Who is Frederick Halsband?
Well, I am a business administrator with an emphasis on international business and in HWP I develop different functions mainly in the financial, strategic and operational part, also focused on the international part as it was the WorldWide Partner convention to which we belong since 1996.
What is WorldWide Partners and how important is it for an agency to be in such a network?
WorldWide Partners is a worldwide network of independent agencies with more than 100 agencies around the world, which allows us to create strategic alliances and be part of a global network to collaborate in different ways, be it in relation to clients, suppliers, or to share experiences.
Tell us about the event you attended?
This convention is held every year, which has not been held since 2018 due to the pandemic. Initially it was going to be held in Holland, but due to international politics they decided to hold it in Denver, which was a regional event bringing together partners from the United States and Latin America.
What are the topics you touched upon at the event?
The main topics were how each of the partners dealt with the pandemic, new business development, new trends in pitching, how we are innovating in talent due to current needs, collaborations that different companies in the network have done and rebranding.
What is a WorldWide Partners session like?
The network is made up of independent agencies, usually the owners of each agency attend, but many times it is given as recognition for their good work to some employees, so key personnel from the company also attend.
What opportunities does Latin America have compared to what is being done in other regions?
The opportunities we have as a region is that we can offer much more competitive pricing, talent that is not found in the United States, and not only that, but also see the penetration of companies in the region, such as our partners from China who also have offices in California who represent big name brands.
What was your best experience at the event?
I have always had very good experiences on a personal level at the event, it generates memories of the last one I attended in 2014 in Singapore where I learned a lot about what was being the ecommerce revolution, and in this year's event what I learned the most was on issues of collaboration and synergies that we can develop with partners, such as developing campaigns together in different countries for the same brand or even reaching an acquisition of other companies.
What is HWP's vision for these learnings and how will we apply them?
The vision is to apply and realise them, because it is a big investment that is made, so what we want to generate is a return on that investment by prospecting for new clients, and offering some services to other agencies as outsourcing to introduce more brands to the region.
What advice would you give to the new generations who want to enter an advertising agency to work?
They should be highly trained in technological and digital skills, as well as constantly updated on what is happening in the market.
What are these new services that our customers will be able to get through HWP?
Undoubtedly, shopper marketing is something that we can develop, hand in hand with digital audiovisual production, which has better costs and is more competitive.
How can existing HWP customers benefit from us being part of the WorldWide Partner network?
One of our partners in Texas has the Subway account as we do, so we can share experiences to support each other's clients in the pandemic process, another of our partners in Canada manages Sony Pictures as we do, where we have been able to create a synergy to support the brands under the circumstances. And our local clients can also benefit from resources such as creativity, projects and initiatives that are being carried out in other countries to be applied in Costa Rica.