SAMY reinforces its management structure with the incorporation of Víctor García del Barrio as the agency’s new Country Manager for Iberia, a position from which he will assume management of the company’s business in Spain and Portugal.
As we have been able to know for the first time since,reason.Why The appointment occurs in parallel with the promotion of Amaia Álvarez Soto, until now responsible for said position, who becomes Managing Director for Southern Europe and expands her scope of responsibility to Italy and Romania.
The moves come at a time of growth for SAMY. The company claims to have tripled its sales figure over the last three years both globally and in Iberia. It currently has a global turnover of 250 million euros, while the business in Spain and Portugal exceeds 60 million.
Víctor García del Barrio assumes the direction of Spain and Portugal
García del Barrio joins SAMY with more than two decades of experience in the advertising sector and a career especially linked to agency management, business development and client management.
García del Barrio arrives at SAMY after leading PS21 and Padre Group in recent years
Since May 2024 he has been at the head of PS21. Previously, he was Managing Director of Padre Group between 2019 and 2024 and developed part of his career in September, first as Business Director between 2016 and 2018 and subsequently as Managing Director until 2019.
Previously, he served as Managing Director Spain of Brandigital, a WPP company focused on technology and digital creative activation. Throughout his career he has worked for brands such as PepsiCo, Línea Directa, Movistar, KFC and Suntory.
Its incorporation is part of SAMY’s commitment to Spain and Portugal as its strategic markets and the evolution of its model from its origins linked to influencer marketing towards a broader social-first proposal. Currently the company integrates data intelligence, strategy, creativity, influencer marketing, social media, paid media and social commerce.
From his new position, García del Barrio will work on the business development and positioning of SAMY with clients such as L’Oréal, Leroy Merlin, AliExpress and Repsol, which Unilever has recently joined.
“SAMY is experiencing an extraordinary moment, both for its growth and for the ambition with which it is redefining the role of the agency in the social ecosystem. Joining me represents the opportunity to be the protagonist of a paradigm shift in the industry”says Víctor García del Barrio. The manager aims “reinforce the growth and leadership of SAMY” among those brands that understand that currently “relevance and culture are built in the social environment.”
Amaia Álvarez begins to lead southern Europe
The incorporation of García del Barrio allows Amaia Álvarez Soto to expand her responsibility within the company. After serving as Country Manager of Iberia, he goes on to direct SAMY’s operations in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Romania.
The reorganization also affects other team profiles. Nives Durán, Head of Strategy and Research; Arturo Benlloch, Executive Creative Director; and Francisco Porras, Operations Director, will assume responsibilities for the entire region.
SAMY is committed to an integrated and AI-driven model to scale social and influencer marketing between markets
The objective of the new structure is to share capabilities, knowledge and talent between the different markets while maintaining the local adaptation of strategies and activations.
“More and more brands need to operate with an integrated vision in several markets without losing the ability to connect in a relevant way with local audiences”explains Álvarez. The directive indicates that SAMY seeks to offer an integrated operating model driven by artificial intelligence that allows scaling social and influencer marketing activations and connecting them with the codes of each market.
The reorganization gives continuity to the process that SAMY has been developing in recent years. In an interview with reason.Why In December 2025, its co-founders, Marta Nicolás and Patricia Ratia, explained the decision to unify under the same brand the different agencies and specialties that the company had been incorporating. Then they pointed out that the simplification sought to make the value proposition more understandable for both clients and SAMY professionals. They also defended social-first positioning as a territory that already encompasses influencer marketing, data, content, social commerce and paid media.
SAMY exceeds 60 million euros in turnover in Iberia
The renewal of the management structure coincides with a stage of expansion. According to data provided by the company, SAMY has multiplied its sales by three in the last three years both globally and in Iberia.
The business in Spain and Portugal exceeds 60 million euros, while global turnover reaches 250 million euros. SAMY currently has more than 1,200 professionals, 20 offices and a presence in 55 markets.
The growth has also occurred after Bridgepoint’s evolution from minority partner to majority shareholder. Nicolás and Ratia explained to reason.Why at the end of 2025 that one of the objectives of this new stage was to grow in the markets in which SAMY was already present, with special attention to the consolidation of its activity in the United States.
The founders then also shared their goal of reaching a valuation of $1 billion, a goal for which they estimated that SAMY would have to multiply the size of the company between three and five times in a period of between three and five years.
The signing of García del Barrio and the expansion of Álvarez’s responsibilities now reinforce the structure of two of the regions from which SAMY intends to continue this growth: Iberia, as one of its main current markets, and southern Europe as an integrated structure for Spain, Portugal, Italy and Romania.
