Name: George Quiroz
Degree: B.S. in Advertising ’11 with a minor in psychology
What is your title and where do you work? I’m a management supervisor at DAVID The Agency, an international advertising company with its U.S. office in Miami. We created three of the 2019 Super Bowl ads, including the Anheuser-Busch commercial (above).
How has FIU helped you get to where you are today in your career? I learned a lot about the advertising industry through my higher-level coursework and professors. Both gave me visibility into the field and piqued my interest to delve deeper into where I eventually found my career calling.
What path did you take to attain your current job? I began blasting my resume to every advertising agency in South Florida while I was still in college. I got just one call back from a recruiter, but they asked me to reach out when I was done with school. Before we ended the call, I told the recruiter that not only would I call back, but that I would get the very job we spoke about. I did, and I did.
What’s been the coolest thing about your job so far? The list is long, but if I had to pick one, I would say it’s brands I’ve had the chance to work on. I’ve been blessed to work on so many amazing brands like Anheuser-Busch, Burger King and others. I really am blessed.
What does a typical day for you look like? It’s never really the same, which I love. I never want to be the person who says, “same stuff, different day” and no one should, either. But, the few routine things are: read up on industry/brand/category news, update to-do lists, hold daily status meetings with my team, stay in close contact with my client for relationship-building and addressing their requests, and work with my creative team on executing the work to make sure it’s on timeline track and on strategy/brief for the brand.
What goes into creating a Super Bowl ad? A lot. I’m told by my team that the idea for Budweiser dates back to April of 2018, which was only a month after I started at the company, and of course, the Super Bowl wasn’t until February of 2019. But it’s really like any other project, just at a much bigger scale, with more reach, added pressure, more press, and firm deadlines and restrictions. So yeah, it’s also kind of unlike any other project.
How does your job connect back to your coursework? I always relate school and coursework back to mathematics. Math isn’t about answering the problem, it’s about how you arrive at the answer to the problem. That said, being on time, doing what you’re supposed to and more, exceeding expectations, managing timelines, building and growing relationships, and a lot more of those types of things.
Were there any classes or professors that influenced where you are today? For class, my campaigns class was the best in terms of immersion and visibility into the business. I learned how and what my job could be, and it only confirmed that I was sure what I wanted to do for my career. For professors, Grizelle De Los Reyes was definitely my favorite. She really is the face of the program in that she embodies what this business is all about: fun, humility, and hard work.
What advice do you have for students interested in a career in advertising? Do it. You, too, can have the success that I’ve had so far. I never was the brightest student in class but in every other “thing,” I always work to be 100 percent the best at, without question. You can, too; just be ready to work your butt off.