We interview Marc Morillas, CEO of Morillas Brand Consultants
Founded in Barcelona in 1962 by Antoni Morillas, the agency is today an international benchmark in branding, strategy and design. With offices in Barcelona, Madrid and Latin America, Morillas has developed more than 14,000 projects across multiple sectors over three generations.
The company combines creativity, innovation and strategic vision to help brands grow, differentiate and connect with people in an ever-changing environment.
Name, position and company
Marc Morillas, CEO of Morillas Brand Consultants.
Tell us about the company you work for. What is its history?
The truth is that I am lucky to work in a company that is history. My grandfather was a pioneer of design in Spain and in 1962 he decided to create a profession that did not yet exist. Since then we have been able to experience more than 14,000 projects over almost 3 lifetimes dedicated to brands. And in all this time we have learned one thing: you never know enough and everything is possible.
What does your day-to-day work in the company involve?
My job is easy, I am a caretaker. And I specialize in taking good care of only 3 things: taking care of our people, taking care of our clients and taking care of the origin.
What is your differential value?
Each generation has contributed its own. My grandfather at the time transformed the benefits of boring and complex products into powerful and striking images. Talking about the benefits of Biodramina in one image, not everyone could do that. In turn, my father understood that design without strategy was a merely aesthetic exercise. He managed to be the first to break down the barriers between design teams and marketing teams, helping major brands in this country to differentiate themselves from one another. And in my case, the truth is that destiny is capricious and wanted to mix water and oil. I come from the financial world and I am undoubtedly the black sheep in a family of great designers and architects. But this has allowed me to understand brands as another business-generating asset and that is why I am obsessed with being able to help our clients sell more and better. That is why we invest time and money in developing our own methodologies and technologies to know how to make the brand work as it should.
What challenges do you think you face in the coming years?
Not falling into self-praise or staying still. All this with volatility never seen before and a dizzying technological disruption. That said, our promise is simple: excellence and speed. And since both are contextual, we cannot fall into the complacency of thinking that we have already arrived where we wanted to.
What does being part of the Beauty Cluster bring you as an organization and as a professional?
The beauty sector is one of our main areas of expertise and an extremely important industry for our country and for Europe in general. Being close to top-level professionals and organizations to continue learning has an infinite value that we could not let slip away. We also take on the challenge of contributing our grain of sand: sharing learnings and detecting threats that may affect the sector before it is too late.
Back to you. How did you land in the beauty sector?
At Morillas we have always been close to the beauty industry, and I clearly remember when as a child I had the luxury of seeing how projects for major international brands were conceived. Since then we have grown and evolved with the sector, achieving a specialized knowledge that perhaps few companies like ours can have and therefore truly differential.
Speaking of ‘beauty’, how would you define it?
I would define it as a science with the ability to deeply impact people. Especially in something as complex as self-esteem. Helping us to live the best version of ourselves and to take care of the health of one of the most important organs we have is something extremely powerful. That said, precisely because of the importance that beauty has in people’s lives, I believe it must always be managed with responsibility, ethics and commitment. Avoiding empty or ethereal promises, taking on responsibilities and also risks in favor of research.
Any hobby, superpower or hidden passion you would like to share?
My passion for aviation is well known. I have been flying since I was 14 years old. I learned in ultralights and very short runways, where there were no instruments and you flew by feeling. A passion that I have also been lucky enough to share with my father, with whom I have had the opportunity to fly more than 2000 hours. Having been crew members has especially helped us in our generational handover process, but that is another story. What I must say is that this hobby inevitably forces me to protect myself from solar radiation, I never go flying without my sun protection kit with me. It is part of the “before take-off checklist”.
What is the last book you read or movie you watched?
I love thrillers, noir novels. Especially those related to espionage and counterintelligence culture. I am now reading a novel by former CIA analyst David McCloskey titled “Damascus Station”. As for a series, I would definitely highlight “Fauda”, especially in these times.
Business is based on…
On developing a resilient faith that allows you to believe sometimes beyond a piece of data and/or the reality at a given moment.
