Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Valadez. Them and their team share their story with us below:
“Actually, this new venture dates back to four or five years ago, when a client put a post on Facebook looking for someone to help her with an outdoor advertising campaign. I was more focused on the booking and promotion of concerts both in Mexico and in the United States and I thought that this side project could be interesting and would not take much time. This is how Sean Valadez begins his story about the most recent project of his long professional career. “The truth is I didn’t know much about OOH in the United States, only in Mexico where I constantly promoted my own concerts in billboards and billboards, but I jumped in and in a few days, I positioned Luis Miguel and his new album México Por Siempre for the Warner Music Latina label in the most coveted places in Los Angeles.”
Sean never imagined that this opportunity would set the course for his business, but when the pandemic hit, the rules of the game changed for everyone. “During the lockdown, all of our shows were canceled, no one was producing events.” The young businessman continues explaining. “I couldn’t give up, so I sat in front of the computer and wrote to Alejandro Duque, who was then president of Universal Latin Entertainment (currently president of Warner Music Latina). Our phones and social networks were saturated with information and marketing campaigns during the confinement, and I had a feeling that sooner or later people were going to go out and walk the streets of the city again. Also, with the new technology, LED screens have no limits in design or size. Now you can wrap an entire building with full-color images without much effort. I proposed my services to Duque who did not hesitate to bet on OOH for the promotions of his most competitive artists. It was time for fans to stop looking at their phones and look up at the cityscape.”
With Sean’s help, legendary screens like those in Tokyo’s Shibuya or those in Times Square, Holland Park in London began to fill with Latin artists. Something unthinkable just two years ago!
“It’s me, it’s me, it’s the first time I’ve appeared on such huge screens in such an important place, I don’t believe it.” The Colombian artist Llané (Warner Music Latin) exclaimed excitedly when he saw his promotion that Sean made on multiple screens in Times Square for a whole week.
Ana Bárbara herself also walked in front of Times Square and took a selfie at the moment when the heart of the Big Apple lit up with her face and with the advertising of her new projects. The talented singer and songwriter wrote on her Instagram: “Walking through Times Square, in the midst of the dazzling lights, I dreamed again… Could it be that one day that girl born in Río Verde San Luis Potosí, hand in hand with her music, could appear on one of these giant screens and shine? It is already a reality, we are here. Thank you Bandidos, thank you ACA Marketing for doing this for the fans.”
“A commercial on Facebook, Spotify or TikTok, everyone can have it, but not everyone appears in Times Square.” Clarifies Sean, who is not satisfied with squares and walls, and has already led campaigns of great renown to shine on planes, yachts crossing the busy coasts of Miami and Chicago, bus stops and even trains. At OOH Advertising, this young Mexican-American sees no obstacles when it comes to positioning his clients and their messages. Creativity has no limits!
Positioned as the new expert in this matter, Sean has managed to materialize global campaigns for powerhouse brands such as Karol G and Alejandro Sanz, among many others, in places such as the United States, Japan, Australia, London and France.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
But this success did not come overnight. Valadez has more than 18 years of experience in media, event production and marketing for the most prestigious entertainment companies in the world. “Really, my passion for business was born one night on a beach in Ensenada, Baja California, during a concert by the legendary band Jumbo, from Monterrey.” Valadez remembers how he took his first steps in Mexico at a very young age. “I was fourteen years old and the promoter invited me to collaborate backstage. Excited, I prepared the dressing rooms and brought a barrel of Tecate beer to the guys in the band. My mom nearly killed me when she found out I was hanging out late at a club after the concert! I got home very late, tired but happy. I had discovered my true calling: events, music, production.”
At just 18, he was already working in Los Angeles, California, for the promotions department of the Entravision stations. There he was part of the production team that made Reventón Super Estrella possible for several years, consolidating his name in countless live events. Enrique Iglesias, Paulina Rubio and Nelly Furtado are some of the artists Sean worked with in his first stage as a producer.
Later, Sean had the opportunity to work for Univisión Radio and Telemundo, where he met Miguel Chacón and Rodrigo Barajas, with whom he collaborated on audiovisual projects, expanding his knowledge in the production of music videos and television programs. El Grito de Independencia for Telemundo and Simply Jenni (Rivera) for Univision were some of the national shows where she was able to put her skills to the test.
Finally, he joined the team of the renowned agency ACA Marketing as a production manager for musical projects at just 24 years old, where he led promotional and public relations campaigns, cultural conferences, corporate events, film festivals, sponsorships and television commercials. “My arrival at ACA opened the doors for me to work directly and on a more personal level with artists such as Maná, Maldita Vecindad, Julieta Venegas, Molotov, Enrique Bunbury, Ramón Ayala, Tigres del Norte, Tucanes de Tijuana, Intocable, Régulo Caro with whom we managed to sign important sponsors such as Sprint, Budweiser, Verizon, Johnnie Walker and Tequila Don Julio, and with whom we produced and promoted very successful live shows and campaigns.”
During this stage of great events and sponsorships with ACA, Sean proposed to reunite in a historic tribute to Ramón Ayala and Enrique Bunbury, La Santa Cecilia on the same stage, singing the iconic song Tragos de Amargo Licor live for some televised awards. And he achieve it! A presentation so successful that later, the artists met to record the song in a studio and publish it as an official theme.
After these and many other projects, and always with the vision of diversifying and continuing to grow within the renowned agency, Sean ventured into the complicated world of booking, reaching massive events in both Mexico and the United States. His first project in Mexico was carried out with Alejandro Sanz in 2012 in the city of Tijuana, where more than fifteen thousand people attended. This show would be the first in Sanz’s artistic career to be held in Baja California, thanks to the trust of great friends and businessmen from Guadalajara, Mexico. The successful event was followed by concerts by Marco Antonio Solís, Pablo Alborán, Daniel Boaventura, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Lila Downs, Timbiriche, Mikel Erentxun and Miguel Mateos, among many others.
Sean shares the anecdote of how he was able to secure future dates with the in-demand author of Corazón Partío: “After Sanz’s concert in Tijuana during his La Música No Se Toca tour, a date that I was able to close with great efforts, I decided to take him back to Lower California. For them, I got on a plane to Las Vegas and sneaked into a Latin Grammys party where I intercepted Alejandro and his manager in those years, Rosa Lagarrigue, and told them bluntly that I wanted to repeat the date and not sign with nobody else. Alejandro put his hand on his stomach and jokingly told me: ‘What pressure, man!’ Four years later, Alejandro returned to Mexico with his Sirope tour and effectively signed Sean for two more concerts, one in Tijuana and another in Rosarito. For the occasion, Sean created a special promotional campaign in which fans had to ask for kisses in the street with the lyrics of the song by maestro Sanz, Let Me Kiss You, and upload the videos to social networks in order to win tickets. . “In one fell swoop, I promoted my event and promoted their single organically and virally; we all win.” Valadez explains.
As a special events producer, Sean continued to expand his client base, including Usana and Fuller, for whom he produced large corporate events in New York, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Las Vegas. And the popular Latin Grammys VIP Parties for Warner Music Latin and other international labels in the best nightclubs in Las Vegas for several years in a row.
Today, Sean, at 37 years old and from his leadership position at ACA, continues to thoroughly study techniques, metrics, demographics and other factors that make him an OOH expert in order to position his clients in the most emblematic places on the planet, such as Times Square (New York), Shibuya (Tokyo), Holland Park (London), World Trade Center (CDMX), Callao (Madrid) and on the streets of Paris and Miami. His current clients include Live Nation, Warner Music Latin, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, GLAD Empire, WK Records, and ShowBusiness.
“Renew or die, that is my motto,” says Sean in this newly released year 2022, “that is why I am aware that my adventure in OOH will not be the last. I have to keep evolving with the times so that I can offer my clients the best opportunities in the competitive world of marketing, event production and the media.”
And what will be your next adventure? “My dream is to create a music festival with a unique concept that I have already designed and that I am sure will change the rules of the game forever, the only thing missing is another visionary to follow me on this adventure to achieve it.”
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently offering Out Of Home advertising services globally to clients locally in The Valley to National Clients around the world.
We have advertised in five continents already in the last two years for multi-platinum selling artists from Bad Bunny to Karol G.
We also manage amazing events for select clients only on projects we feel we really like. We select our time spent very wisely.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Every step taken to be where we are today has been a risk. I have taken so many risks that you could not fathom. If you are going to take a risk, you must really do your best be the best and deliver your best. When taking a risk, you are engaging others in that risk as well so delivering is everything. Otherwise, you are doomed your name and reputation and without that what are you?
Pricing:
- From $1000
- To $1,000,000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.acamarketing.net
- Instagram: acamarketing
- Twitter: acamarketing
- Other: vimeo.com/aca360
Image Credits
Copyright @ACAMARKETING
