BY ALIX SHARKEY PORTRAIT BY GIO ALMA

Both he and Joaquín, who runs the Buenos Aires office, have advertising in their blood. In fact, after José left Portland, Oregon-based Wieden & Kennedy (where he was creative director of the Nike account) to launch La Comunidad with his brother, the family celebrated the occasion by taking out a witty fullpage ad in the Argentine daily Clarín, which read: HIS GRANDFATHER OPENED AN AD AGENCY. HIS FATHER OPENED AN AD AGENCY. JOAQUÍN, YOU HAVEN’T LEARNED ANYTHING.

“But Joaquín didn’t see it,” says Mollá. “He was so nervous he couldn’t even read the papers that morning, as he would normally. In the end, someone called his secretary and asked her to take the paper into his office and show him.”

Maintaining a low profile, it turns out, is part of La Comunidad’s style. Since launching their agency in late 2001, the Mollá brothers have given only a handful of interviews and, ironically, have never advertised their agency. In what Mollá, 42, readily agrees is “an ego-driven business,” even the company name is unusual. “Instead of having our names in neon lights,” he explains, “we wanted a company name that reflected a unique ethos, our working method.”

Yet this modus operandi has landed the company major clients as diverse as Citibank, Volkswagen, Rémy Martin, Virgin Mobile, Aiwa, Sony, Rolling Stone and MTV.

LEFT: Brothers Joaquín (left) and José Mollá have revolutionized the advertising industry with their agency, La Comunidad. RIGHT: At left, an installation by the artist Carlos Betancourt at La Comunidad’s warehouse in Wynwood. Opposite, Joaquín and José Mollá and Antoinette Zel outside their Miami office.

La Comunidad—which has won six Lions and 10 Clios and is ranked 16th in the 2008 Gunn Report’s global list of Most Awarded Agencies—operates differently from other firms like it. And not just because of its informal office culture, its unusual premises (in a 6,000-square-foot house in Normandy Isles), or the perks like on-site yoga and painting classes enjoyed by its employees. Being based in a residential neighborhood has meant a complete reappraisal of the normal division between work and lifestyle. For example, budget meetings can be held in the dining room, the kitchen or even around the pool. And if he feels the creative team needs a refreshing change of scenery, Mollá can always take them for a Biscayne Bay brainstorming session on the yacht that’s moored out back.

From the start, the notion of community has always extended beyond blood ties. “One of the things we do, once we’ve identified the project, is to form different communities specific to our clients’ needs. Our working method empowers people and inspires collaboration. And by working together in this way we all rise together. On the other hand, those who are unwilling or unable to share responsibilities, ideas, passions… well, they have no place to hide in this organization.”

Despite its Latin roots, Mollá is quick to dispel the notion that La Comu is simply a Hispanic- or Latino-oriented agency. “American corporations are very efficient and professional, whereas Latin American companies tend to emphasize flexibility and passion. At La Comu we’re combining the best of both worlds: the professionalism of American corporations with the passion and immediacy of the best Latin businesses. We still do all the rational and analytical work, but we’re not afraid to go with intuition, and we move much quicker than most agencies. But essentially we treat any audience the same way: We try to connect on a human level. There are certain emotional and human truths, and the way to create a relationship between people and companies, or their brands, is to appeal to common humanity.”

Another principal idea, says Mollá, has been to reach out into the immediate environment, to form meaningful connections with the local arts scene and youth culture. For example, La Comu has warehouses in Wynwood (on Northwest First Place, opposite Praxis), where it has consistently exhibited Miami-based artists such as Carlos Betancourt and Federico Uribe. Indeed, La Comu has put down such firm roots in the Wynwood district that Mollá eventually plans to move the agency there, into a refurbished 20,000-square-foot warehouse space with a permanent art gallery designed to stimulate and interact with the community.

“Art is a passion. It’s creativity at its purest,” says Antoinette Zel. “It keeps us vital and fresh.” A media veteran and former president of MTV Networks Latin America and senior VP at NBC Universal’s Telemundo, Zel, 44, joined La Comu last September as president of the Miami operation. Her role is to help the agency evolve from a globally recognized creative shop to a broader and more strategic communications company. A major part of that growth will be through new communications technology, and the virtual communities mushrooming in every corner of it. “That means iPhone, BlackBerry Storm, all the various 3G phones and next-generation 4G phones, basically anything hand-held. That is where communities are being formed, because those devices are with you all the time. People share facts or opinions while they’re on the train, or standing in line, or on their coffee break. And those communities are aligned to our philosophy, because La Comu has always seen itself as a social networking operation.”

It’s not simply a matter of companies setting up a Facebook or Twitter account and expecting attention, she says. “Technology is an important part of our DNA, but brands need to be in that digital space in honest ways, because people form online communities around ideas and values that are important to them. You need to earn your place in the conversation. So rather than decide on a campaign, then try to squeeze it onto a cell phone screen, we tailor our work to the mobile digital space, then retro-engineer it from the iPhone back to other platforms like TV or print ads, if necessary.”

“Technology is changing the game,” agrees Mollá. “Advertising used to interrupt people’s lives and tell them about a brand in a certain way. Now we have to invite people to listen, then let them choose how and when we can talk to them. To get people to listen, you need to have something interesting to say. That’s why ideas are more important than ever. We’re an ideas agency, and ideas are a great investment. A great idea costs a fraction of the average campaign budget and gets greater connection and reaction. At La Comu, everything revolves around the power of ideas.” OD

CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS
Since its founding in late 2001, La Comunidad has risen through the ranks to become one of the world’s top 20 agencies in terms of industry awards. Its witty, subversive and often surreal TV and print campaigns include work for a wide range of corporations and brands.

MTV Networks Latin America
A mother is breastfeeding a baby dressed in blue. The baby gazes into her eyes as he sucks, while REO Speedwagon plays “Can’t Fight This Feeling.” Smiling, the baby reaches across slowly to fondle her other breast. Tagline: I WATCHED MTV ONCE.

Rolling Stone
To promote the magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time edition a series of print ads showed geeky teenagers in tragic yearbook photos before they rocked out.

Katrina Foundation for Recovery
Three print ads show hands holding up photographs of a bus, church and swimming pool in pre-Katrina New Orleans, matching them to the same scene in the storm-shattered city to provide a shocking before-and-after comparison.