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INTER Multicultural Communications

An Interview with Jorge A. Plasencia, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Offi cer, Republica Havas

Will you discuss your vision for creating the During this time, multiculturalism was company? starting to take off. In 1999, Ricky Martin per- In 2006, I was an executive at Univision, formed on the Grammy Awards, which was a working on the radio side of the business. At pinnacle moment in Latin culture in America, that time, Univision was the largest Hispanic and then there was Shakira and Marc Anthony media company in the country. I was doing well and Jennifer Lopez. We felt it was time to create Jorge A. Plasencia there when they announced that the company an agency that would not only address multicul- was going to be sold to a private equity fi rm that tural marketing, but would also just be a great EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to Republica Havas, Jorge still owns it today. mainstream agency. It didn’t matter if you were Plasencia served as vice president and operating Since I was a little boy, I always knew I U.S.-born, Hispanic, African American, or Asian manager of Univision Radio, a network of 72 radio was hard wired to be an entrepreneur. I was the American. Our goal has always been to build stations across the U.S. Earlier, he held the role of kid with a lemonade stand outside of my house. enduring relationships between brands and vice president of marketing, corporate communica- I remember thinking at that time that I needed people across a spectrum of cultures, traditions tions, and public affairs. Before Univision, he to either invest in staying at Univision with the and languages. was vice president of entertainment conglomerate new ownership or venture and go on my own. What excited you about the opportu- Estefan Enterprises. In addition to leading mar- nity to join Republica with Havas? keting and communications, he was on the man- When Havas approached us, we weren’t agement team of several major artists including looking to do a deal at the time, but Havas Gloria Estefan and Shakira. Plasencia was also made sense because it’s such an entrepreneurial the fi rst director of Hispanic marketing for the Our goal has always company. It’s very nimble. It’s not only big in Florida Marlins, and during his tenure the team the U.S., but also in Europe, Latin America, and won its fi rst World Series Championship. A former Asia. We felt that with Havas, we would be able board chair of UnidosUS, at age 17 he co-founded been to build enduring to take what we built and add fi repower to it, Amigos For Kids, a non-profi t that advocates for and that’s what we’re doing. child abuse prevention and assists underprivileged What is the target market for Republica children and families in South Florida. Plasencia relationships between Havas? was nominated by President George W. Bush If you look at our client roster, about half and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on brands and people of our revenue is general market, and the other the advisory board of the Broadcasting Board of half is multicultural. For a number of clients, we Governors’ OCB. He has been the recipient of the do multicultural work targeting various segments, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award, across a spectrum of such as Hispanic, African American, and/or Asian Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce CEO of the American marketing. Our client portfolio really Year Award, HPRA Pioneer of the Year Award, and cultures, traditions runs the gamut, including global agency of record March of Dimes Humanitarian of the Year Award, assignments. We work with some of the largest, among others. most well-known brands in the world, and we and languages. also work with entrepreneurial companies. COMPANY BRIEF Republica Havas (republica Do you take moments to refl ect and havas.com) is one of America’s most prominent appreciate what you have built? creative, communications, and media agen- I recently turned 45 years old, and it has cies providing services to clients from an array been 13 years since we started the company. of industries in the U.S. and around the world. My business partner, Luis Casamayor, and I live with an attitude of gratitude. I wake up The agency provides integrated marketing ser- I were good friends and had been talking about every morning, and I’m grateful for what we’ve vices including strategy, creative, media plan- doing something together. He had a creative been able to accomplish alongside our team. ning and buying, analytics and consumer shop called Cosmyk which was doing great I’m always grateful for where I’m at, but I am science, public relations, social, and experien- work, but like me, he was also ready to make a also looking at the future since there is still so tial to numerous blue-chip clients including change. At the time, the U.S. was undergoing a much great work to be done. Walmart, Toyota, and Nielsen to name a few. seismic multicultural and digital shift that most My brother and I were both born in the Founded in 2006 and based in Miami, Florida, agencies weren’t addressing. With this in mind, United States, but my parents were exiles Republica Havas is the lead U.S. multicultural we set out to build a new kind of agency that from Cuba. They raised us to be grateful to agency partner of Paris-based Havas Group. would speak to the ever-evolving consumer in this country and to be humble about every- Havas is a division of Vivendi, a global content, the U.S. As the saying goes, opposites attract, thing in life. I never want to lose that humil- media, and communications group with assets and this couldn’t be truer for Luis and me. With ity, yet always remind myself to take a break, that include Universal Music Group, Canal+, our complementary backgrounds, we set out to to give back, and to appreciate what we’ve Gameloft, and Dailymotion, among others. build something special. accomplished.• 100 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2020 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 43, NUMBER 1