Today I received an email from Bernal Esquivel, Director of Strategic Planning at Tribu DDB and great friend, with a picture and a mega ultra super super hyper hyper bati meaningful message: George, we did it!

I burst out laughing with the photo (I guess I should say a hahahahahahahahaha) and a huge joy (I mean a huge :-), because it celebrates an impressive achievement after many years of passionate, dedicated, committed and risky work. Today Tribu DDB is the most successful advertising agency in the region, with agencies in every country in Central America, because simply, we made it together!

Nike has said it for years, Just Do It. We’ve discovered that it’s not so just, or simply, though it is a matter of just doing it, do it. Unlike other big projects, which seem to make it easy, it’s taken us a “güevo”. We have not arrived where we are without pain, and we know that the biggest challenge today is to achieve forcefulness. The key is not to believe it!

In 2007 I published a brief entry in this blog. Look at what I wrote, in the best Ernest Shackleton style: We win more if we all win. Join Tribu. We are looking for talent to set sail in 2008: creatives, accounts, artfinalists/designers. Only passionate crew members, lots of experience essential. They must be fascinated by risk. And then I illustrated it with this video, as we love the idea of Tribe as a competition sailboat sailing on the edge of Niagara Falls.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0UhJCM_pkT8_USfeature%3Dplayer_embeddedversion%3D3

While the big, old and corroded cruisers of the past sail listlessly without competing, believing they won’t lose, a group of us agencies are enjoying the competition, determined to win. Today it is our turn to bite the cup of many successes, focused on our clients and their brands. And for this reason, it is vital, transcendental, priority and obsession to stimulate our talent, our people, friends and fellow fighters.

Today we have a crew on our sailboat that is like fury and madness combined with love and tenacity. More than a company, we share life and we do it as a family. Genuine, authentic and true family. Absolutely imperfect and often dysfunctional, from the advertising agency has emerged a multi-Latin, multi-fun, multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary and multi-blessed group. Aware of the responsibility involved, we are clear about the scale of the challenge ahead.

We want to be the most influential group in Central America, focused on social creativity to provoke social phenomena and re-sul-ta-dos for our clients. We are convinced that the 360º agency is obsolete, because the idea is more powerful in the 6º approach. We are part of a big network with shared interests, and even stronger, with big dreams to make the world a little better place with our daily contribution.

Bernal, thanks for the photo! great, mae! By the way, there you are, so that no one has any doubt that you saw it, thought of us, clicked your camera and shared it. Now of course it’s up to us to maintain the success and keep growing, to say it often: George, WE DID IT.

By the way, dear reader, I recommend Bernal’s article published a few days ago in our blog. The Bear wrote it, but it also reflects the spirit and heart of Diego, Pablo, Javier, Quincho, Pepe, Manuel, Santiago, Jose, Rene, Mau, Fabio, Iva, Kenneth, Raul, Nella, Rox, Esteban, Marce Artavia, Yami, Loria, Memo, Christian, Gabo, Lulo, in short, the whole tribe.