Al Garcia-Serra
Born
Havana, Cuba
NationalityCuban-American
EducationUniversity of Florida (1964–1968)
Occupation(s)Principal of Solutionist, LLC
SpouseLucy Villalva Garcia-Serra (2009)
Children2
Websitewww.asolutionist.com

Al Garcia-Serra is a Cuban-American businessman. He has been founder and partner/COO/CEO of three marketing agencies, including Commonground/MGS, marketing communications' first minority-owned holding company. The holding group has headquarters in New York with offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami.[1][2][3]

Early life

Born in Havana, Cuba, Garcia-Serra attended La Salle school in El Vedado, Havana, Cuba. He and his family, in 1960, immigrated to the United States, and settled in Miami, FL. He graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School in 1964, and then attended the University of Florida, from 1964-1968 where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising. His first advertising job was at Compton/Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising as an assistant media buyer. Garcia-Serra returned to Miami in 1970 to work at Hume Smith Mickelberry as a print media buyer and account executive.

Career

Garcia-Serra's early career started in the mid-1950s when he and a colleague at La Salle school started a "rag" tabloid to compete with the official school newspaper. He sold his first ad to Coca-Cola, Cuba. Later, after arriving in Miami in the early 60s his first job was at Food Fair as bag boy/cashier. His first business enterprise was called "Magigrip", a local franchise of magnetic signs.

From 1970-1976 Garcia-Serra was at Flagler Federal Savings and Loan, then at Barnett Bank from 1976–77 and Omni International Mall for its Grand Opening from 1977-1981, after which he started his first advertising agency in 1982, Garcia-Serra Blanco (GSB:LINTAS), a part of Interpublic Group of Companies, which was recognized by Hispanic Business Magazine as the fastest-growing company in 1987.[4]

Garcia-Serra co-founded MGSCOMM with his friend and business partner Manuel E. Machado in 2003, a Minority Business Enterprise with headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices in New York City and Mexico City.[5][6] The independently owned marketing communications agency, which was the holding company for MGS, SWAY, PostMaster, and RunWild, ranked among the top 20 in the "2013 Advertising Age 50 Largest U.S. Hispanic Agencies",[7][8] and was named among the top 100 in the "2012 Hispanic Business 500 Largest US Hispanic-Owned Companies".[9][10]

Honors

In 2008, Garcia-Serra was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year" from Hispanic Business.[4][11]

References

  1. ↑ Elliott, Stuart (October 13, 2014). "Specialists in a Changing America". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Commonground/MGS launches as minority-owned holding company". HispanicAd.com. October 14, 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Sirgado, Miguel A. (October 14, 2014). "Commonground/MGS: Ad firm takes on multicultural focus". Miami Herald. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Al Garcia-Serra recognized in the Hispanic Business Magazine EOY Award". HispanicAd.com. November 20, 2008. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  5. ↑ McClellan, Steve (13 August 2009). "Multicultural Agencies Unite". Ad Week. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Sun Spots Can Miami's ad agencies leverage Hispanic ties to rival Madison Avenue?". Modern Luxury Miami. November 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  7. ↑ "Hispanic Fast Pack 2013" (PDF). Advertising Age. 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  8. ↑ Wallwork, Rebecca (April 2012). "Market Value". Modern Luxury Miami. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "HispanicBusiness 500 ~ 30th Anniversary". Hispanic Business. 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Manuel Machado and Al Garcia-Serra: MGS Comm's 21st century mad men". Voxxi.com. March 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "David Segura Honored at 18th Annual Hispanic Business(R) Magazine EOY Awards Gala - HispanicBusiness.com". Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
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