ALEJANDRA IEZZI
Consumer marketing manager, Argentina and Uruguay, Mastercard
Alejandra Iezzi has a degree in business administration, specializing in postgraduate communications from the Universidad Austral. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. She began her career with an internship in the credit and risk area of Citibank Argentina, where after five years she changed trajectory and moved to marketing.
Iezzi was part of the process of transforming the membership rewards loyalty program at American Express, led the transformation of the PagoMisCuentas.com product for companies at Banelco and, years later, took on a challenge at Mastercard, where she currently works. There, in its early years, the marketing consulting business of Mastercard Southern Cone began in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, with high impact results. Since 2019, she has led the Mastercard brand in Argentina and Uruguay, first through issuing clients and, since 2021, for consumers.
ELIANA KAPLAN
Chief growth officer, Wunderman Thompson
Eliana Kaplan has 20 years of experience in customer service for advertising agencies and works in strategic planning, organization and business development, with skills in digital marketing and technologies. She studied law at UBA and advertising at UCES and took leadership development programs at IAE and WPP Maestro.
She began her career in different communication companies: among them, Bridger Conway. In 2007, she joined the staff of Wunderman Thompson, where she held the positions of executive, supervisor, director and group account director and, in 2017, she rose to general account director, managing the accounts department. She has received awards and recognition on a local, regional and global scale and has worked for major clients and brands.
Today she is the chief growth officer in the Argentina office—and what she enjoys the most is being Tomi's mother.
STELLA LAURENTI
Communications and media manager, ICBC Argentina
Ema’s mother and an advertising graduate of UCES, with postgraduate degrees in marketing and communications, Stella Laurenti has 20 years of experience leading multidisciplinary teams in various industries.
In 2007, she joined Bank Boston to collaborate on launching the Standard Bank brand and developed her career in the financial industry, until she became communications and media manager at ICBC, where she is responsible for the strategic planning of the brand, media negotiation and all its communication expressions for the amplification of the value proposition (ATL, media, BTL, communication in branches and digital marketing).
Laurenti loves traveling, art and sharing gourmet experiences.
VALÈRE LOURME
Director of brand development, Citroën South America
A specialist in marketing strategies, communications, branding and corporate sustainability, Valère Lourme is part of the regional team of the Citroën brand—part of the Stellantis group—which she joined two years ago. Before Citroën, she worked for multinational companies in different countries around the world. She held several regional positions that allowed her to develop a deep knowledge of the markets of the American continent and Europe.
Lourme completed a postgraduate degree in international trade at the University of Monterrey in Mexico in 1997 and graduated with a degree in social responsibility and corporate sustainability from the University of San Andrés in Argentina in 2015.
ALMENDRA OGDON
Communication and brand manager, Movistar
With more than 20 years of experience in the world of advertising communication, Almendra Ogdon began her career in accounts at advertising agencies such as Graffiti DMB&B, Publicis and FCB, serving different categories that formed her experience in brand building.
Today she leads the communications and brand team of Movistar in Argentina, a multidisciplinary group that carries out the company’s advertising, media, sponsorship and digital marketing strategy. She led key projects for the brand in recent years, including the positioning of Movistar Fibra, the unification of the brand, and she is responsible for the transformation of Movistar towards bias-free communication.
In the midst of many changes within the company, armed with new structures and in the complex context of the telecommunications industry, her greatest strength is the support and motivation she knew how to give her team. It's a solid group, which is valued and recognized throughout the company for its responsibility and passion, with a comprehensive vision of the business, essential to meeting objectives.
As a leader, Ogdon focuses on the work-life balance of each of her collaborators, convinced that it is the way to get the best out of each person.
ANA PAULA PAVESE
CEO, PHD Argentina
Ana Paula Pavese has more than 24 years of experience in the industry, with extensive experience in agencies, media and active participation in various chambers and professional associations, as well as a long career in university teaching.
In 2008, Pavese joined PHD Argentina as research manager, a position that in a short time became a key value-added area for all planning teams. Over the years she has worked with a wide variety of clients and categories, overcoming local and regional challenges that led her to add responsibility for strategy and propelled her to the role of COO in 2016. As of 2021, with the expansion of PHD, she took on the responsibility as CEO of the agency in Argentina.
AGUSTINA PELFINI
Advertising manager, YPF
Agustina Pelfini has a degree in social communications from the Austral University, where she began with the intention of dedicating herself to journalism: when she reached the end of her degree, it was clear that the path for her was advertising. She moved to Spain to do a postgraduate degree in creative communication at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and began working at her first agency, Vinizius Young & Rubicam, in accounts. In 2008 she returned to Buenos Aires and joined Young & Rubicam as an account executive for Aguas Danone, Colgate and Telefónica. At the beginning of 2010, she joined BBDO Argentina as an account executive for PepsiCo, Grupo Cepas, Nike, Tulipán and La Nación. There she developed her expertise in customer service, and led various initiatives and projects. In 2015, she assumed the account management of Nike, Corona and Personal.
The next year, Pelfini became client services director at Fit BBDO, a new area within the agency focused on social content and digital craft. That was a pivotal year in her career: she entered the YPF marketing area with the role of head of advertising and with the aim of deepening her business knowledge and focusing on the digital transformation of the company’s communication. Today she is advertising manager at YPF and leads the communication strategy for all its brands.
Pelfini is married to Guti and has two daughters, Juana, five years old, and Federica, one.
ROMINA RAGO
Senior manager of communication, research and corporate marketing, Molinos
About 25 years ago Romina Rago graduated with a degree in marketing and a postgraduate degree in negotiation, while working in sales at Banco Galicia, with the dream and clear objective of developing her career in marketing. With a high level of conviction and the insistence of a young graduate, she managed to get into that area and began to develop her career in service innovation projects for premium banking.
After a few years, she joined Molinos, where she began a long career in marketing. She led many of Molinos’ food categories, managed business plans and developed strategies for brands such as Matarazzo, Lucchetti, Exquisita, Granja del Sol, Blancaflor, Cocinero and Lira.
For the past four years Rago has been leading communications, research, design, trade marketing and corporate marketing, with the challenge of connecting brands with Argentine consumers. Her vast experience in marketing and communications allowed her to participate in industry awards, including a Platinum Pencil, Effie, Mercurio and Jerry Goldenberg, among others, as a jury member, a nominee and a winner along with the work teams.
Rago leads the internal communications team and develops and promotes training in consumer awareness and marketing for the company's employees. She also participates in committees, such as the development of new professionals and the inclusion and diversity committee, promoting the company’s first programs in that area. In 2020, she received the company’s flagship award, M de Oro, in recognition of her work in developing and launching the new identity and corporate purpose, a milestone for the organization.
SAMANTA MELISA RAMÍREZ
Head of media relations, La Caja/Generali Group
With more than 17 years of experience in the corporate world, Samanta Melisa Ramírez specializes in media communications and off/on public relations strategies, with a focus and commitment on key actions that transcend traditional messages.
She graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a degree in social communication, with orientation in public opinion and advertising, and continued her education, earning a master’s degree in institutional communications management from UADE Business School. She developed a large part of her professional career at the insurance company La Caja, part of the Generali Group, and for seven years has led media relations, in charge of the press, PR, corporate communications and endomarketing, in the marketing and external communications department.
A constant learner, Ramírez is an enthusiast of beta mode and the development of high-performance teams, empowering talent and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her management stands out for innovative and sustained strategy in the search for excellence, in new formats, trends and in constant movement to capture attention; and in pursuing the purpose of including and integrating, through communication, all people and voices.
She has participated as a a member of the jury in different local and regional awards such as Saber Awards, Eikon, PR Pencil, Effie Awards, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, Mercurio and FePI. In 2021, she was nominated for the Jerry Goldenberg award, which honors excellence in communications, as Best PR Professional of a Service Company together with colleagues and industry leaders.
ROSARIO TORTEROLA
Consumer marketing manager, Laboratorios Bagó
Rosario Torterola has more than 20 years of experience in multinational consumer goods companies, where she held leadership positions in companies such as AB InBev; Danone, where she was in charge of the strategic development of several dairy brands and the innovation and digital department; and Moët Hennessy, where she was responsible for the positioning and new identity of the Chandon brand and launches such as Chandon Apéritif. At the end of 2021, she joined Laboratorios Bagó to lead the transformation of the mass consumption division. With solid experience in the strategic development of brands and a strong focus on results, she is motivated to carry out projects and lead teams that leave a mark.
Torterola has a degree in business administration from the UCA and completed a postgraduate degree in business management at the University of San Andrés. She is married and has four children.
KARINA VÁZQUEZ
Chief commercial officer, Latcom USA and Latin America
Karina Vázquez graduated with honors in Advertising from UCES and has more than 30 years of experience in the world of communications.
She began her career at the age of 19, selling advertising in magazines for Associate Publishers: the beginning of her development and her professional growth was in the commercial and account service areas. Her career includes work with graphic and audiovisual media for creative agencies, but what sets her apart is her work in out of home.
Starting in 2002, Vázquez spent a decade with Publicidad Sarmiento, initially as account director and later as the group’s commercial director, managing the sales team throughout the country and participating in the launch and marketing of Sarmiento’s operation in Chile and the United States. In addition, she developed the company’s special projects division.
Since 2012 she has worked at Latcom and today is commercial director for the Southern Cone, Mexico and the United States. She is in charge of the commercial teams of eight countries in the region, in addition to commercial hubs in Buenos Aires and Miami.
She leads the company’s marketing strategies and is responsible for launching the Smart Alliance globally, the first global communication marketing platform at airports, and for developing the luxury division for high-end brands such as Chanel, Cartier and Puig, among others.
Vázquez also collaborates with the CSR department, where she leads a circular economy project called Una Vuelta Más, which promotes the reuse of advertising materials and the development of leading women from social organizations that make products that are then sold to large advertisers. The project uses those funds to benefit hundreds of children and families with unmet needs.
Event details
The event will be held at the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires on Monday, April 25, as part of a lunch attended by executives from companies, agencies, colleagues and collaborators, journalists, family members and other women from the industry. Those who wish to attend lunch should contact María Belén Martínez Cima.
