Alma Berruecos
The new normal requires greater flexibility in answering the demands of consumers and clients in a different, more efficient way. So said Alma Berruecos, head of Intelligence at Founders, in an analysis she outlined to PRODU during a recent interview. For Berruecos, the key is “decentralization” in every aspect. “Over the past few months we’ve witnessed how the usual target groups combining services, wealth, individuals and materials no longer constitute a viable strategy…not at a time when we need the most possible flexibility in scheduling both times and spaces,” she warned. “We’re now seeing a trend among advertisers to look for online forums and chat groups, and so challenge the norm on behalf of brands that are fleeing the great traditional hubs and moving on to markets with great potential like Latin America and Asia.” With reference to Israeli writer Yuval Noah Harari, she said the only thing certain right now is constant change, an allusion to trends that have been only too evident in the first quarter of the year. “Dramatic, pointed and unstoppable – the only thing we won’t be able to see is a return to the world of yesteryear.” Growth and transformationFounders, launched in 2019, has a hybrid work model in its DNA. “With offices up and down the entire continent, we are constantly collaborating with individuals and teams that are not working at our side, but that is exactly what has sparked a work style of complementary talents and cultural riches that has never before been seen.” In Berruecos’ view, there’s a speed in adopting new ways of working that is not proportional to the length of time or frequency with which they will be used. “I believe that in both brands and advertising we’re becoming quicker to adopt new technologies, but we seldom manage to exploit them 100 percent. I’d like to see that same level of interest, but for creating long-term platforms that can offer different experiences, and which are always anchored to the brand’s DNA.” “All those non-fungible tokens (NFT) are going to change the way we currently create and exchange value, both in our industry and in all others,” Berruecos said. However, the industry is in the midst of a learning process. “There are factors beyond availability that we cannot just make use of, but can hack the way we use these fungible and non-fungible objects beyond selling them to the highest bidder or at the drop of a limited edition. For me the value is created when we can propose a different use for what everyone else is offeing, and so no one will use us just to appear on-trend.” What to readPsychopolitics by Byung-Chul Han is the reading material Berruecos recommends. “It’s a philosophic treatise about our reality as consumers, our autoregulation, and the desire for the intrinsic self-monitoring already in our lives and in our habits. It’s impossible to read without questioning our daily decisions that at first may seem innocent, but can have enormous repercussions at a social level.”
El verdadero crimen del 2020 va a ser si no cambiamos: Paula Corella de FOUNDERS
