When Jose Bandujo started his advertising firm nearly 12 years ago, he brought with him the perspective of the client. Having been employed by the marketing and advertising division of AT&T, he had worked with numerous advertising firms, learning what they did and did not do well.

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	Jose Bandujo

"That's what made me realize that I really loved this idea of figuring out why people buy and why they don't buy and what motivates them to buy one brand versus another and the whole creative process," Bandujo said.

Bandujo, who received his bachelor's degree in business from Lynchburg College and his M.B.A. from Loyola College, is now the president of his very own advertising firm: Bandujo. In the last 12 years, the firm has come a long way from the company he ran out of his dining room. Bandujo now represents a wide variety of clients ranging from nationwide Fortune 500 companies such as Time Warner and AT&T to regional companies such as Einstein Moomjy and Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The firm utilizes a wide variety of venues to convey messages, including radio, print, television, and direct mail.

"It's nice. We can work with a client on the full range of their tactics; we're not in one specific area," Bandujo said. "We're really good about trying to make sure we tell our clients, or we try to recommend, what we think is right for them as opposed to always saying "you just need to do TV ads," which seems to be kind of the trend a lot of times. People want to work on the most glamorous stuff, so they immediately steer their client that way, which is, from my own experience, one of the things that kind of bothered me a bit. It always felt like you were being steered to the most expensive but the most glamorous things people wanted to work on."

According to Bandujo, the hardest part of his company's growth has been the fact that he has had to give up working one-on-one with the clients. While he loved working with clients, he realized he had to take a step back from that in order to fulfill his management role. He still gets involved in some aspects of the creative process, though.

A pro bono campaign created for Susan G. Komen encouraged women to shop in order to find a cure for breast cancer.

"I love the brainstorming process—coming up with new ideas," he said.

Bandujo said that there are several campaigns he is extremely proud of. The first is the campaign created for Roswell Park Cancer Institute, which featured outdoor, print, radio, and TV components, all prominently displaying the catchphrase "Remission accomplished."

Another favorite was a pro bono project for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. It was a co-marketing campaign with a mall in New Jersey that made contributions to the foundation if people shopped at the mall during a given time period. The slogan for this campaign was "Shop for millions of women at once."

Bandujo feels that thanks to the creation of TiVo and DVR, those in advertising must adapt their tactics in order to get the attention of those they are trying to reach. He said that the biggest challenge advertisers face right now is the need to be "even smarter or more creative than ever" in order to either use or adapt to the ever-changing technology available. Taking TiVo and DVR into consideration, advertisers must create commercials people do not want to skip.

Q. What do you do for fun? A. Explore the city, exploring galleries, taking in the nightlife and culture of New York—that's what I enjoy doing. Q. What CD is in your CD player right now? A. Lily Allen. I think she is relatively new. It's a CD called Alright, Still. It's a cool CD. It's got great lyrics. She's a little bit explicit, but she's got a great attitude. Q. What is the last magazine you read? A. New York. And Metropolis I was looking at last night. Q. What is your favorite TV show? A. I would have to say I love The Office, and I am embarrassed to say I love Work Out. Q. Who is your role model? A. I would absolutely have to say my parents. They came over from Cuba. They lost everything and kind of started over in a new country...I have totally admired that ability to start from nothing.

"I think if you do something that people really find appealing, then they are going to continue to watch them," he said. "I think people appreciate the work, but if you're doing the generic commercial screaming about the [latest] sale or whatever, I think that is the kind of stuff that is definitely going to get skipped."

	One of Bandujo's favorite campaigns, "Remission Accomplished," was created for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

As the president of his firm, Bandujo interviews people looking to break into the advertising industry. He said that there is one thing that always makes him cut an interview short: when someone says he or she wants to get into advertising because it is fun. He feels that this is not an appropriate response because, while the industry is fun, it is also very hard work and is a business not to be taken lightly.

"Really understand that it is a business," Bandujo said. "It's fun, but that's not what we're here to do; we're here to really help a client—to make it or break it. There are so many brands that have made it or broken it based on their advertising, so it can be critical. A lot of jobs are dependent on what we do."

Bandujo, whose parents emigrated from Cuba and came to America with nothing, grew up in Virginia. He said his parents stressed the importance of a "great education" and hard work to their children, teaching them that those are the things needed to be successful in this world. He moved to New York, where he currently resides, 15 years ago. He loves to spend his days off wandering around the city, exploring new areas.

On the net:

Bandujo
www.bandujo.com/f8/index_flash.html

Roswell Park Cancer Institute
www.roswellpark.org/Home

New York
www.ny.gov

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