Originally published in Forbes
This professional from Navarra has been working in media agencies for almost twenty years, and currently in OMD Spain, a company that she describes as “dynamic and non-conformist, with the structure and talent to make things happen.”
In Spain, the person in charge of managing growth and communications in the agency is Ana Escrivá. From Pamplona, she has spent half her life in Barcelona and considers herself “in love with Mediterranean life”. That balance of sea and mountain characterises her hobbies: sun, beach, trekking, skiing… “activities that allow me to spend quality time with my family,” she says. She is creative inside and outside the office, “decoration and crafts are an infallible formula to disconnect on a day-to-day basis.”
Q: For those who don’t know, what does a media agency do?
A: In a media agency we work to meet the needs of advertisers and consumers simultaneously. Our job is to determine the most appropriate media strategy for brands to connect with their target audience, based on a deep understanding of their behaviour and motivations, knowing what they want, why they want it and how they want it.
At OMD we design end-to-end consumer experiences to create more valuable relationships between people and brands. We combine innovation, creativity, empathy, and data to make better decisions that positively impacts the business results of our clients.
Q: What differentiates OMD in the industry?
A: I would love to see this question answered by our clients. But to respond with data I would tell you, first, that we are experts in long-term relationships, OMD Spain is the media agency with the highest rate of loyalty of clients, 60% above the market average, something very significant.
Secondly, we are a strong global network, backed by Omnicom Media Group, the media division of the world’s leading marketing and communications holding company. OMD is number one in the world and in the top three in Spain. And, thirdly, we are an innovative agency, but with results, and we hope to continue our position as the most awarded media agency at the Efficiency Awards for this year and retain our reigning title as being the most awarded agency ever.
Q: What is your assessment of the almost three years you have been with the company, which have coincided with remarkable growth? What is OMD’s current position?
At the present time and from a less numerical prism, OMD is on a mission to know more about the consumer, placing them at the centre of the business strategy, to understand how they perceive the relevance of a brand, a new indicator of the success of business growth.
Last June we launched precisely Pulsing Brands, a pioneering study, at the local level, to precisely study relevance. In addition, we are paying attention to Attention, to turn it into a new metric, because more of us are fighting for consumer attention and if what we are looking for is to connect brands with audiences in a different, authentic and responsible way, it is essential to measure media with attention as a metric.
Q: Your position as director of growth and communication I suppose requires you to be interlocutor across all parties: customers, media, consumers, and the company itself internally. What is the most difficult thing about addressing so many fronts?
A: Yes, it is what I enjoy the most, it is a concentric position, like the square of a town, a common place, in which transparency, closeness and flexibility are the aspects that make it easier than it seems, because, when a company aligns its objectives, they are no different for one audience or another. It’s about harmonising great teamwork.
Q: What is more important, technology or empathy with people?
A: The empathy we are able to show defines the quality of the relationships we are capable of having; Technology, which is just an enabler, has the potential to make the world a better place, and exponentially multiply our relationships.
Q: How do you think marketing has evolved in recent years?
A: I think that both inside and outside of our sector, the most repeated words in recent years have been “exponential change”, “technological disruption” and “digital transformation”. As the daughter of a humanist professor, I like to say that, behind these concepts, we are people, with our own values, and our ways of thinking and feeling, making things happen.
For me, the quantum leap in marketing occurred when the consumer has become a creator of content, a critical voice and prescriber of experiences, products, etc. when they have been empowered and have felt as an equal to talk to brands, instead of being a homogeneous and quiet grey mass. In marketing we constantly monitor these changes, learn from them, take advantage of technological developments and digitalisation, and put them at the service of creating new and more enriching interactions between people and brands, meeting the expectations and needs of an increasingly aware and demanding public.
Q: Outside of your work, where do you find inspiration?
A: I am Navarre and I feel very proud of the natural diversity of my home, going for a walk through its valleys and natural parks is a privilege and I think that you always must go to the mountains, because it gives me reference of how small we are, makes me set goals and connects me a lot with the essential.
Q: Any book that has been a revelation?
A: I read whenever I can, not as much as I would like, but I have been impressed by two books, one of business, The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek, because it takes the focus away from the competition and puts it on the ability to overcome. And one of scientific dissemination, which I recommend everyone to read: Sapiens: From Animals to Gods, by Yuval Noah Harari, because it talks about the moments in the history of humanity that have been a moment of disruption and how we have faced it as a species.
Q: If you hadn’t dedicated yourself to this, what other sector would you have liked to work in?
A: Well, I think that coincidences do not exist, in one way or another I think I would have ended up working in communication always, because my essence is vocationally communicative, and I consider myself one of those types of people who act as a connector and weave networks.
Q: The motto that governs your life is…
A: Order and harmony. I am very farsighted and like to plan in advance, I believe this is my strength to achieve my goals. Nothing can go wrong with order, discipline and, of course, a lot of enthusiasm.
