Lou Dela Pena (GM of TBWA) on Apple’s branding success

23 Jul 2010 in Interviews

Lou Dela Pena (GM of the global ad agency, TBWA) on Apple’s branding success from John Exley on Vimeo.

In Singapore earlier this spring I sat down with Lou Dela Pena, the GM of the global powerhouse ad agency TBWA http://www.tbwa.com/ (Note: still a rookie here, I haven’t entirely figured out how to hyperlink yet).

I asked her about how Apple has been able to achieve such astounding levels of branding success and if their apparent lack of adopting social media discredits new media as a whole – or, if it simply speaks all the more to their legendary branding.

The list of brands TBWA works with is quite impressive (Apple, Adidas, Visa, McDonald’s, etc.), and I found Lou’s advice to startups on how to establish a recognizable brand to be equally solid.

According to their site, “TBWA is one of the top ten US-based agency networks made up of 258 full service agencies around the world with expertise in all of the disciplines required for the positioning, launching and long-term management of brands.”

Last note: I include a shout-out to my friend Leigh Caraccioli http://twitter.com/fleurdeleigh whom I worked with on a photoshoot last fall.

What do you wish I had asked her? Leave a question in the comments and I’ll email it to her!

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  • http://94wf.info/Xacto-X75170/ Eddie Ydara

    Impressive efforts, and rather extensive. Causes you appear honest, which is tough to come by nowadays.

  • http://www.venturekid.com Matt Ackerson

    Hey John, nice post. How was TBWA able to land big clients like McDonald’s and Apple and Visa? Personal relationships or just a long track record of success?

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    I’m impressed!!! Really informative blog post here my friend. I just wanted to comment & say keep up the quality work. I’ve bookmarked your blog just now and I’ll be back to read more in the future my friend! Also nice colors on the layout, it’s really easy on the eyes.

  • http://JohnExleyOnline.com John Exley

    Thank you Eddie! Glad you enjoyed my first post, more to come…I’m doing these for the love of learning and sharing what I learn.

  • http://JohnExleyOnline.com John Exley

    Thanks Matt, this is great to be able to come full swing and now comment on each other’s blogs! Thanks for helping to inspire me to get out there and start a blog.

    To your question: that would have been a terrific follow-up question if I had more time to chat with Ms. Dela Pena. TBWA is an international superpower when it comes to ad agencies, so any of their new clients would be based on their extensive track record (IMO). As for how they secured their very first client – that would be a question I’d have to ask her next time.

  • http://JohnExleyOnline.com John Exley

    Thank you :) More are on the way…even more extensive! Please feel free to share with me how I could get better.

  • http://JohnExleyOnline.com John Exley

    By the way (especially for you Matt), I’m happy to email Lou Dela Pena to ask her a question for any of you. Matt, I am in Cape Cod right now on vacation with my family and I have her business card back home on my desk, but I will ask her your question as soon as I can.

  • http://www.rickyleepotts.com Ricky Potts

    I love that you are starting to blog. But what I like more is that you started with a video! Video is such a crucial piece of the Internet and I am impressed that you have pulled it off. I can’t figure it out, I never like myself on video. But regardless of my skills with a video camera, know that I really look forward to seeing your work in the future. You have a lot of energy my friend and I can’t wait to see you grow as a writer.

  • http://JohnExleyOnline.com John Exley

    Ricky my man! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the digital high-five mate! You are a pro in the blogging space…will be much appreciated to have your critical feedback going forward on how to improve and so forth. Talk soon we must!

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  • http://JohnExleyOnline.com John Exley

    No problem, I’m happy to have you as a reader HackingEdge! Where are you from? And who was it that referred ya to my site if ya don’t mind my asking? It’s great to meet other passionate bloggers like yourself in the comments here, are you on Twitter as well? Please don’t hesitate to suggest future interviews or topics you might like me to write about, and I would also very much appreciate your constructive criticism as well! I know I am young and a rookie at this, so I am very determined to always improve.

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