Meet PACO: Pablo Acosta, CCO
By Elizabeth Reinhardt
Pablo Acosta has worked hard to earn the title of PACO’s “black-belt creative.” He studied Communications and has extensive agency experience in major agencies (such as Saatchi and Saatchi, Ogilvy and Mather, J. Walter Thompson, and Publicis). After years of dreaming of opening an agency, Pablo and Ozzie Godinez co-Founded PACO [ideation] in 2006.
“I think we have a great opportunity to grow the agency here in the Midwest,” Pablo said of opening the agency in Chicago. “Clients that are looking for a multicultural agency are discovering that they don’t need to go to Miami, New York or Texas– we are here and can provide the same level of expertise as every agency.”
In Pablo’s eyes, Chicago is a great city for a creative person to live in. When he isn’t following his wife’s classical soloist career – and isn’t in the office – Pablo takes advantage of the city’s museums, exhibitions, theatre and other cultural media.
“I try to keep myself fresh and open to new ideas,” he said. “In the end, a creative mind needs food. To develop creative ideas, you need to feed your brain with as much stimuli as possible.”
When he has a moment of free time, Pablo also enjoys practicing Judo, which has taught him two specific lessons that have helped him in his career: attack is the best defense and maximum efficiency with minimum effort.
“I don’t like watching sports on TV,” Pablo said. “I prefer to practice them.”
And he has practiced, trying his hand a multitude of creative areas. It took multiple internships and time as the flutist for the Peruvian National Conservatory for Pablo to find a way to combine all of his artistic passions.
“It was a process of going around,” Pablo said. “My first internship was at an audio studio and I wanted to be a sound engineer. Then, I got an internship in a production house, and I wanted to shift into commercials. I had a third internship at an ad agency and I realized I could do all of the things that I loved at the same time. Instead of shooting or recording someone else’s work, I could create my own.”
Pablo was the first to record Peruvian folk music using a classic flute replacing the quena. The classicists thought that it wasn’t classical music, and the folk musicians thought it wasn’t folk music, but that didn’t matter. “When you do something controversial or different, some people will like it, some people won’t,” said Pablo. “But people talk and think about it; you shake things up, and that’s the point. You keep advancing and opening doors”
He carries this belief into his career. He thinks that the best advertisements and creative campaigns connect across cultures and backgrounds, and that companies shouldn’t always try to play it safe.
“The line between the multicultural and general market is getting blurry,” he stated. “As a multicultural agency our primary focus has been the Hispanic market however we are increasingly developing ideas that reach all segments of the population. The best ideas touch universal cores. The truth of the matter is that we have more things in common than things that separates us. Clients look for breakthrough ideas that have a universal feel and that are relevant to everyone. A good idea will work in any market.”
As the Chief Creative Officer at PACO, Pablo strives to find that big idea. He molds the campaigns so that they make an emotional connection with the consumer, with the end goal of driving positive consumer product influence and awareness, as well as increasing sales, among other important product to consumer engagement.
“Advertising is a technique used to inform, motivate and persuade,” he explained. “If you can connect with a person watching your ad in an emotional level, you can entertain and make those 30 seconds something to remember. You can make the message fun, relevant and something that you want to watch again and again.
