#lermanos

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El Lado B- Lina Puentes

Lina Puentes

Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia

Position: Art Director

Year started: 2013

Lina Puentes is a bubbly, comical soul. Being the only Colombian Lermano, she brings a different energy to the office. She’s the art director every one turns to when they need a quick edit, the one to laugh at anyone’s jokes, and she’s always down for a good time (no, the day of the week doesn’t matter).

When she’s not at the office consumed in Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, Lina enjoys watching movies, long walks, and sitting in coffee shops simply absorbing life around her. Lina also plays the ukulele (note: she has never brought it to the office and put on a show for us, so we’re not sure how true this “talent” claim is).

Being an artist of many forms, Lina loves to dabble in old-fashioned pencil-to-paper, so drawing and lettering are also stacked on her list of hobbies. In fact, Lina’s most memorable career moment: her drawings made it into one of The Home Depot’s holiday spots. Lina loves traveling, so if she were immortal for a day, she’d do just that – and by traveling, we mean she would “explore outer space with the hope of running into a black hole.”

Hopefully that never happens, because we love her right here on Earth, at Richards/Lerma.

Favorites

Quote: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

Place: London

Movie(s): “Chicken with Plums” and “The Science of Sleep”

Music: Indie

Book: Anything by Haruki Murakami

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The Immigration Slowdown: Here to Stay or a Blip in History?

By: Chaille Alcorn, Brand Planner

After four decades of rapid growth, immigration has slowed, and for the first time since the 1970s, U.S. births are driving the Hispanic population growth. 

Because of this, brands everywhere are asking their U.S. Hispanic agencies when the need for Spanish communications will fade away. Although the bigger issue when it comes to discussing Hispanic marketing is executing in-culture communication in which Spanish is often simply a consequence, we understand the curiosity behind the question.

But what I want to discuss today is the immigration slowdown itself. It seems as though we’ve gotten so caught up in pontificating about the effects of the trend, we have forgotten what we’re dealing with: a trend.

By definition, a trend is a new tendency, a new tendency that time will reveal to be fleeting or longstanding. So it stands to reason that we need to take a step back and ask ourselves another question: Is this immigration slowdown a blip in history or here to stay?

Unfortunately, it looks as though the experts feel it’s too soon to form predictions, but what they are saying is that the slowdown may not be permanent. It’s a temperamental trend that could easily be influenced, and consequently reversed, by a number of fluctuating variables:

Deterioration in economic and education conditions in Mexico

Deterioration in economic and education conditions in Central America

Improvements in the U.S. economy

Budget cuts to the U.S. Border Patrol

Potential immigration reform

In the next few years, experts will start to feel more comfortable making predictions on the future of Hispanic immigration. So rather than jump the gun and get caught in the hysteria of premature conclusions about the potential dilution of the Hispanic culture in America, let’s slow down ourselves and keep a pulse on the trend. If your agency strategists aren’t experts on the latest immigration reports, they should be.

Source: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, 2014

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Spanglish Ads Found To Strain the Brain

By: Chaille Alcorn, Brand Planner

The Premise

Many bilingual Hispanic Millennials toggle between Spanish and English seamlessly. 

The Assumption

So, as advertisers, our messaging could and possibly should dabble in Spanglish as well. It’s fun, human, and theoretically should resonate well. Right?

The Test

Nielsen’s Neuro Division tested a series of Spanglish ads among fully bilingual Hispanic Millennials. Bypassing self-report, they went straight to the brain and measured brain waves that indicated memory, emotion, and attention. Note that attention can be good (interest) or bad (cognitive strain).

The Findings

The language switch requires mental effort, so attention is higher when a new language is introduced. In this test, however, memory and attention were inversely related: language switches require finite, cognitive resources. Thus, when attention increases, memory storage is inhibited.

Conclusion

Use it, don’t abuse it. Speaking and processing Spanglish are two different things. The language switch tasks the brain. If you have a strong insight, strategic angle, or storyline that requires the language switch, then do it, but realize the risk.

Limitations of the Study

Don’t pull the fire alarm just yet. What Nielsen doesn’t discuss in this study is ad and campaign wear-in. It stands to reason that cognitive strain will lessen with each repeated exposure to a Spanglish ad. Also, this study is a high-level view of Spanglish use and does not test the varied ways in which advertisers execute it. We cannot assume that these findings apply to, for example, a radio ad in English that closes with a Spanish tagline. 

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Eggs, Pancakes and Advertising?

A great idea can happen to anyone. However, systematically thinking of great ideas that also solve clients’ marketing problems, within a specific social and economic context, requires not only talent and luck, but techniques, processes, and work methodology. Creating ideas is like cooking. In this creative workshop at our Mexico offices, we propose rethinking the creative process through exercises thought out like the process of a Master chef. Have fun.

- Guillermo Tragant 

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A passion that creates 1 time zone

The World Cup just kicked off and here at Richards/Lerma we couldn’t be more excited.

We have our scarves, we’ve dusted off our vocal chords, we’re pulling up chairs, and cracking open cold ones.

Whoa! Hold up on that last one. There are still briefs to be examined, concepts to flesh out, and deliverables to present.

But what do you do when the world’s most beautiful sporting event conflicts with work hours? We adapt and we overcome. Work hard, play hard never rang more true.

With Lermanos hailing from Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia, plenty of participating national teams are represented around the office; and trust us, there’s no shortage of trash-talking, subjective analysis, and friendships being questioned.

The entire world is in one time zone for one month every four years. Richards/Lerma has taken serious precautions for the upcoming spectacle. The configurations being done to meeting rooms is comparable to the construction of Brazil’s beautiful stadiums and arenas. Schedules are being adjusted meticulously to respect key matchups (Seriously, I saw an art director using EXCEL to make a cross-reference chart). Brackets are being analyzed so thoroughly you’d be convinced our Lermanos were sportscasters in past lives.

Fantasy drafts are scheduled, religious leaders have blessed jerseys, and superstitions of incomplete Panini sticker albums are leaving the most loyal fans scrambling for the handful of stickers needed.

If you don’t know what a Panini World Cup album is; it’s probably for the better state of mental sanity, but you definitely can’t sit at our table.

Still, we have a passion other than soccer: Advertising. It’s simple as that. We crave the preparation, the pitch, and the success of having worked to the best of our abilities for our clients and future clients.

Soccer is an easily expressed passion for us, but it doesn’t overshadow our passion for what we do. There are briefs to examine, creative to be imagined, and pitches to be won. Work stops for no one – not even Ronaldo.

Words: Jorge Rosales 

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El Lado B

Jorge Rosales

Texan

Art Institute of Dallas alumnus

United States Marine Corps

  Jorge Rosales, better known around the office as “Rosie,” is a homegrown Brand Creative who began his Richards/Lerma journey in November 2012.

He entered the advertising industry when he realized “it was the most challenging job that catered to [his] creative mindset and advertising obsession.” Rosie connected to Richards/Lerma through Carl Rossini, his professor at The Art Institute of Dallas, landed an Art Director internship in November 2012, and earned a spot on our roster in January 2013.

But he was not always a Creative. Before flaunting his distinctive long hair and Viking-like beard, Rosie experimented as a Brand Manager in various Dallas design shops. That’s right – at some point, he was clean-shaven, shorthaired, and a fan of Excel.  So he knows what it’s like to come from the dark side, giving him a valuable edge in understanding and effectively communicating with our own Brand Managers.

Jorge isn’t all advertising, contrary to popular belief. Rosie is, above all, a State Fair of Texas enthusiast and Big Tex’s number one fan. But his Texas affair did not keep him tied to these parts; he left the Wild West and traveled the world while honorably serving five years in the United States Marine Corps.

We’re grateful Rosie is on our team!

Fun Facts:

One-sentence bio: “Professional beard and hair grower, bulldog aficionado, on a never-ending journey to find the perfect burger.”

What do you do for fun? “I work out for one reason and one reason alone. So I can eat more.”

Favorites:

Quote: “Be realistic, demand the impossible.” – Che Guevara

Movie: “Seven Samurai” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

Song:  “Parallel Universe” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Books: South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami; The Double and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, both by José Saramago; Of Wolves and Men by Barry Holstun Lopez.

If you would like to know more about Rosie, please click here, here, or here.

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El Lado B

Celeste Ponce

Guatemalteca

Brand Manager/Finance

Year started: 2011

Celeste is an ex-San Antonian with 20+ years in advertising. She’s worked in numerous departments and has been able to wear many hats: office manager, translator, account coordinator, creative coordinator, contracting specialist, assistant producer, and now, brand management/finance.

One accomplishment Celeste is most proud of is that in her five years as an assistant producer (where her heart is), she never missed an air date and always remained on budget.

She highly recommends skydiving. In fact, she’s done it twice, and if she were immortal for one full day and could do anything without hesitation, she would skydive in Hawaii. 

Favorites:

Quote: “Don’t fear the Proforma; embrace the Proforma.”

Place: Paris, France or Buenos Aires, Argentina

Movie: “When Harry Met Sally” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

Music: Spanish pop and electronica

Book: El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera. Currently reading The Alchemist.

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