WE THE CATALYSTS LLC
MIAMI, FLORIDA

We The Catalysts It remains to be seen how well an agency built around three specific executives can weather the loss of two of them. But 2017 was a breakthrough year for David, and may provide a foundation for a bright future. It was a year when David grew significantly, and also cemented a creative approach it had been working toward ever since opening in São Paulo and Buenos Aires in 2011, and adding Miami in 2014. Along with finding new leadership, David—which was named for David Ogilvy, whose widow, Herta Lans, approved the moniker—is focused now on growing in the U.S. market. The agency has been involved in a few pitches over the past year, but has been growing more through referrals, with its breakthrough work serving as a de facto new-business department. The ads were built, “Got Milk?” style, around the absence of the product. Stark print executions showed french fries, a hamburger and a piece of steak—with no ketchup in sight. “Pass the Heinz,” said the headline. “We said, let’s do the opposite of what every brand wants to do, which is insert itself in a TV show. Let’s take that campaign and run it in real life, without changing a thing. It’s reverse product placement,” says Ramos. Between convincing the client and negotiating with AMC, Lionsgate and Matthew Weiner, it took two years to bring “Pass the Heinz” to life. But Ramos kept pushing the idea. “We are very stubborn in that sense,” he says. (Ramos’ personal mantra is “No retreat, no surrender,” which he borrowed from his personal hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme.) Also, “Pass the Heinz” was more than just a stunt. The ads were certainly PR friendly, but they were also perfectly on brand. Hidden inside the pop-culture high jinks was a solid business strategy—another hallmark of David specials. The “Bullying Jr.” video, which was picked up everywhere, was true to the core of BK’s brand positioning, and was product centric to boot. We The Catalysts