Ok so I changed up the lyrics to the popular (and decades old) REM song, because its the end of a year that shaped up to be quite different than we had thought just 365 days ago.

We saw many changes in the advertising world that many of us never thought could happen. Brands like JWT, Y&R, Wunderman going away was the start of what was to come. And now we see DDB, FCB and Mullen Lowe also gone.

It reminds me when Lintas left the building as well as Bates and others that had been giants and now it seems its all smaller, lighter but I am not sure its more efficient. Attrition at the agencies has been tough because good people ( Eileen Kiernan Josafat Solis) are in this odd time of change.

For us at Cheil Worldwide it has been a year of change as well, we added Attention Arc as our media practice in the US, and the new Cheil Agency Network that our Americas leader Euisun Chung has helped bring together with our brothers in arms from McKinney , Iris, Barbarian and of course Cheil USAbring a real network feeling and the camaraderie of common goals, common vision and more importantly a new focus.

My manegment team Ken Choi and our group at the CCA HQ with the support of Ana Elena Sosa Olivo , Bernardo Villegas de la Barreda , and every contributor that has helped us move the needle forward and make this a banter year for our clients from the Miami office, espcially Citizen Watches that have been in growthe mode and so thank you to our clients Fiorella Garay, MPS and her management team, for being true partners this year.

We won, we lost, we are looking forward to 2026. We know change is the only inevitable reality in this ad world of ours, we saw IPG join Omnicomand how that changes the Holding Company landscape, and how these structural changes will impact how business is done.

Yes AI will play a huge part in this, we believe Agentic AI will be the massive change that will make this industry move faster, as we are in the Zero Click era, and that will just grow exponentially, and this again will be a shift in the dynamics of the ad space. Its a great time to be alive.

I seem to get great questions thrown at me, and I am always one to have an opinion or a thought on something so for sure you can read my thoughts on the Warner Brothers acquisition and how that will impact Hispanics (thank you Marcos Baer for taking time with me) and here is the article: Portada and the US Hispanic media market. I recall when we heard about the “old fogeys” that pontificated about the industry… and recall once chatting with David Cohen on the changes in our industry…am I now one of those that pontificate??

Well so many good thoughts from 2025, the wins, the losses and most importantly the learnings, we have a couple events – the coralgableschamber ofcommerce Global Affairs committee, as well as eMerge Americasso its a busy time and hopefully more new contacts, more fun and more importantly, new business to keep growing.

Thank you to each one that has made my year of growth, friendship, kind words and support, especially to Kiara González Betalleluz who has been a tireless companion, Bill Mattis who has given me time and great advise, Gaston Legorburu that has been a true visionary, Marcelo Salup who is a friend and also mentor, and folks like Gene Bryan who has been a thought leader in our industry, Luis Miguel Messianu that I have seen celebrate victory this year, Michelle Cobas who has an incredible vibe and Thaia Tucci, MBA that was our fellow compadre and friend across all good things. So many more I can mention that have made the year amazing ( Dan Lescarbeau Chris Miller , Christopher F. Maria del Mar Crespo Salazar , Katherine Orozco , Lina Roitman Liliana Caro and too many more!!!)

Gracias, thank you and obrigado, may 2026 be an amazing and banter year, may this Season be filled with love and warmth, and let Christmas, Hanukkah and this time be full of fun!!