David Madrid might be based in Spain, but it could be said to be a truly international agency. Its 55 employees hail from not just that country, but also from Chile, Argentina, Vietnam, Slovenia, Peru, France and the U.K. And its work resonates globally, from Cannes Lions to the Super Bowl.

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Founded in 2019 just prior to the pandemic, the agency’s revenue grew by more than 60%, from $3 million to more than $5 million, in 2021 on the back of new briefs from existing clients including Netflix, Twitter and Danone, as well as Burger King, for whom its “Stevenage Challenge” work won three Grand Prix and a Titanium Lion at Cannes 2021.

David Madrid’s story starts with founder, Partner and Global Chief Creative Officer Pancho Cassis, who describes the shop as “based in Madrid but creating work that’s tailor-made for clients all over the world.”  Chilean-born Cassis has lived in Spain since winning an internship at Leo Burnett Madrid in his 20s. After a spell at Lola MullenLowe—where his clients included then Burger King marketing chief Fernando Machado—he left to start his own agency. Within two months, however, he was snapped up by David founder Fernando Musa to set up an agency for Europe. “Musa said, that looks like David 2.0, and do you want to join forces?” recalled Cassis.

Building the agency from scratch during the pandemic, Cassis deliberately hired diverse and international talent speaking multiple languages and put the focus on creativity (61% of its staff are creatives). That has led to standout creative work, particularly on Burger King, where Cassis' close relationship with Machado helped kick things off. The pair spent two years plotting “Stevenage Challenge,” which effectively hacked soccer jersey sponsorship without spending big bucks. The brand sponsored lowly fourth division British club Stevenage to get its jerseys on the team in FIFA 2020, then got noticed by inviting gamers to participate in a series of challenges. In 2021, it followed up with a “Burger Queen” logo jersey for the Stevenage women’s team. 

Another Burger King campaign, “Confusing Times,” in which brilliant copywriting pointed out some of the absurdities of the pandemic to promote the irony of Burger King selling the Impossible Whopper, started out on radio but was so popular it turned into a global TV spot directed by Juan Cabral.

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The agency's work last year spanned many different markets. Dole’s “Malnutrition Labels” highlighted food poverty in the U.S. with billboards in the style of nutritional labels; a holiday spot for Twitter in the U.K. turned a single tweet into a Christmas ad to rival that of retailer John Lewis. “They found a very unique story that could only happen on Twitter and that was fun, memorable and resonated really well with a very niche audience,” said Carlos Cantu, Twitter’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business marketing director. “We value their creative approach as it aligns well with ours; we both aim for ideas that solve business challenges but that are also memorable, impactful and tweet-worthy.”

David Madrid is also one of only a handful of non-U.S. agencies to have created Super Bowl spots; it was behind one for Turkish Airlines in 2020, and another for Spanish electric charger brand Wallbox this year.

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Cassis, who splits his time between a global role as chief creative officer for David and running the Madrid agency, said the agency’s “lean teams” and personal approach have helped it become a “real creative partner.” For every new client, it starts a WhatsApp group to have daily conversations. That has led to product ideas such as Corona’s new global Sunbrew non-alcoholic beer, which launched in January after several years in development. Other new clients for 2022 include Coke, for which it's working on European soccer projects as part of the wider WPP account win.

While David Madrid opened its first physical office last September (prior to the pandemic, it was run out of a WeWork) it has likely benefited from the era of virtual working. “It proved that you can work from anywhere in the world,” said Cassis. “And an agency in Madrid can work for anyone.”