A leader with an architectural eye for detail helps this Miami agency refine client images ranging from hotels to horse races
October 24, 2016 | Adweek | by Patrick Coffee
Pivoting from architecture to marketing doesn’t seem like the most obvious career move — but when a good deal of your work involves the carefully tailored images of prestige media and hospitality brands, one discipline informs the other. “Architecture has the power to dictate how you move through your everyday,” said Roberto Villazon, who launched his Miami agency hi-gloss in 2004 after earning a master’s degree in the discipline and working at international firm Arquitectonica. “Our first big client hired us to handle their media,” he said. “They really liked what we were doing, [and] three months later asked us to take over their creative as well.” His team began to immerse itself in the operations of its hospitality clients to answer key questions: “What is the culture of this hotel [and] how do you train staff to get that message across to consumers?” While hi-gloss’s account list includes brands like the Waldorf Astoria Orlando and W South Beach, it is not a specialty shop. The agency recently facilitated Vanity Fair’s first-ever partnership with the Kentucky Derby, and its clients also include the Longines watch brand, America’s fifth-largest mall and a number of high-profile Miami restaurants.
