Original article in Spanish by Luis H. Menéndez.
Appeared in the Economy Section of the Heraldo.es.
Translated into English by Liquid Iron.
Eduardo Dehesa Conde is living in the U.S. for 20 years. He tops his career with his own marketing firm today.
He arrived in the U.S. without knowing English after working in Zaragoza and Madrid in a variety of jobs. Today, 20 years later, he pronounces (in Spanish) the name of some brands — especially some of the multinationals — with an undeniable American accent.
Eduardo Dehesa Conde, studied in Corazonistas and the Universidad de Zaragoza, and at a certain point he became Head of Protocol and Public Relations for the Government of Aragon (in 1992). And he also worked as an actor and journalist in Madrid and today he is a renowned expert in Business Strategy and International Marketing with his own company based in Chicago.
Two decades in North America, first in New York and after in “The Windy City’ — where Barack Obama built his political career — were very productive years for this professional who focused more on advertising that generates results for clients versus the type of advertising that simply wins awards for its originality — even though he also received important awards.
He also called upon his origin to become the pioneer in the United States of successfully executing what is called Cross-Cultural Marketing. “At the beginning it was difficult to start, because of the language barrier. But little by little, when people were seeing how I was working they were hiring me to create campaigns for companies and finally I ended up working for Draftfcb on the State Farm account,” he states.
Through the years, Dehesa worked for brands from every kind of industry, from beverages like Jack Daniels, Herradura tequila or Miller beer and financial services like Bank of America, Citibank or HSBC to auto manufacturers like General Motors and Ford and other famous global brands like McDonald’s, Nivea or Coca-Cola.
After being Senior Vice President Creative Director at Draftfcb and leader of the Multicultural (or Cross-Cultural) department, Dehesa Conde founded a company in Chicago — where he was already working — with Kathy Bucaro Zobens who also contributed to help grow Draftfcb to become one of the biggest agencies in the U.S.
The new company is named Liquid Iron which is “a collective of highly experienced marketing, advertising and business professionals, who have the expertise — and track record — to move our clients’ businesses forward.” The webpage also says: “We think holistically and develop the right insightful and innovative solutions across cultures, countries, disciplines & industries.” The next goal, this entrepreneur from Aragon has taken the challenge to make products from Spain sell better in the international markets.
