Interview with Silvia Intriago – CEO of BBDO Ecuador
“When the team is doing well, ideas flow and results improve.”
In an industry where overtime has almost always been the norm, Silvia Intriago, CEO of BBDO Ecuador, says that prioritizing the well-being of the team is not optional — it’s essential. “You have to try to balance that, to be well in body and mind above all, in order to do the work well.”.
—How did you achieve the balance between team well-being and improving margins?
—It’s a very tough challenge, especially in the world of agencies where we know historically it’s been like there are no set work hours.
Although she admits that work peaks still exist, she promotes spaces where personal life has a place. Her philosophy is clear: when people are well, ideas are well too.
—Do you believe that focusing on margins helps free up the team — and yourself?
—One hundred percent. I mean, I know that if they are well, that also gives me peace of mind.
The well-being of her team not only impacts creativity, it also brings calm. “I can’t isolate myself and say: ‘They have to fend for themselves and figure it out,’” she says. Silvia leads with empathy, knowing that support should not only come from the top down, but be shared. “We all need to feel this way in order to give our best,” she affirms.
—How do you turn your team’s ideas into profitable business?
—That, I feel, is ‘make it happen’ alive. You have to make things happen and work hard, move mountains if necessary, whatever it takes to carry ideas out. Because that will always bring us not only reputation, but also business — which is what we’re after.
For Silvia, when an idea is well executed, the result goes beyond creative recognition: it generates business. She speaks with the conviction of someone who has been transforming creativity into concrete results for years.
—Is it a challenge to put value on the creative ideas of your team?
—Totally. I mean, that’s present every day.
Defending the value of ideas is a daily battle. “It’s part of my day-to-day,” she says. For Silvia, tools are key allies in this process. She mentions how implementing someone in the operational role was “a before and after” in how they work. Using such tools allowed them not only to better organize the day-to-day, but also to make visible the value of the team’s work.
—What results do you highlight since implementing these operational changes?
—It has been a process… I don’t want to call it a race, because we’ve gone at a slow pace, but I think certainly steady.
The implementation didn’t happen overnight. But for Silvia, consistency was key. “Bringing in the person responsible for closely monitoring the operation and supporting those who use the tools in their day-to-day was decisive.” Thanks to that, today the agency has a more solid operation with measurable and trackable processes.
—How are you integrating artificial intelligence in the agency?
—All the AI discussion, I think, has everyone very alert, seeing how we implement it to improve those processes and make them much more efficient. It functions more as support for people, automating processes so they can dedicate more time to what really matters.
Silvia does not see AI as a threat, but as an ally. “The thinking part in creative agencies is very important,” she explains. According to her, automating repetitive tasks frees up time for what really matters: thinking. “If you’re doing things all day that are not high value, you’re losing money.”
