Leopoldo Rodés, advertising maverick and driving force behind 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, has died
The businessman and patron who put the Catalan capital on the map was killed in a car accident
"The legacy of Leopoldo Rodés will be that of a person who loved life and knew how to live, committed to his loved ones and to business and cultural causes". Thus remarked Artur Mas, president of the Generalitat, when remembering the figure of Leopoldo Rodés, who died yesterday in a traffic accident at 80 years of age. His professional activity developed mainly in the field of advertising, where he was considered the visionary who transformed the sector. The omnivorous spirit of this Barcelona native born in 1935, however, meant that his influence was felt in other areas, beginning with his facet as cultural promoter and his decisive role in the hosting of the Olympic Games in the Catalan capital in 1992.
Rodés, a law graduate, started his career with Tiempo, an advertising agency he founded in 1958. His commitment to young, creative talent made the company into one of the leaders in Spain, thanks to the creative talent of Leopoldo Pomés, whom Rodés persuaded to work for the agency. From within their walls came icons such as the Freixenet bubbles or the horse of the Terry distillery. Eventually the firm was merged with the North-American agency BBDO, in a show of his global vision for business.
But if this businessman is recognized for transforming the advertising sector, it is mostly for the creation of a second company in this field, Media Planning, in 1978, together with his disciple Josep Martínez-Rovira. This company, dedicated exclusively to contracting advertising space in mass media, broke with the traditional way of doing business by leaving the advertising agencies out of this task. The advertising sector recognized him thusly: "It was he who created the concept of modern advertising". Jordi Vilajoana, who was Director-General of Tiempo-BBDO, reminisced to ARA yesterday that one of the great virtues of the businessman was the way in which he cultivated personal relationships, which reached beyond Catalonia and Spain and extended abroad.
This ability of Rodés, father of five children, one of whom is Ferran Rodés, president of ARA, went beyond charisma. IESE Professor Alfred Pastor remembered him this way: "Of course he was great at public relations, but it was because he had enormous discipline for work".
One of the greatest proofs of this capacity was the foundation of the Institute for the Family Business, of which he was still, today, Honorary President. "It was a great idea. It brought together the largest family businesses in Spain into a single organization", noted Pastor, who was the first Director of the organization. "He had the vision to set the rules to be able to influence and, above all, to gain the confidence of all those great businessmen; a very difficult thing to do".
In 1999 Rodés made a new leap in the field of advertising, merging Media Planning with the French company Havas Advertising to create Havas Media. This new giant was able to unite the Latin-American, European, and North American markets in one single company to "bring to our clients a truly global offering", according to Rodés himself at the time, as he was appointed president of the new company.
Outside of business and his cultural imprint, the seal of Rodés was felt especially in the field of sports. At the request of Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee, he presided over the Barcelona Olympic 92 Association, which financed the promotion of the city with 1 billion pesetas obtained via donations from 100 companies. "He was the businessman who helped the most; what Carles Ferrer Salat did in Madrid, Rodés did in Catalonia", explained former mayor Narcís Serra, who recognized another merit: "He was the man who convinced the business class to support the Games enthusiastically".
In addition, Rodes became involved, together with Isabel Vilà --from whom he was widowed in 2000--, in the candidacy that eventually transformed the face of the city and placed it fully in its current position as a global reference. "I had to give up everything. I visited 52 countries in eighteen months, and received all 91 members of the Committee in my own home", he explained to ARA regarding the 20 months in 1985 and 1986 that he dedicated to achieving the designation of "la ville de Barcelona".
A new drive
The success of that event meant a new motivation for Rodés. During his career he was on the board of firms such as Banc Central de Catalunya, the Vitalicio, Ferrocarrils de Catalunya, Dym, Metra Seis, Banc de Girona, Banco de Progreso, and Corporación Financiera Alba. He was also Vice-President of Banco Urquijo, and was currently a member of the Board of Directors of Havas and Grupo Financiero Inbursa, in addition to chairing the International Advisory Board of Abertis Infraestructures. He was also president of the Foundation of the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Vice-President of RACC, and a member of the board of CaixaBank.
Among other honors, he was presented with the Medalla d'Or (Gold Medal) of Barcelona ‘92 from the City Council, IOC’s gold Olympic Order, as well as Catalonia’s Creu de Sant Jordi (Cross of Sant Jordi) and the Gold Medal from the Spanish Institute of New York, a city that he loved.
The influence of Rodés in the Catalan business community was enormous and only comparable to his discretion. In spite of that, he could not avoid political debate, and according to those around him, he organized frequent dinners to debate on the Catalan independence process. Regarding the time in which he was working to bring the Olympic Games to Barcelona, he himself explained: "One of the weak points was the international image of Spain as a country that didn't have the organizational ability, but I insisted that Catalonia was not like the rest. It was something different, a very serious country, with a great business tradition". Recently, regarding 27-S, he declared himself a "worried optimist".
True to his intense career, he continued working up to the end of his life, and in addition to his professional occupations, was currently a driving force behind a Ibero-American Forum that will be held in October in Barcelona, the city that Leopoldo Rodés helped make global.
