Bio
Sergio Alcocer is one of the most progressive multicultural marketers in the USA. In 1999 he helped found LatinWorks, an agency that has consistently bent the rules of the Hispanic market by creating thought-provoking campaigns for some of the major advertisers in the space. The agency that Sergio presides over as President and CCO was recognized in 2010 by both AdAge and Adweek as the Multicultural Agency of the Year.
AdAge Agency of the Year
... Sergio, Sergio, Sergio," said Russell Weiner, exec VP and chief marketing officer of another LatinWorks client, Domino's Pizza. "I'm such a Sergio fan. He's a big part of the special sauce..
Cannes 2010 Master Class
Sergio Alcocer, President and Chief Creative of LatinWorks, USA, addressed the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival on Monday, June 21st to talk about how, as a young creative, the single most important decision is where to start your career. Choosing an agency with the right cultural fit can make a big difference as you build your name and portfolio.
The session explored how to foster a creative environment that will lead to create effective and memorable ideas that can survive the gruelling day-to-day realities of agency life.
Searching for Points of Contact Between Two Markets
Alcocer: "There are those [Hispanic market agencies] that adapt what they are given by general market agencies without questioning anything and those who strive to demonstrate that they are different. We try to find points of contact between the two, to enhance the brand. We work with top-level agencies, such as Crispin, DDB Chicago, BBDO New York and Goodby, to name a few, and we established our place through strategic thinking, so that nobody points at us just like 'these are the guys who speak Spanish'"...
Sergio Alcocer's Shop Most Awarded Agency Two Years in a Row
... LatinWorks killed across multiple categories with its "Cine Las Americas" campaign, and the agency won a total of four gold, six silver and two bronze awards, including prizes for two Mars brands, Burger King and Parental Control Bar software...
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
Sergio Alcocer featured in the NBC News series, "We The People."
Sergio Alcocer at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership
The Berlin School was a before and after in my career. It helped me redefine my role from a hands-on creative to one that can lead others to become better creatives. At a moment in which the creative industries are in a changing mode, being part of the school was a great way to reconnect with the essence of our business and anticipate the future of our industry. The school gave me the chance of being part of an elite group of international thought leaders...
Adweek Agency of the Year
... The new campaign is the brainchild of LatinWorks, the Austin, Texas-based agency formed more than a decade ago by a couple of Anheuser-Busch marketing veterans and an advertising maven [Sergio Alcocer] who Kaiser calls "the centrifugal force" of the shop.
"They're really bringing it for their clients," Kaiser [Domino's director of national advertising] says of Adweek's Multicultural Agency of the Year. "And it's not just the creative, which is very visually rich. They really hit the bull's-eye on strategy"...
#2 Best-Liked TV Spot of 2009
Nielsen IAG Research has released its Ad Ratings for the Top 10 Best-Liked General Market TV Commercials of 2009, and "Llama," LatinWorks' commercial for Starburst, is number 2 on the list.
"This is a huge honor for the agency," LatinWorks president and chief creative officer Sergio Alcocer said.
Bob Lachky, CCO at Anheuser-Busch, talking to the Chicago Sun-Times about Sergio Alcocer and A-B's goals for Super Bowl Advertising.
Listen to Sergio Alcocer's EMBA Thesis from the Berlin School
Virtual Innovation Partnerships - Leading American Creative Industries in the Global Skills Race
"The market is increasingly more competitive because the prize keeps getting bigger."
"More and more there is less room for the Hispanic expert. We need to be excellent marketers first." This is the diagnosis of Sergio Alcocer, who is noticing increasingly intense competition in the US Hispanic market, which requires agencies to work harder to maintain their place in the segment...
FOX Business Channel
Sergio Alcocer discusses Latino Purchasing Power on the FOX Business Channel.
Best of Show + Most Awarded Agency 2009
... LatinWorks' campaign for the Cine Las Americas Film Festival received the most accolades from the judges. AdAge described the ads as "so riveting that one judge said, 'I wish there were more'"...
LatinWorks Wins Chevrolet Account
The firm that Sergio Alcocer runs as president will be in charge of communication for all the company's brands and in charge of launching 2011 models. Speaking with Adlatina, Alcocer emphasized: "The challenge of the agency is that growth does not affect the consistency of our quality of work. Working together with Chevrolet is an honor and a great responsibility"...
#1 Most-watched Super Bowl Spot on TiVo
Top 10 Most-Watched Super Bowl Ads on Tivo:
1. Bud Light: Language Course With Carlos Mencia
2. Bud Light: Rock Paper Scissors
3. FedEx: Don't Judge
4. Nationwide: Kevin Federline Rollin' VIP
5. Doritos' Crash the Super Bowl promotion: Live the Flavor
#1 Ranked Super Bowl Spot by The Wall Street Journal
... Another spot showing Latino comic Carlos Mencia teaching English to a room of immigrants was a particular crowd-pleaser.
"I love the spot, it was hysterical," says Holly Ross, a 39-year-old who was watching the game in Cincinnati...
#1 Ranked Super Bowl Spot by Chicago Sun-Times
GAME WINNER
Comedian Carlos Mencia is new to the Anheuser-Busch roster of celebrity talent. And what a super welcome addition he is. This Hispanic comedian is nothing short of brilliant in this spot where he tries to teach a classroom full of immigrants how to say "Give Me a Bud Light" in various distinct American dialects. It's smart. Hugely funny. And it scores big...
Generate more emotional connection between the Latino consumer and Burger King
Alcocer: "All agencies have good people and all of them have good creatives. The difference is that at LatinWorks there is support from the head people to look for new ideas. We believe that creativity in our market is not a luxury or a gimmick but a way of survival. We love what we do and I think we're good at communicating the passion we have for our work to the client."
Article on Sergio Alcocer's eMBA by NYU Stern School of Business
.. Diagnosis: [Sergio Alcocer] feels after 20 years in the creative industries, ten of them as head of LatinWorks, tired, burned out, and says he wants to rekindle his passion...
Sergio Alcocer on Board of Cine Las Americas International Film Festival
"Latin America has a lot to say and this Festival gives audiences an opportunity to be surprised, moved and entertained by sharing a different perspective of our world. We believe in the Mission of Cine Las Americas and we want to see it grow to become the most important Latin Film Festival in the USA," said Sergio Alcocer.
A High Point in the Hispanic Market
... The agency that Alcocer chairs was the most consistent of the U.S. Hispanic market in 2009. As the bell on Wall Street rings to announce bad news, LatinWorks was covered by a shelter that only an oasis of consistency can achieve...
#4 Top Ten Agency to Watch
... In a game-changing year for LatinWorks, the agency increased revenue 44% by absorbing Cultura, a smaller U.S. Hispanic agency that was also partly owned by Omnicom. LatinWorks has a strong, strategic, creative culture of its own, and it's never easy to integrate another agency's staff and clients. But LatinWorks hung on to all the new accounts, including Lowe's, Mars, Kimberly-Clark and Shell, broadening the agency's client base.
LatinWorks had a stellar year that made it a close contender for Multicultural Agency of the Year. The Austin, Texas-based agency takes pride in competing at the level of a general-market agency, and reinforced that by becoming the first multicultural agency to get a commercial into the Super Bowl two years in a row, when Anheuser-Busch again selected one of LatinWorks' popular Bud Light spots for the 2008 game...
"We Are Discovering, and Writing, New Rules"
"This market is the future. Period. Those that see it as limited, have no vision. Of course there are challenges and obstacles, but we're not in this because it's easy"... Talking to adlatina.com, LatinWorks president said that "the Hispanic market is the most modern concept in the world." In that regard, "it's a privilege to be here at a moment when history is being defined. We are creating the guidelines of a new culture"...
Adweek Article on Hispanic Youth
... "Hispanics are people first and Hispanics second like Americans," notes Sergio Alcocer, president and chief creative officer of Austin, Texas-based agency LatinWorks. "You don't do 'American advertising.' The concept is too vague and does not personalize the communication"...
LatinWorks Acquires Cultura
... "LatinWorks is a rising star in the Omnicom network of agencies," Carmen Baez, president, DAS Latin America, said in a statement. "We look forward for big things to come out of this small shop." ...
Next In Line: AdAge Agencies to Watch
LatinWorks captured one of the most sought-after U.S. Hispanic accounts of the year, music website Batanga, by opening its pitch with a hilarious music video filmed at the agency and starring its entire staff of more than 70 people.
In 2007, the 9-year-old Hispanic shop was unstoppable on the new-business front, picking up eight accounts including Hyundai Motor America and a new-product assignment for Pepsi-Cola Co., helping it grow revenue 22%.
On the Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch showcased a favorite LatinWorks spot featuring comedian Carlos Mencia teaching immigrants how to ask for a Bud Light in English. Domino's so liked the Austin, Texas, shop's take on its Crustalicious launch that the "Birds" campaign ran in the general market, too.
And that new-business video? It's still being watched on YouTube.
