{"id":316387,"date":"2025-01-13T14:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T19:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=316387"},"modified":"2025-01-13T14:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T19:47:13","slug":"mayvic-delgado-the-publicist-and-agency-figures-are-still-prohibited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economy\/entrepreneurship-in-cuba\/mayvic-delgado-the-publicist-and-agency-figures-are-still-prohibited\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayvic Delgado: \u201cThe publicist and agency figures are still prohibited\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name MadWoman stands out when talking about advertising in Cuba. With courage, the company presents itself as a communication agency in a country where the activity is not legally permitted for the private sector. It is necessary to hide behind design, photography, and audiovisual advertising creation to exercise it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Five years after founding the company, with the ups and downs that this has entailed, we spoke with Mayvic Delgado, its creator, and CEO, about her professional history and what this five-year period of work has been like, in which there have been no few challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acting, Art History, Production\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

Founding a communications agency was never among Mayvic\u2019s dreams. Born in Cienfuegos, she came to Havana to study Art History, but she aspired to be an actress. She did not pass the ISA tests in her province, but she did not give up. \u201cUntil Corina Mestre sees me, I will not rule myself out,\u201d she said to herself.<\/span><\/p>\n

She spent her first years of university taking acting alongside her studies. She participated in plays at the Bertolt Brecht, at the Casona de L\u00ednea, was part of amateur theater groups, studied with Humberto Rodr\u00edguez and Teher\u00e1n Aguilar. But at some point, her path deviated.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mayvic Delgado acting during her years as a university student. Photo: courtesy of Mayvic Delgado.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat was what I wanted to do, but it was hard for me. Acting is a very complicated world; I obviously didn\u2019t have any money, I was on a scholarship at Alamar, at Micro Diez, which was the Art History scholarship, and I would leave rehearsal at 1 am to take a P-11 to Alamar. In the third year I said \u2018I love it, it fills my soul, but I need to do something else”, she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

A shop assistant in a candy store; producer at <\/span>Garbos<\/span><\/i> magazine and <\/span>May Reguera<\/b><\/a>\u2019s studio; production assistant, producer and art director of music videos with directors Charles Cabrera and Felo for artists such as Yomil y el Dany, Will Campa, Divan, Alex Duvall, <\/span>Brenda Navarrete<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Cimafunk<\/b><\/a>; social media manager for the band Toques del R\u00edo. These are some of the many jobs that Mayvic took on between 2017 and 2020. She was not yet aware of how that journey gave her experience and tools for her undertaking.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, she was finishing her university degree, with a thesis on advertising that began by studying the 1950s in Cuba, to end in a case study on <\/span>Vistar Magazine<\/span><\/i>, one of the independent media in the country that resumed advertising as a means of financing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy thesis was just another study; I never thought I would use it later. In fact, in the end, I got bored of everything being a pamphlet, and I put together an exhibition called \u2018I Want to Buy My Havana,\u2019 simulating what the city would be like if there were advertisements in places like the Capitol or the Prado. I set it up in 3D, I asked the owners of the businesses that advertised for a quote to print, and when we had everything ready, we couldn\u2019t exhibit, because the Gorr\u00eda Gallery had another plan and <\/span>Vistar<\/span><\/i> didn\u2019t have high-quality ads.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me the thesis was that; I saw it as something very theoretical. Then the pandemic came, productions began to decline, there were no more video clips, artists had no budget. I fell into a rut, because I didn\u2019t have a secure job, I was living in a rented home, and I said: \u2018I have to be able to take advantage of everything I\u2019ve done, what I\u2019ve been working on for 5 years.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I had no idea what it was going to be, whether it was an advisory, a consultancy or an agency for musicians. I started moving, setting up, and well, I came up with MadWoman, which at first was called Trendy. I started on my own. I created the page and 4 or 5 structural documents. I called a friend who supported me throughout that time. I remember that I wrote to him and asked him: \u2018what do I need to make an agency?\u2019 and he answered: \u2018a good client.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Taken from Mayvic Delgado\u2019s Instagram profile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five years<\/b><\/p>\n

To celebrate its five years of work (in September 2024), MadWoman held the first Jornada 2.0. It was a creative space that included conferences on business trends, international payment solutions, accounting management and global communication strategies. It was a great night at La Quinta de los Molinos, with space for business pitching and important announcements for the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the things they did at the event was to present changes in the structure of MadWoman. What are they and what do they represent?<\/b><\/p>\n

The biggest change is the departure of Disley, who was my partner for three years. It was a mutual decision, we did not have the same visions regarding the growth of the company and ways of carrying out the corporate culture, and we decided to end the partnership. We are both happy despite the sadness of the separation because we achieved many things together.<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, internally what we have done is try to build a slightly more serious corporate culture. We had a somewhat childish vision and we did a rebranding knowing what stage of the company we are in and what we want to convey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our clients \u2014 and some of the potential ones \u2014 did not understand our vision very well, or did not identify with it. What we did was change the perspective a little, how we sold ourselves. The company had reached a moment of maturity. We needed to convey it in every sense, both internally and visually.<\/span><\/p>\n

Internally, we structured the processes better, placed better area managers, delegated a little more responsibility to some of the members who had already been with MadWoman for a long time, and who were busy with tasks that did not have as much impact on the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

But really the only change in internal structure has been the departure of Disley and the incorporation of one of the managers who had already been with us for almost two years working in other positions. She had demonstrated incredible ability. Diana Iglesias also joined as strategic director in the accounts area. Eighty percent of the services are executed in that area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MadWoman: the dream of creating a private advertising agency in Cuba<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n