Anupa Otiv: So I guess to start, when did you begin at Havas?

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Gonzalo Fernandez: I started here in NY back in January, last January, but before I worked in Havas in Spain

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AO: Oh! So did Havas transfer you here then?

GF: Actually, no, I was working there for my first internship when I was 18. And I was in Havas Worldwide. I started there, did some other stuff, and then came back.

AO: What were you doing before?

 

GF: I was working in Spain, for Mondelez, However, I wasn’t working for chocolate. I was working in coffee. I was the assistant marketing manager.

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AO: How did you like it?

 

GF: I liked it, the company was amazing. I enjoyed the culture and the work.

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AO: Do you think working with Mondelez helped at all when you eventually came to Havas?

 

GF: It did! I did a lot of analytical stuff. I really was able to build my analytics skills and usually had to put together a lot of reports and studies.

 

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AO: That probably made it easier to follow along when your team meets with the analytics team.

 

GF: Yes, I do, but it’s just that sometimes here in the US they just use different terminology for the same things. For example, “view through rate”.

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AO: How did you move to New York? Had you been here before?

 

GF: Just as a tourist. When I moved here, I came without a job, without a house, without friends, without anything. It was rough start, but it turned out fine. I actually really surprised myself how strong I was. At the end of the day, it was my choice to come here, nobody forced me. I wanted to do it, so I did. Thank God, I had the support of my family and money saved up. Eventually, I used it all up because it’s fucking New York City, but I am really thankful to have had the support of my family. A lot of people come to New York without money or without support. It’s so easy to lose it here.

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AO: I totally agree! Did you have a prior interest in advertising? Like were you pursuing a career in advertising when you arrived here?

 

GF: I would have to say no. I have done advertising in previous internships, but now that I’m here- this is my first real job, by the way- I realized that I feel this work is disconnected from the product itself. I definitely feel like I want to be on the client side because I would get to be a part of developing the product. I want to “feel” the product, I guess, I want to be part of it. But I’ve learned that being in an agency is fun. It’s so fun. You see so much, and given that our brands do integrated media, it’s amazing how many things you get to touch between social, print, “out of home”, etc. But I definitely don’t see myself working here forever. Not “here” meaning the company, I love the company, but I would like to focus myself on the product. The thing about being with an agency, for example we’re doing a campaign with Jose Cuervo, but I don’t know the results [sic]. The clients, however, know how the sales increase. They have a better understanding of the outcome.

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AO: Interesting. I’m sure it’s not the same just getting a report at the end of the month.

 

GF: No, it’s not!

 

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AO: So, you like Havas?

 

GF: I love Havas! I love the culture, and the people. Like I said, I love working for an agency. Actually, when I worked in Havas in Spain I liked it a lot there as well. It was very different because Spanish culture is very different from American culture but there is a common culture between the offices. They have a lot of open spaces, and it doesn’t feel like you’re working in an actual corporate office.

 

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AO: Yeah! Honestly, I feel like I’m in this weird school where everyone is between the ages of 22 and 32 and it’s very strange! Sometimes when I’m sitting in on meetings, I just realize how similar everyone is in age! It’s like we’re working on a school project or something.

 

GF: That is so true! With some exceptions, of course.

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AO: Of course. So, do you have a dream job?

 

GF: Well, I know what I don’t like! I don’t like cars, and I don’t like working in anything bank or finance related. I would love to work in food, actually. Actually, working in liquor is growing on me. In Spain, liquor is kind of forbidden. You can’t advertise on TV or outdoors or in magazines.

 

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AO: Where do you advertise it!?

 

GF: Pretty much digital! You can also advertise it inside. But yeah, I would love to be a brand manager one day. Like, I loved Mondelez! I would love to go back as brand manager or something.

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AO: What would you say is a common misconception in media and advertising?

 

GF: Working at an agency is so much more than the creative stuff. A lot of people assume if you are working at a place like Havas, you’ll never open up Excel. And sorry but, fuck that. Even though we have an analytics team, we have to review everything. We have to think about things like optimization and see the numbers and review whats doing well and what has frankly sucked. Also, I’m learning a lot about project management. You have so much to be on top of, and so many partners you work with, so it’s very easy to forget deliverables. That’s why we have so many status meetings because it would be hard to keep up otherwise.

 

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AO: Do you sometimes feel like you need more people on your team?

 

GF: I feel like the workload is growing since brands are getting bigger. We got Proximo [the account] in October, so right in the middle of our fiscal year. We might have to grow our team in the future.

 

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AO: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned at Havas?

 

GF: I feel like there’s a language barrier sometimes. I work with all native English speakers and I am the only one who is not an English speaker. That makes it difficult to do the same work in the same way. Learning to adapt to that has been a challenge. For example, in Spain everyone is very direct with their responses. A lot of “yes”, “no”. One word answers, basically. Here, you have to be a lot more sensitive. People write using “I would really like”, “please”, “looking forward to”, blah blah blah.

 

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AO: How has being from Spain helped you in this job? Or, how has your unique perspective added to the team and your experience here?

 

GF: It’s always a positive to have another point of view, I think.

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AO: What kind of advice would you give to someone, like me, looking to get into this business and possibly move to the city?

 

GF: Just keep on trying. Work very hard when you get your first job. I don’t want to say sacrifice your life and don't go out and do things, but for at least the first few months, prioritize your work. Get to know the people around you and dedicate your time to really understanding your job. You need to catch up quickly because things in an agency move very quickly. For the first 6 months I spent most of my time catching up at work because that’s why I moved to the US in the first place. Once you’ve got the hang of it though, change your lifestyle and make sure you have some sort of work life balance going on.

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