by Matthew Jones

Renny Tirador is not a shy man.  As the founder, CEO and chief creative officer of OutoftheBlue – a full service advertising/marketing agency out of Miami, Florida – Tirador has aggressively and relentlessly paved his own path to success and growth in a competitive and unforgiving industry.  However, spend some time with Tirador on the phone, and words like “aggressive” and “relentless” do not come to mind.  Tirador is a considerate, soft-spoken gentleman.  But make no mistake – he knows exactly what he wants, and how to get it.
 
“I’ve always been a very entrepreneurial person,” said Tirador of the drive that led him to start his own agency.  Armed with his fiery spirit, extensive experience in the marketing arena, and an unparalleled knowledge of the South Florida market and beyond, Tirador opened OutoftheBlue in 2002.
 
As a nod to the agency’s humble beginnings, Tirador registered the Web site address of www.3OutoftheBlue.com.  “Three and a half years ago, there were only three of us,” explained Tirador.  “There was me, Benny Mendez and another account executive, Jessica Bond.  So, the three stood for each of us.”
 
Things have changed since then, and the agency has grown to eight full-time employees, with annual billings of more than $7 million, not including media spending.  They have worked with an impressive list of clients, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local organizations – including such names as Terramark, BankUnited, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Ford Motor Company, to name a few.
 
One of the keys to OutoftheBlue’s success is their refusal to be seen strictly as a multicultural agency.  While Hispanic marketing is a core competency, much of their work spans well beyond that focus.
 
“We do a lot of general market work, and a lot of Hispanic work also,” said Tirador.  “For some clients, like BankUnited, we do both.  We’re not marketing ourselves as a Hispanic agency.  We’re a marketing agency.”
 
Tirador also refuses to pigeon-holed as “just” another regional shop.  OutoftheBlue has done a significant national work.  However, many of the client relationships began on a regional level.
 
“When they come to us, they know we know the South Florida market,” he said.  “South Florida is a very diverse market, and it’s poised to grow.  There’s a lot of interest in the area from marketers.”
 
From there, Tirador has had much success growing his clients’ business, as well as his own.  When looking at his clients’ targets as a whole, he tries to avoid overly segmenting his efforts.  According to Tirador, any one-level marketing effort is, in reality, a missed opportunity.
 
“We consider the entire US market as a multicultural market,” continued Tirador.  “If (advertisers) aren’t paying attention to the African-American, Hispanic and Asian marketplaces, then they’re not doing their job.”
 
Keeping Pace with a Changing Industry

Clearly, Tirador is not alone in his views on the importance of the multicultural marketing arena.  Agencies and clients alike have been scrambling to keep up with the changing faces – and tastes – of America.  However, there is still much work to be done in bringing some clients along.
 
“Some clients require more education than others,” said Tirador of corporate America’s commitment to diversity marketing.  “Others push.  Some have absolutely no idea what to do.  But once you show them – ‘hey, there’s an opportunity to reach these consumers’ – then they realize it.”
 
Tirador is very passionate about an agency’s duties to recognize emerging communities, and once his blood gets boiling, he is very blunt about what he expects from today’s marketing firms.  “Every agency should be a multicultural agency.”
 
Apparently, the advertising industry agrees with that assessment, as the trend for large, global agencies acquiring smaller, multicultural shops continues at a high pace.  Some industry observers see this as a potential danger, as the minority-owned shops are slowly disappearing from the landscape.  Others, like Tirador, see it as the economic order of things, and consider it an opportunity for ethnic talent to thrive.
 
“I think it’s a good thing for agencies to buy smaller, multicultural shops,” he explained.  “They’re buying professionals.  They’re buying experience.  (Mainstream agencies) have clients they can bring to you, and you can pitch your agency.  It can be a win-win.”
 
It can also be a danger, and a detriment to the work, if the agency’s voice and perspective get lost in corporate bureaucracy.  “There must be some autonomy (for the multicultural agency) – you can’t just be part of a bigger agency.”
 
Tirador is quick to cite an example of when he thinks multicultural/general market mergers have gone well.  “I really respect the Bravo Group for (maintaining their autonomy).”  The Bravo Group, owned by parent company Young & Rubicam, is considered to be the second largest Hispanic marketing firm in the country.  It’s also one of the most elite.
 
Paving His Own Way

Tirador didn’t have a blueprint to follow, or many traditional mentors to guide him, as he made his way through the industry.  For the most part, he has followed his gut instincts, and he’s used his head.
 
After graduating from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Marketing and a Minor in Spanish, he started working as a production manager at the Miami Beach Sun Reporter.  It didn’t take long for him to move over to the advertising side of the business, which eventually landed him at a small boutique agency.
 
“I worked for a small agency called Art Jacobson Advertising,” explained Tirador.  “We used to do a lot of work for bigger agencies – and it occurred to me that I was doing this so Art could sell the work to a bigger agency, who would then turn around and sell it to the client.  Imagine the markup after the work has been sold three times?  Why not cut out two middlemen?”
 
His first attempt at his own agency was Tirador & Associates, which was heavily focused on Tourism and Finance – two strong industries for the Miami market.  After closing that shop in 1997, he reopened at OutoftheBlue in 2002, and hasn’t had to look back since.
 
OutofheBlue has made its mark with innovative work and creative thinking.  The agency recently launched an aggressive campaign for their client, Terramark, a pioneering supplier of Network Access Points (NAP) that prevent companies from losing connectivity and incurring subsequent computer downtime after a major environmental or industrial crisis.  Terramark’s NAP server network is housed in a Category 5-proof building, and there are only five such strongholds in the United States.
 
“They can mirror your whole system,” said Tirador.  “For example, (if a hurricane destroys your office building and network), you can bring your laptop to the Terremark building, log on, and your fully operational.”
 
To support this effort, OutoftheBlue created a print campaign that puts a face and name to the storms and hurricanes that have ravaged the area over the years.  The storms introduce themselves – Arlene, Jose, Dennis, and of course, Katrina and many others – and state exactly what they intend to do to your business.  The ad then asks: “What are you going to do about it?”
 
“Then, we tell you how you can solve the problem – the ads are very strong,” continued Tirador.  The solution: mirror your network with the Terramark NAP.  “The money you lose – millions of dollars in downtime – far outweighs what you would spend to protect yourself.”
 
It’s too early to tell what effect the campaign has had on Terramark’s bottom line, but the network innovator has signed on eight new clients since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Even some of OutoftheBlue’s other clients are looking into the service after seeing the work.

A Passion for the Industry

Anyone who talks to Tirador for five minutes will immediately sense that he loves the marketing business.  The fact that he found this industry was not an accident.
 
“Marketing has always been a passion of mine,” he said.  “You have to love the industry – it’s very competitive.  You have to stick it out through the ups and downs.”
 
Tirador has certainly seen both ups and downs in the business – but certainly more ‘ups.’  Over the years, he has racked up more than 150 industry awards, including 10 Telly Awards – a distinctive honor given in recognition of outstanding television advertising.
 
“I love the creativity, the diversity,” said Tirador.  “I love looking into people’s psychology – how they react to your work, and how to make them buy (your client’s products).  It’s very emotional, and I like that.”
 
Tirador is the only marketer in his family.  “My grandfather was an architect.  My uncle was a script writer.  That was their gift,” he explained.  “I was better with words.  From the age of 15 to 17, I sang in a band.  I always had a creative personality.  Advertising was a great outlet for my creativity.”
 
Despite breaking the family tradition of architecture, no one ever tried to talk him out of pursuing an advertising career.  “My family loved it,” he continued.  “They were very supportive.  In my family, everyone loves what they do.  They just want me to do what I love doing.  It doesn’t feel like work at all.  It’s still fun.  If it ever stopped being fun, I would do something else.”
 
But for now, Renny Tirador continues to blaze his own trail in the advertising business.  His agency is flourishing.  His creative work is getting attention.  OutoftheBlue is growing larger and more profitable by the year, and the agency is developing a client list that spans multiple industries – banking, automotive, technology, finance, tourism and more.
 
“That’s what I love about this business,” said Tirador.  “In the morning, you’re working for a bank.  In the afternoon, you’re working for a hospital.  Then, you’re focusing on a hotel resort.  You have to change your personality every day, several times a day.”
 
That’s the fascinating thing about the marketing industry.  Sometimes an idea comes clear out of the blue.
 
The End