Marcelo was born in Paraguay. Asunción, to be exact, and, yes, he makes it a point to emphasize the accent mark. Paraguay is a landlocked country, largely unrecognizable on a map, that produces exceptional flour empanadas. It also produced Marcelo, which is either a point of national pride or a personal one.
He’s an art director by trade. First, he went to UF for college (Go Gators!), then Miami Ad School for portfolio school (Go Ideas!), and for the past two decades, he’s been talking people into things they weren’t sure about yet.
Some of those things won Cannes Grand Prix. Twice. Some of those, and others, also won One Show, D&AD, The ANDYs, the Effies, the Emmys, the Webbys, and more. He’s also served as a judge on a number of awards shows. All of which mostly confirmed two things: smart, gutsy work is rarer than it should be. And Marcelo has strong opinions about kerning.
His instincts have always pulled toward the unexpected. Whether it was called “ambient,” “non-traditional,” “guerrilla,” or now “experiential,” it’s the kind of work that shows up somewhere it was never supposed to and makes people stop.
He’s been chasing that feeling across Nike, Coca-Cola, American Express, Kraft Heinz, the NBA, and others. But the through-line across those brands isn’t the category of “experiential.” It’s the conviction that a good idea can earn a real place in culture.
Marcelo likes to think of himself as “eternally curious.” Rabbit-holing his way through life is how he lives. YouTube is what he does.
He thrives in collaborative environments but is equally comfortable working solo or leading a team. And one of the things he’s genuinely most proud of is the relationships he’s built with clients, partners, and teams.
He believes great work comes from trust and shared obsession. And/or occasionally someone in the room willing to say “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday” until everyone figures out what’s missing.
Or gets that reference…
Marcelo sincerely believes his best work is still ahead of him, which is why he wants to replace everything in his portfolio with something better. That’s not a humble brag. It’s the job in a “what-have-you-done-lately” industry.
As a Paraguayan (landlocked, constantly confused with other “-guayans,” and extremely confident about empanadas), he stands firm on two things:
1- Flour empanadas beat corn empanadas, and…
2- He is almost certainly the only Paraguayan you will ever meet.
When he’s not making “ads,” Marcelo is spending time with his wife, son, twin girls, and their two dogs, Pat Riley and Manolo, and recapping every podcast he listens to…to whomever will listen.
If you’ve made it this far, reach out and say hello sometime, or click on some links below.
c: +1 (646) 678-1888
e: oneLnotTwo@gmail.com
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