THIRD EAR 25 YEARS LATER

Upon waking up this morning, it hit me that yesterday my ad agency, THIRD EAR, formerly known as LatinWorks, wrapped up 25 years of life. During this time we’ve been fortunate to have played a role in building great brands, crafting memorable campaigns, transforming companies, and assisting countless brands in multiple categories to achieve great business results.

27 years ago, when I walked into the office of a colleague to share the idea of starting an agency, I wasn’t only nervous and filled with doubts about taking such as a step; I was concerned about leaving the familiar terrain of a successful career at Anheuser-Busch, a great American company where my team and I had played a key role in the success of its brands through innovations and ideas that had challenged the status quo of multicultural marketing in the beer industry.

One of our business wins, however, would ultimately be the trigger that proved the time had come to try a new venture. After spending hard earned political capital persuading the Chairman & CEO of our company to buy the global rights to FIFA’s World Cup, I learned that successes of that kind come at a cost. In my case, it was in the form of widespread resentment from colleagues, who lost financial support for properties they managed, in favor of funding what at the time many felt was a crazy idea: soccer, they believed, would never make it as a mainstream sport in the U.S., and American beer drinkers would not find relevant such a connection to their brands. Fast forward: the sport has grown exponentially, and its success validated the wisdom of that decision; a decision that marked the end for my client-side marketing career, and fortunately, the start of a new one as an ad man.

During this journey, our agency has impacted the careers of thousands of employees whose talents and dedication contributed to the success we’ve enjoyed all these years. Many have gone on to executive level jobs at global agencies, and some to leadership positions on the client side. They are CMOs, CEOs, and in some cases, entrepreneurs who have founded their own agencies. To say this has been a most unexpected ride would be a massive understatement.

LatinWorks was conceived to bring change to the Marketing to Hispanics space. We wanted to introduce a new creative approach based on analytical rigor and strategic discipline. In that sense, our ambition was modest. Founded October 15th, 1998, at temporary headquarters in the basement of my home in St. Louis, Missouri, we relocated four months later to the then tiny town of Austin, TX, and as it is often said, the rest is history.

LatinWorks became one of the most celebrated agencies in the multicultural marketing and advertising space. Industry publications such as Ad Age and Adweek named us to their exclusive award lists multiple times. Recognition followed at many of the well-known ad festivals around the world. Most importantly, we created culture-changing work for many brands. Among them, we had the privilege of serving General Motors as they emerged from bankruptcy. We were part of the team that helped Domino’s transform as a company, now considered one of the great business success stories of last 50 years. We worked with AT&T to launch their first pre-paid mobile brand in the company’s history. And we helped ESPN launch a network to serve Hispanic sports fans in the U.S. and Latin America. Along the way, we managed to bring accents to player names at Major League Baseball and became the first multicultural agency to not only have a Super Bowl spot (2007) but also finish number one in that year’s broadcast.

These are only a few of the highlights from an extensive body of work crafted over our first 25 years of existence.

Today marks the start of a new quarter century in the life of THIRD EAR, and I could not be more excited about our prospects for the future. We have an exceptional leadership team made up of committed professionals that include Cailin Bula, Michelle Cobas, Scott Radigk, Leo Olper, Serge Flores, Ed Castillo and an amazing team of talented and dedicated colleagues. We are also fortunate to have wonderful clients such as Mars Wrigley, Humana, Amgen, Visit Austin, Unilever, and terrific agency partners such as BBDO, Organic, Hearts & Science and others.

On a personal level, I’ve been lucky to have worked with incredible colleagues and collaborated with many C-Level clients from whom I’ve learned countless lessons. You all know who you are. Please know I’m grateful for your partnership, support, and your commitment to excellence. Thanks for holding me and our agency accountable to deliver the best work possible time and time again.

On this first day of 2024, we’re ready for another 25 years of history-making creative ideas and positive business results. I’m confident the best is yet to come.