Nationality Colombian Years active 1992 to present Award Golden Lion | Occupation Business executive Awards Golden Lion Books Shorts | |
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Alma mater Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá | ||
La vida en el esp ritu juan carlos ort z
Juan Carlos Ortíz is the President of DDB Latina and Creative Chairman of DDB Americas and is the author of the book Shorts. In 2000 he was the first Colombian citizen to win a Golden Lion from Cannes, and has previously served as the President of Leo Burnett.
Contents
Early life
After high school, Ortíz attended film school in Cuba and graduated from the Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá in 1992.
Leo Burnett
Ortíz entered the advertising industry while working for Leo Burnett in Colombia, starting as an assistant copywriter and eventually taking on the job of general manager. In 2000, Ortíz produced a commercial for the Colombian government, where a drug addict sees dandruff on the shoulder of a fellow bus passenger, and tries to sniff it to get their narcotics fix. After the commercial ran, Ortíz was awarded a Golden Lion from the Cannes Advertising Festival. In 2004, he was transferred to Chicago to take on the role of global creative director of Procter & Gamble. In 2005 he took on the position of president in the Latin American division. Ortíz ultimately became the US co-President of the company in 2006.
DDB
In 2008, Ortíz was hired by DDB Worldwide Communications Group, part of Omnicom Group, to head operations in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market. In 2014 he became the Chief Creative Officer of DDB Americas, while remaining President of DDB Latina.
Writing
In 2011 Ortíz published the book of short stories Shorts, (also published in Spanish under the title Cortos), which he wrote between 2009 and 2010 in-flight, traveling for business, entirely using a phone. Forbes Magazine described Shorts as a postmodern book, and wrote that “the way he composed it, combined with its mix of bite-size chapters, bilingual text and international influences makes the book representative of the digital and globalization trends shaping society.” He is also a contributor for Soho magazine and the newspaper El Espectador.
Recognition
Ortíz was the first Colombian to win a Golden Lion and is the only Latin-American to have been named to the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame. In 2012, Ortíz was profiled in the book A History of Colombian Giants by Virginia Mayer. He has also served as the Outdoor Jury President for the Cannes Lions Festival, and other festivals including El Ojo de Iberoamérica in Buenos Aires, FIAP, and El Sol de Iberoamérica in Spain. Additionally, Ortíz has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.