The Independent Revolution

Federico Kina (chief innovation officer), Paula Medina Rivero (managing director), and Humberto Polar (chief creative officer)

Once upon a time, every advertising agency in the world was independent. 

Let's look back for a moment. 

Let's remember that, with these great independent agencies, it was the craft of their founders that led them to grow in importance and size. 

All of us creatives read with admiration the headlines of David Ogilvy, the aphorisms of Bill Bernbach, the advice of Raymond Rubicam and the long copy of Mr. Leo Burnett himself. 

We all devoured those creative annuals, in which it was very common to find that the people who wrote and designed those unforgettable ads had their names on the doors. McElligott. Goldsmith. Casadevall. Segarra. Olivetto. Serpa. Guanaes. Hegarty. Wieden. 

But, time has passed. 

It's almost 2023. Things have changed so much in our business, it's hard to remember that every advertising agency in the world was once independent.  

Given the constant change in our industry, I think it would be beneficial to remember the beginning of it all to regain clarity.

Being an independent agency forces us to understand what this business is all about. 

Advertising started as a business of trust. A group of people or a family had a business, they needed to grow, they looked for other people to help them grow with advertising, they gave them their trust. Those people responded by taking responsibility, with their own name, for the quality and effectiveness of the ads for which they were commissioned. In many cases, by writing or designing themselves in their own notebooks or design pads. 

I think that's exactly what we have to do again. 

Those of us in independent agencies have this kind of blind faith that we can make a difference. The reason is simple: we can.

The spirit of independence is to do whatever we imagine, without being held back by the status quo or established processes. Because of that, independent agencies are helping the business of advertising clear up its own confusion. The future has technological components and new business models, I don't doubt that. But even in the hyper-polluted public sphere and in the overwhelming digital age, I am convinced that the best way to succeed in advertising is to return to the love of detail and craftsmanship of those who created this profession. 

There is nothing more revolutionary today than working like this.