Welcome to the real Democracy.

On April 22nd the DDB Latin America & US Hispanic region conducted an all day seminar under the “Digital Day” banner. It was a different kind of “D Day” for all of us DDBers.

It was certainly an eye opener for some, a confirmation for others and a kick in the butt for a few.

We had several presenters from companies as diverse as Tribal DDB (including worldwide CEO Matt Freeman), Rodrigo Bolivar, Creative Director for Tribal DDB Colombia, Fernando Rodriguez, CEO and Mark Lopez, COO of Terra; representatives from Yahoo Telemundo, StarMedia, I-Chameleon, EMI (who sponsored the cool closing concert entertainment), among many others.

Our very own Juan Carlos Ortiz opened and closed the day stressing the importance and impact of Digital to our everyday jobs.

It was a wake up call but mostly a mindset reboot for all the people in attendance.

Far beyond the revenue stream that digital can bring to DDB and the communications industry as a whole; its importance lays on the mindset adjustment our network is already undergoing. Digital is “the great equalizer.” With the right content and the proper hook John Doe’s website has the same chance of getting those valuable clicks as cnn.com does. It’s the real Democracy. All it takes is a funny joke, an ingenious clip or the right picture from Facebook to become an instant celebrity on the net, or as Rodrigo Bolivar describes: “a Mini Celebrity.” How many of your Facebook friends spend their days “tweetering” you with constant -if mundane- updates on their daily lives? They turn you into one of the many “groupies” of their infamous existence even without you making a conscious decision to be following them 365/24/7. We become the paparrazzis”… the witnesses of their every single move.

As DDB fulfills Chuck Brymer’s vision of becoming “the most influential communications company in the planet” we are all becoming the first “swarm” that moves in unison as a school of fish and start spreading the gospel in each and every one of the agencies we represent.

At Alma DDB we’ve been doing it for a few years now. Digital is at the core of our creative output. Right by the side of Advertainment and all the other new journeys we’re embarking on. We’re at the “intersection” and as the world keeps evolving from commodities into goods, and from services into Brand experiences, we’re charged with creating “sensations” that link brands and consumers as “Soulmates.”

These are exciting times. I couldn’t think of a better time to be in this industry. Anyone out there can come up with an idea. Anything can be consumer or live generated. The way I see it, in this Digital age we’re living, we’re slowly becoming “Curators” of that Museum at large that life in the 21st Century is. We’re just getting paid by our clients to make sure the content is differentiating, relevant and influential enough to their Brands’ “Circle of Friends.”

Welcome to the real Democracy!

by Luis Miguel Messianu – President & Chief Creative Officer at Alma DDB

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