who work at Ogilvy. I know that they work long hours, that there are ups and downs, but the culture, the close leadership and humanism make us a family with a very fatherly union. And obviously there are the brands that we are in charge of, great clients that continue to trust us. They are our reason for being.
E: How do you achieve that attention to detail in your professional life and in an industry occupied mostly by men?
VH: I had many obstacles in my career, I still have them sometimes, but I don’t bend down. I am what I am, I value myself very much, I consider myself a very close person in all aspects, not only with the team, but in all aspects and I do not lose my essence, which I think is very important. My boss told me: ‘you’re very mommy’. I don’t know, maybe and that part has taken me to where I am now, I don’t try to pretend things I’m not, I consider myself authentic.
I’ve had days when I do think about ‘throwing in the towel’ and even retiring, but I want to continue inspiring new generations and women, especially because there is great female talent in this industry who stays halfway through their career. And there is no reason to do it, it can be followed if you have support from other people. I had great mentors, Horacio Genolet was one and Polo Garza was another, male bosses who believed in me.
E: What is the biggest obstacle you faced in this industry?
VH: I had issues of harassment (harassment) and also clients who did not want their brand to be managed by a woman. That happened to me when I was an account supervisor, and as they told me: ‘I don’t want women on my team.’ But you know what my attitude was, I’m still going to be there and I’m going to show you that I’m worth the same, instead of backing down.
I have had many meetings where there are only men, especially at C-levels and in executive forums. I don’t care, on the contrary, because I’m also the spoiled one and you have to take advantage and know how to exploit that feminism that we have to raise your voice, make yourself heard and noticed. What is hard for you because the tone of the men is stronger than one’s, because then you speak louder and show confidence, even if there are ten men and you.
E: What comes for Verónica Hernández after Ogilvy and having led a brand like Cerveza Victoria?
VH: I want to be a coach . Once I retire I plan to talk about leadership. I’m starting to study because I know I have to prepare. I still need to define the field and the specialty, but I want to dedicate myself to that because I have that ease of speech, of listening, and I love it.
I have always believed in balance, not that a man is better than a woman or vice versa. They are the complement in any industry because some have certain qualities and we as women have others. At Ogilvy we are 182 employees. At the leadership level we are 50 and 50 and what I have seen is that there is a lot of respect and that is reflected in the ideas that we bring to clients like Victoria. There is the result of the great balance that there is.
For now, I am very happy with the achievements of this year. They talk a lot about the digital transformation that we’ve been doing, how we’ve solidified the digital very well with the content, data and technology part, because Ogilvy was always known as an advertising agency that only did great ideas for television, and Many clients continue to see us like this. But no, we are also being very competitive in digital marketing.
