Jose Molla, who co-founded ad agency la comunidad, Miami Beach, Fla., and Buenos Aires, with his brother Joaquin, recently reflected on how lucky he’s been in the past two years. "It doesn’t get better than an old guy farting Britney Spears," notes Molla. "And when you’re having serious discussions about how you’re going to shoot that, you know you’ve made it."
Molla is referring to "Smells Like Britney," a spot directed by Diego Kaplan of Wasabi Films, Buenos Aires. It’s part of a package the Molla brothers created for MTV Latin America, which also includes "Porn," "Barbershop," "Dentist" and "Baby." If you haven’t seen these spots, it may be because la comunidad only creates work for the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets (although the MTV work subsequently aired in Spain, Italy, Germany and France). But if you attended some of this year’s award shows—namely the ANDYs and the One Show, where the campaign scored a Bronze Pencil—you would have seen the Mollas walk away with an armful of accolades.
"Smells Like Britney" features an old man who passes gas in the form of a Britney Spears song. In the commercial, the geriatric becomes a national treasure of Mexico, ultimately appearing on a popular talk show to demonstrate his special gastrointestinal talents. When he leans over on television to toot out Spears’ dulcet tones, all that comes out is a big, smelly fart. The tagline: "I Watched MTV … Once."
The success of the MTV campaign helped to raise la comunidad’s profile in the international ad community. This year, The Gunn Report listed the MTV work as the fifth most-awarded campaign worldwide, and the agency as the 13th most-awarded ad shop.
What the Mollas have achieved in a short period of time is impressive, especially considering they opened the agency three months before Sept. 11, 2001, with no clients in the U.S., and only Sanyo and Aiwa in Buenos Aires. (Six months after launching the shop, Rafael Barbieto joined the agency as a partner, handling the account side.) MTV was among the first to come knocking, followed by Citibank, Volkswagen Latin America, Best Buy and Subway. In fact, la comunidad won so many accounts in quick succession this year that it briefly called a self-imposed moratorium on taking on new business to focus on what had already come through the door. That period is now over, and cable network Animal Planet was recently added to the roster.
The Mollas attribute their success to the core values the pair talked about before opening the agency. "We thought that there could be a different way to work that has to do with being more honest," recalls Jose Molla of a discussion he had with his brother while sailing in the Virgin Islands. "There’s so much crap in advertising—like agencies lying to clients and vice versa, and dirty movements of money, especially in Latin America. There’s just something dark in between, and it doesn’t have to be that way."
The brothers’ commitment to honesty extends into the work itself. In a marketplace where Hispanic advertising tends to cater to the lowest common denominator, especially in the U.S., the Molla brothers are trying to change the way Hispanic advertising is approached. La comunidad president Gary Bassell, who joined the agency in January ’03, after nine years at Bates South, Miami, sees a definite divide in the way agencies are choosing to market to Hispanics. "The ‘old school’ oftentimes portrays Hispanics as being lesser in all respects—less educated, less affluent, less aware, less nimble," Bassell states. "The truth is, Hispanics today represent a much richer and more diverse marketplace, and their behavior can’t be pigeonholed into a certain category or description."
La comunidad’s way is to take a step back from all the cultural cues other Hispanic advertising agencies fall back on—bright colors, big horn sections, maracas and soccer themes—to get at more universal, human truths. "I learned to work this way at Wieden+Kennedy," explains Jose Molla, who was in the Portland, Ore., office as a creative director. "We’re going deeper to find out what will resonate at the human level, and then using those truths to find something that is relevant to Hispanics."
Perhaps the best example of this is an upcoming branding campaign for Citibank that la comunidad shot with director and documentary filmmaker Errol Morris of bicoastal/ international @radical.media. La comunidad developed a package that falls in line with Citibank’s "there’s more to life than money" general market strategy, which was developed by Fallon, Minneapolis. "There may be no better culture in the world [that Citibank should] introduce their philosophy to than Hispanics," Bassell enthuses. "They really do live that way."
At press time, la comunidad had just finished shooting another Citibank campaign directed by Jake Scott of bicoastal RSA USA, and a holiday ad for Best Buy.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Jose and Joaquin Molla left secure jobs in advertising working most recently as creative director on Nike International at Wieden+Kennedy, and creative director at Ratto/ BBDO, Buenos Aires, respectively. The two overlapped at Ratto/BBDO for three years, when Jose worked there from ’92 to ’97 as a copywriter and then creative director. Joaquin started at Ratto/BBDO in ’94 as a senior copywriter.
Both brothers felt like they were working at amazing agencies, which made it hard for them to find that next frontier. So they created their own. After all, when you have your own agency, you get to do whatever you want.
The culture at la comunidad is about freedom and community, as its name suggests. Although there are two offices—there are 15 employees in Miami Beach and 30 in Buenos Aires—the work is openly shared and traded among the creatives, so much so that when entering spots for awards shows, it’s hard to figure out who did what. The confusion could be due in part to la comunidad’s exchange program, where creative teams will spend two weeks in Buenos Aires and then two weeks in Miami.
"We talk at least twice a day," says Joaquin Molla, who heads up the Buenos Aires office. "That’s the good thing about being friends and brothers … there are a lot of things that we each manage, but we always go to each other for feedback."
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the company’s work philosophy is stated on its Web site, www.lacomu.com. The words next to a picture of a beautiful house read: "Better than living at the office, is working in a house." Indeed, both offices are houses with large, in-ground swimming pools. "If you’re going to spend ten hours working at a place, you’d better like it," Jose Molla points out. "We encourage people not to be at the computer all day, and to leave the agency. Sometimes we do mandatory meetings in the pool."
Bassell notes that overall, about 60 percent of the work done at the agency is for the U.S. Hispanic market, and 40 percent is for Latin America. While the two offices do share creative responsibilities, clients with needs for the U.S. Hispanic market tend to work with the Miami Beach office, while strictly Latin American clients, especially regional ones, deal with the office in Buenos Aires.
With all the new clients coming through the door recently, la comunidad is slowly expanding its staff, while being mindful about finding people who fit the agency culture. "I saw a documentary on Francis Ford Coppola, and he was saying that he’s not a good director at all, but he’s very good at finding the right people for the right job—so when the shoot starts, everyone does what they’re supposed to do, and he does nothing," explains Jose Molla. "It’s not that we do nothing, but we’re slow to hire because we want to find the right match."
