They talk about continuing to do what they always do, what they do best, and about continuing to focus on the customer, as if the announcement that Gershthe prestigious representation company for Hollywood artists, has acquired the company without altering its way of seeing things.

In You First They are happy and satisfied with an operation that they assure will expand their capabilities to generate opportunities for brands. This is what Juan Aísa and David Brabender, CEO and General Director, respectively, of the agency, tell us. They wanted to share with reason.Why the details and implications of the process and preview what to expect from You First from now on.

RW. A few days have passed since the operation was announced. How do you feel, how are you living it?

Juan Aisa.: Very satisfied. We do not consider it a closure, but it has been a milestone after 22 years, and it is a moment of reflection and balance. We are very happy because value has been achieved for shareholders and a operation distributed at an economic level. At the same time there is a sense of responsibility. There are people who have trusted us and now we have high demands, but we also feel like it.

The operation makes a lot of sense from the point of view of where we were and where we want to go. We have had a very strong transformation in all business areas and we want to continue growing, investing, opening new business units and developing the ones we have, and creating opportunities for our clients and our team. and for that We needed a different shareholding structure and investment capacity. But, in addition, Gersh gives us prestige, a portfolio, and a universe in which we have always wanted to develop.

RW. You First has a history of more than two decades. Were there any plans to sell it? Why now?

JA: When Alia joins as a partner in 2019, we undertake an investment plan. Now that capital deployment has already been made, we have made acquisitions and the company has almost tripled its size. Now we were looking for a new partner who would allow us to remake that plan to take it to the next level.

Initially the priority was to find a strictly financial partner, that is, a venture capital fund. Industry agents and competitors were also interested, but it was not our idea. But Gersh came across and it seemed to us that although selling to a company in the sector was not the initial objective, it fit many pieces because it allowed us to do what we wanted to do and maintain our own culture, and at the same time it was going to bring us business.

On the other hand, we have more than 60 employees with shares and some more with stock options, and there has been a very strong reinvestment. In that sense, we feel that We remain partners, co-owners of a project that we have always liked a lot.

RW. How has the team experienced the entire process?

JA: We are a transparent and transversal company. We have held shareholder meetings to validate the steps that the Board of Directors was taking, and in those meetings the process has been communicated at all times. There has not suddenly come a day when it has been said that the company was being sold. It has been a gradual process of adaptation to a new reality. And also very choral. The focus is on David or me, who are the most visible face, but there have been many people involved helping.

RW. You say that there were other companies interested in You First, and choosing who to sell to is key. What caught your attention about Gersh?

JA: The first thing is that we achieved the objective, which was to provide the company with the capacity to continue growing, and also to provide shareholders with liquidity. This is a company that has reinvested a lot and paid few dividends.

The second thing is that Gersh is really interested, they really believe in the YouFirst platform, in what it brings them, in how we complement each other. It is a firm with 75 years of experience in things that we do and want to continue doing, and we believe that They can boost us with knowledge, ideas and joint projects.

David Brabender: In addition to complementarity in know-how, there is also absolute geographical complementarity. They are in the United States, which for us is a market in which we have a lot of room for growth. And You First is strong in Europe, where they want to develop and expand.

RW. And what caught Gersh’s attention about You First? Is there any service you offer that was decisive in the decision?

JA: Gersh is a Hollywood talent agency, which represents profiles from the world of culture, cinema, television, and also the digital environment. They are very different from the agencies they are competing against and they are going to have to compete hard, like CAA, UTA, WME. All of these are structures that in the last ten years have consolidated many services around sports and entertainment, both in representation and in services to brands.

The most relevant thing they have seen in You First is the opportunity to take a quick leap in that direction. That is to say, Now with You First they are in that league. They have a very special interest in sports, and also in not being concentrated in a single market. The American is huge, they want to grow there in the sports and brands part, but they were very attracted to the idea of ​​being a global company, with the opportunities that this can generate.

Also The team has caught their attention. They want to grow and that means having talent that knows how to identify business opportunities, capable of carrying out acquisitions or integrations and giving them coherence.
Besides There is a shared philosophy and values. We both have a strong vocation for service and customer focus, and that unites us. In the end, what we are here is a team of people serving clients. And that is the core of everything.

RW. What is going to change from now on in You First? What is going to happen to the brand?

JA: From the point of view of who does what the next day, there is not much change. The focus is on getting the teams to know each other, integrating business areas, and starting to generate opportunities. We are having meetings and everything is being very practical

DB: The first thing is to try to close the year, but from there the conversations are about growth, and thinking about customers, about giving them greater added value.

JA: When it comes to branding, we understand that there must be a confluence, that there has to be a solid brand in the market. It makes sense to end there, but neither they nor we are in a big hurry, and we believe that for clients the first thing is for them to see that what we do, the culture and the team will remain the same. If there are changes it will be in the depth of the service, because now we will be able to provide more value.

RW. You talk about opportunities. What can the brands you serve expect from this operation?

DB: In You First Brands now we will have more capacity. In entertainment, in the production of content in the United States. This will bring us more learnings, news, and innovations that we will be able to offer to brands.

and in You First Originalsthis will look even clearer and more direct. In nearly 80% of the content we have produced there were brands present, not as product placement, but as branded content. Gersh gives us much more talent related to entertainment and more possibilities for developing cross-market formats. We are going to be able to create more formats, and more international ones, and in the end those are opportunities for brands.

JA: Following the news of the operation, there are already clients in the United States who have contacted us and want to meet to develop things in Europe. There are very clear synergies there.
Furthermore, Gersh does not have a brand services division like we do, with consulting, strategy, activations, etc. They work with many brands through their talent, but they want to develop that area. And that’s where we and our experience come in.

RW. Is this operation an example of the growing synergy between sports, entertainment and brands?

DB: The sector has changed completely in the last ten years. Before we talked about sponsorship and online activation, now it is a conversation about audiences, transmedia proposals, touchpoints and, above all, content production. And it is no longer just about sport, but about sport, entertainment and brands, as you say.

In the end it’s about reaching those audiences when they are enjoying something they are passionate about. And in that confluence between audiences and content It is where there are opportunities for brands and where we offer end-to-end services and are legitimized.

JA: There is a tendency towards consolidation and confluence. And a lot comes from the need to be in other territories of the business. But the key is not only that the diverse capabilities that are now necessary come together in a company and touch on sports, entertainment, strategy, content, data, activations, but to do it in a way that is effective, synchronized, coordinated and meaningful. The beneficial consolidation It is, in many cases, something to do. But I think You First has a lot to say there.

RW. And how do you think the sector is going to move, what can we expect in the coming months?

DB: There is more and more talk about content creation and multitouchpoints, that is, who, what content and through what platforms. That is where opportunities are multiplying and not so much in traditional advertising, where investment is being reduced. But you have to adapt, be quick and look for a differential position.

Artificial intelligence will also come into play around that and we will have to learn along the way. You First is characterized by being flexible, dynamic and proactive, for trying things and trying to provide new capabilities to brands. We are not going to lose that.

JA: It is complex to predict general strategic lines, but I believe that artificial intelligence will delve into the commoditization of content, because it can now be created very quickly, precisely, modularly, specifically, in the window in which you want, and in the format you want.

But I think that we are on a platform that can ride all that wave, because in sports and entertainment there are very unique talent, very loved and very iconic, with a very clear voice. And that, within the commoditization of content, will always be premium, it will always be an impact that excites people. From there you have to know how you transfer that uniqueness to brands so that they meet their objectives.

RW. You had a 2020-2025 strategic plan, what happens now, is there a 2030 plan?

JA: We had a 2030 plan, which is part of what Gersh has bought, but now it’s more. It has not been substantially modified, but things have been added, such as
strong development in the United States. Our plan is compete with the three, four best agencies on equal terms in the next five years.

We have given each other the ability to be there, but we want to do it with an approach that we think is culturally different from the competition, because of how we have developed and because we have a focus on the client, both talents and brands.