Learn From Leaders
Andrés Pastrana
Former President of Colombia
“Coraje, confianza, convicción y comunicación.”Watch, Andrés Pastrana
A lifetimein brands.
Thirty years building brands across the Americas and Europe, from Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and CNN to the quiet codes of Italian luxury.
The work →Harvard Business School · YPO · New York · Miami · Madrid
The record
02The record
- 30+Years building brands
- 7Countries, DLB Group network
- HBSPresidents' Program
- YPOMember
- ItalyLuxury & design
03Endeavors
Houses built, and still building.
- 01
Tropicana
Tropicana, runway, 1990s.Archive footage: VideoReport Online Before agencies, there was fashion. Ricardo grew up inside Grupo Tropicana, the family fashion house, learning the business from the inside: product, retail, image and the discipline of a collection.
- Family house
- Fashion & retail
- Where taste was learned
- 02
DLB Group
Ricardo De La Blanca Brigati, DLB Group years. He founded DLB Group in below-the-line marketing, where results are counted rather than described, and grew it into a seven-country network serving Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Turner, CNN, Cartoon Network, Hasbro and NBC Universal. For NBC Universal's Sci Fi channel launch in Lisbon, the agency won Promax & BDA Europe Gold and Promax World Bronze in 2009. The group was later sold.
- 7 countries
- Promax Gold & Bronze, 2009
- Sold to private investors
- 03
Freedom Social Technology
Freedom Social Technology, 2017. In 2017, during the Presidents' Program at Harvard Business School, Ricardo created Freedom Social Technology: a platform designed to help communities and organizations organize, decide and act together, with more transparency and trust. It later used RDLB's Brand Workshop to reshape its strategy.
- Harvard Business School, 2017
- Social technology
- Communities and organizations
- 04
RDLB
Father and son, RDLB studio. A brand house uniting European artistry with the speed of the American market, with offices in New York, Miami and Madrid and creative hubs in Italy and Spain. RDLB works with companies from founders to multinationals on brand clarity, strategy and the stories that carry them. Among them: Moss, 4Sisters, Lyft, CIFO and Avelina.
- New York
- Miami
- Madrid
- 05
The Fashion Group
Brigati, Parentezi and Nonchalant: houses built on craft, restraint and Italian sensibility. Nonchalant reached Saks Fifth Avenue and Revolve.
- Brigati
- Parentezi
- Nonchalant
- 06
Agentic Brand Systems
The Keeper, Brand Intelligence 
The Listener 
Content Creation 
Brand Storyteller 
The Merchant 
The Steward 
The Producer 
The Connector 
The Diplomat 
The Performer 
The Closer 
The Operator
RDLB's agentic brand systems: avatars, always-on content, global alignment and hyper-localization, run every day under the brand's rules, with a person approving what ships.
- Avatars
- Always-on content
- Global alignment
- Hyper-localization
04
In his words
“With his depth of experience with foreign cultures, Ricardo de la Blanca is a true international man of marketing.”
“Only value creates relationships.”
“Find your passion and focus, surround yourself with the right people, always aim high.”
“How beautiful it is to see how an attitude can transform something ordinary into something magnificent, from sacrifice into enjoyment, from punishment into salvation.”
05The Studio
Two generations. One name on the door.
The Studio builds brands. The name is the promise.
Ricardo leads the studio; his son Ricardo De La Blanca IV is his partner. RDLB carries both of their names because the work carries both of their judgment.
rdlb.nyc →06Selected work
Work that meant something.
For three decades Ricardo has helped founders, family companies and multinationals decide what they stand for, then made the world feel it. A few of the brands.
01 · Moss (Moss Construction)Improving Lives, Building the Future.
A building is a commodity outcome. The only thing a client cannot get elsewhere is who builds it, and what it is for.
Four years in we are still their agency, because a structure keeps producing long after a campaign has been spent.
02 · 4Sisters (formerly KenChow)Take a little grain and make a big difference.
Eight thousand stores, and a structure that keeps absorbing what comes next.
03 · Lyft MiamiLife is short, get a Lyft.
it made the product obvious without ever describing it.
- 04 · Brigati
For the few.
the launch landed with resonance: early retail collaborations, boutique interest and industry press
05 · CIFO (Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation)A foundation is not a collection. It is a lens.
CIFO speaks the language of contemporary art now.
06 · NonchalantEffortless, confident, unbothered.
an aggressive retail approach secured Saks Fifth Avenue, Revolve and others.
07 · AvelinaThe way to win against giants.
From a well-recognised LATAM name to a competitive American brand, in a matter of weeks.
08 · Better Not YoungerWe deserve better.
Five products. One suffix. The shelf states the brand promise five times before a word of copy is read.
09 · ParenteziHow a quiet luxury fashion brand built an institutional-grade competitive intelligence team without hiring one.
The system has run autonomously for 217 days.
07Style · Italy · Legacy
Luxury and Italy are the school.
He learned taste before he learned marketing. Fabric, fit and the patience of a well made collection still shape how he reads a brand.
The fashion houses
A brand is worth what it means, and whoever controls that meaning controls its value.
08On Instagram
Notes on luxury.
Short films on how the great houses build meaning, from Hermès to Patek Philippe. Some are told by the avatars that carry his voice.
Follow @delablancaricardo09Agentic Brand Systems
Brands that keep working while you sleep.
At RDLB, every brand we build can now run on a system of agents: research, creation, publishing and reporting that operate every day under the brand's rules, with a person approving what ships.
- 01
Avatars
A digital spokesperson who is always on brand, on message and on camera, producing video for every channel without a shoot.
- 02
Always-on content
A weekly flow of publish-ready content written and checked against the brand's own voice, so the brand never goes quiet.
- 03
Global alignment
One brand standard enforced across every market, team and touchpoint, so a multinational speaks with one voice.
- 04
Hyper-localization
The same brand, adapted to each language, city and culture, with local nuance rather than translation.
Every agent works under brand rules and a human approval gate. Nothing ships unsigned.
10Podcast
Podcast
Ninety four conversations with presidents, founders and creators. He asks how they lead, what they got wrong, and what they would tell someone starting today.
- 01English & Spanish
Learn From Leaders
Presidents, founders and creators on how they lead. Published with El Estímulo and El Espectador.
- 02Spanish
Pivoteando
Founders who changed course and built something new.
- 03Italian
Alla Italiana
Italian craft, luxury and the people behind them.
Featured guests
Learn From LeadersLuis Almagro
Secretary General, OAS
“Un líder, tiene que ser primero que nada un ejemplo”
Watch, Luis Almagro
Learn From LeadersGonzalo Brujó
Global Chief Growth Officer, Interbrand
“Yo no busco la perfección, si no el progreso”
Watch, Gonzalo Brujó
Learn From LeadersJuan Carlos Ortiz
CEO, DDB Latina
“Nunca sabrás que pico hay detrás si no escalas el que esta de frente”
Watch, Juan Carlos Ortiz
Learn From LeadersCarlos Añaños
Founder, AJE Group
“La innovación nace de los momentos duros”
Watch, Carlos Añaños
Learn From LeadersMariana Atencio
Journalist, author and entrepreneur
“Yo estoy en mi mejor momento, no cuando estoy triunfando, tampoco cuando me caigo, sino cuando me levanto”
Watch, Mariana Atencio
Learn From LeadersScott Moss
CEO, Moss
“Strategy, Structure, People, Process, and Scale.”
Watch, Scott Moss
Learn From LeadersMeryl Kennedy
Founder and CEO, 4Sisters Rice
“You need confidence to make a mistake and to yet still be proud of yourself”
Watch, Meryl Kennedy
Learn From LeadersElla Cisneros
Entrepreneur and art collector
“En la vida, envejece quien pierde la curiosidad”
Watch, Ella Cisneros
11Press & recognition
Recognised on both sides of the Atlantic.
- 2009
Gold · Promax & BDA Europe 2009
Escaleras Sci Fi, Metro de Lisboa, for NBC Universal
Promax & BDA Europe 2009: Gold, Best Poster or Outdoor Advertising (Mejor Poster o Publicidad Exterior) · DLB Group España
Source - 2009
Bronze · Promax World 2009
Escaleras Sci Fi, Metro de Lisboa, for NBC Universal
Promax World Promotion & Marketing Awards 2009: Bronze, Outdoor Environmental & Transit Ad · DLB Group España
Source
In the press
- Hispanic ExecutiveRicardo de la Blanca2011
- PuroMarketingDLB Group España gana el prestigioso premio promax BDA Europeos2009
- PuroMarketingDLB Group España ganadora de un bronce en los World Promotion & Marketing Awards2009
- El Espectador (podcast)Aprender de los líderes (podcast hosted by Ricardo De La Blanca, published by El Espectador)2020
- El Espectador
- El Nacional
- El Estímulo
- YPO Ignite
- Hispanic Executive
- PRODU
- Promax World
- Bloomberg
12In their words
Testimonials
“Unlocked the power of our story.”