Joaco Espagnol

In the year 2000, I was on a plane heading to Australia for a rugby tour when a friend lent me a book called "Positioning" by Al Ries. I liked it.

At that time, I was in my second year of Industrial Design, and that book made me see that marketing and advertising were essentially about good ideas. A marketing idea could also be something tangible, real, and functional. An idea could occupy a place in people's minds and hearts and change the course of big companies.

At that moment, I was somewhat disillusioned with my degree due to the outdated teaching methods at the university. I felt it was technologically outdated.

Initially, I wanted to study Industrial Design because I wanted to design cars. Later, the degree sparked my interest in designing all sorts of things. We would look at design magazines and go crazy over a beautiful chair or lamp. I ended up drawing and designing hairdryers, staplers, and scissors. You might be thinking, "Scissors? What else can you invent about scissors?" That's what we thought initially, but then we started working, researching problems, challenges, and possibilities, and eventually, all kinds of scissors emerged, some very inventive and others very beautiful. And you wonder, "How can scissors be beautiful?" Well, if you put love, passion, and work hard without mental blocks, it's possible. I now take that as a lesson when I receive closed briefs that seem to have no potential.

I learned freehand drawing, complex technical drawing, designing morphologies with purely aesthetic criteria without thinking about functionality, and 100% commercial and functional designs that were also beautiful. The same happens in advertising. There are more free, artistic, or aesthetic briefs without direct functionality or commercial relation, and there are the opposite types where the priority is commercial, like promotional campaigns. In all of them, you can do something interesting if the brand is willing and gives you the space and resources to achieve it. It's easier to create a good promotional campaign than to design a pair of scissors, haha.

Industrial design teaches you a philosophy or general perspective of design where you must fully adapt to each request, just like in advertising. It's not the same to design a toaster, a chair, or a coworking library. A designer can do all that.

Industrial design teaches you to start not from your own point of view but from that of the people interacting with what you're going to create. It always begins with observing people using what you have to design.

When I discovered that book, I found out I could generate ideas and change things on a different scale and from a different place.

While I feel that the moment of introspection, tranquility, focus, peace, in solitude, is fundamental and necessary for generating ideas in any creative process for anyone, I also believe that working with other people is essential, more efficient, and more powerful.

For me, there's nothing better than working with capable people and good teams. I find it more productive, enriching, and fun. I like seeing others' opinions, their points of view, and how they solve the same thing I'm trying to solve. It helps to understand more and have a broader perspective, and often there is synergy.

However, I believe certain fundamentals must be in place for teamwork to be efficient and powerful and not turn into a large condominium meeting:

First, the team's predisposition and attitude. Like in sports, there must be a sense of unity, total sincerity, and pushing in the same direction, as if everyone were one person. Everything that comes out of that room that hour belongs to everyone. That's key for me. Everyone must know they are one team, taking the task forward together or not at all. Competing to see who comes up with the best idea and whose it is doesn't help. When that happens, opinions may not be 100% sincere, either for disapproval for convenience or approval to please a boss or colleague. When working as a team, everyone should feel there are no more individuals. There is one team. One objective. They solve it together.

And, like in any team, besides attitude and predisposition, individual quality and capacity also matter. The sum of great players increases the chances. But if that initial attitude and predisposition are missing, even the best will fight among themselves and be overtaken by outsiders.

Second, I believe anyone can contribute, but I feel that meetings with many people, 10 or more, are often non productive. I think team work functions better when there are 4 or 5 people in a meeting. Why? Because large groups intimidate the shy and favor the extroverted, and their capacity for good reasoning, insights, or ideas has nothing to do with their ability to speak or their shyness. Therefore, it's important that all members feel comfortable, have their space to give their opinion, and treat it like a typical duo team but larger, so they can say anything comfortably without fear of being judged. Large groups don't help with this.

The capacity of each person for good reasoning, discoveries, ideas has nothing to do with whether they are in creative, accounts, CMO, planner, or administrative roles. They need to have an open mind and be familiar with the process of thinking about something that doesn't exist and that no one has thought of and knowing it can generate discomfort, uncertainty, and confusion initially until it takes shape. That requires focus and predisposition.

Regarding collaboration with other disciplines, it's important to understand and respect other people's capabilities that are not necessarily yours. In fact, it's very likely they are entirely different. Understanding where your work begins and ends and respecting the other's work and skills is fundamental. I see it very clearly in the process of choosing a production company, a director, a photographer, an illustrator, or a designer. If you end up getting into all the details of their work during production, it's probably because you didn't do your first job well, which was to choose them and define how things should be in pre-production meetings. If you hire a director because they're good at that type of work, give them general guidelines and let them do it, give them space, trust them. The same goes for all areas, planning, accounts, administration.

My point of view and experience are not 100% from Argentina. I worked 13 years in Argentina, then 7 years in Spain, and the last 3 years back in Argentina (4 years in Barcelona at The Cyranos McCann, then 3 years creatively leading Cheil Spain. Later from Argentina, ECD for WeBelieves).

Living outside Argentina taught me that life and work cultures are very different, but there's also a part of the work that is the same everywhere. A way of working that is repeated in all large companies and agencies across cultures and countries.

Argentina is a bit more informal, sometimes more chaotic and thus adapts quickly, but at the same time, it’s not that different.

Additionally, since almost 2010, most of the work I've done has largely been regional or global. So, in some way, it's not that different from the rest.

It is very important. Like in any dialogue or relationship, you need to know who is on the other side so that it’s not a monologue—or worse, a brand talking to itself.

It's crucial to know who the person buying and following the brand is. What do they like? What do they do? How much do they earn? What music do they listen to? Which celebrities do they follow? Which influencers? What do they find entertaining? What do they dislike? Which other brands do they follow? Which ones do they buy, or which ones would they like to buy but can't afford? All of this information helps to find insights that matter to those people and connect them to the brand, creating an interesting point of union.

That said, audience research should be taken as a reference point. It's not everything. These studies are limited to a group of people and are not the absolute truth. Sometimes cultural insights come not from a study but from life, from the street, from talking to people.

Cats or Dogs? ...or other?

Dogs, 2. Toy poodles.

Tell us about what drives your personal projects.

I am currently writing a presentation deck for a business idea related to delivery and logistics. Another project involves products that are free of chemicals and plastics.

Was there something specific about Creative Directing that made you realize it was the path for you?

I'm still looking for that. Haha.

My relationship with advertising has almost always been, and still is, a love-hate one. Love because I enjoy when brands do something truly good, real, memorable, and effective at the same time. Love because I want to create something that reaches people and changes a brand. Hate because of the predictable, repetitive, and skippable nature of 95% of advertisements. Hate because of the dishonesty of advertising festivals where 90% of the works never got published and were only created for award cases.

I've had experiences in major networks, independent agencies, and in-house agencies. And I'm still looking for that definitive path. It’s been 23 years.

I can say for sure that I enjoy working with interesting people and teams. I like directing projects, producing them, collaborating with various teams to brainstorm and produce, it enriches me and makes me feel good. I also know for certain that I enjoy mentoring and helping other teams grow. Watching them develop is rewarding. I appreciate working with people who are grateful for everything you give them, who challenge you sincerely and straightforwardly, but are also appreciative and kind.

Dogs, 2. Toy poodles.

I am currently writing a presentation deck for a business idea related to delivery and logistics.

Another project involves products that are chemicals and plastics free.

I'm still looking for that. Haha.

My relationship with advertising has almost always been, and still is, a love-hate one. Love because I enjoy when brands do something truly good, real, memorable, and effective at the same time. Love because I want to create something that reaches people and changes a brand. Hate because of the predictable, repetitive, and skippable nature of 95% of advertisements. Hate because of the dishonesty of advertising festivals where 90% of the works never got published and were only created for award cases.

I've had experiences in major networks, independent agencies, and in-house agencies. And I'm still looking for that definitive path. It’s been 23 years.

I can say for sure that I enjoy working with interesting people and teams. I like directing projects, producing them, collaborating with various teams to brainstorm and produce, it enriches me and makes me feel good. I also know for certain that I enjoy mentoring and helping other teams grow. Watching them develop is rewarding. I appreciate working with people who are grateful for everything you give them, who challenge you sincerely and straightforwardly, but are also appreciative and kind.

War Correspondent on Breast Cancer was a project born when I was leading the in-house agency for Samsung Spain. Samsung had been contributing funds and scanner equipment to a breast cancer foundation in Spain for three years. They asked us to once again create an event to announce that year’s new sponsorship.

So, we thought of a different event: a photography exhibition where a real war correspondent, a Pulitzer Prize winner who had covered significant wars worldwide, would photograph a much tougher battle that few media outlets were covering: the battle against breast cancer.

The idea was featured in all the Spanish media that covered the exhibition. Alongside that, we developed a documentary and a special book with the photographs and the war correspondent’s report, which we sent to celebrities, influencers, and major media journalists.

A brand known for its technological prowess, but not for its human sensitivity, suddenly showcased breast cancer with unprecedented sensitivity.

In my career, I have mostly created comic content. Many of these projects helped to change and revive entire brands in Latin America by connecting them with popular culture. However, this project stood out to me personally due to the difficulty of the topic, its depth, the realism, and the commitment of all the teams involved—the agency, the production company, the director, the foundation, and even the war correspondent.

I used to look at a lot of art all the time. I bought books and visited museums. I still do this, but less frequently, and I should go back to doing it more. Art stimulates and opens the mind. Artists think in concepts, communicate things implicitly even if they don’t say them or they aren’t visible. They have a lot in common with creatives. They find insights and highlight things about humanity that were there but no one saw, often using new and interesting resources.

I enjoy watching good movies and series. But they have to be good. It bothers me to watch a poorly lit, poorly directed, or poorly acted film. I know creatives or advertisers who can relax, switch off their brains, and just watch a movie for distraction. I can't. I have stopped many films halfway for this reason.

I once took a screenwriting workshop with a screenwriter for Argentine cinema and series. It helped me a lot to understand character structures and story generation.