Ad Astra: Eduardo Maruri, Diamond Seeker
Eduardo Maruri was just 25 when he found himself running an advertising agency. He’d founded it with his dad, one of Ecuador’s ‘Mad Men’, recruiting clients by sitting on the floor with a phone book, cold-calling businesses. Shortly after they had got up and running, Eduardo’s father Jimmy, fell ill.
It’s an experience that transformed Eduardo. Being thrust into responsibility and unfamiliar challenges wasn’t easy, far from it, but Eduardo’s career has been characterised by pushing into new, unknown areas. By his own admission, it took a while to gain the wisdom to approach new challenges with balance and equanimity.
“It was challenging, especially with my dad being such an icon in the industry; I had to build my own reputation, separate from his,” he reflects. “It wasn’t easy, especially being so young. I wasn’t the most patient leader back then, working 15-hour days and expecting the same from everyone else. Over time, I’ve matured as a leader, learning how to balance my high expectations with understanding.”
Eduardo had come to the advertising world following a stint at Gillette where, at the age of 23, he became the youngest marketing director in the company’s history. It’s an achievement he’s still proud of today. He’d gone to the US to explore the world beyond Ecuador and to get his undergraduate degree. “The transition was a mix of excitement and challenge-adjusting to a new culture, meeting people from different backgrounds, and being independent. It shaped my outlook, making me more adaptable and open-minded,” he says.
At Gillette, he got first-hand experience of the realities of making decisions within a major corporation and about the client side of client-agency relationships. He chafed, however, against the lack of creative freedom and yearned for a more entrepreneurial path. Setting up shop with his dad was the perfect opportunity to combine his corporate insights with the creativity he was keen to embrace.
And when the time came to step up to lead the agency, that twinned experience and passion allowed him to develop both aspects. “What made a real difference was that I always had a foot in both worlds—being both creative and business-focused,” says Eduardo. “That ability to lead with a creative vision while also understanding the financial and operational side of things helped me stand out as a leader. It wasn’t just about building an agency; it was about shaping my own leadership style, which evolved as I gained more experience.”
Founded in 1991, Eduardo led the agency until 2016 when it was acquired by Grey, opening up a leap into regional roles including president and CEO at Grey LATAM and president and CEO at Grey Europe and VP of the Grey Global creative board. Earlier this year he joined Iris, a network that’s been undergoing something of a transformation in recent months, as global creative chair.
His new role at Iris at a time of unparalleled change has proven to be an exciting and refreshing opportunity. “Taking on this role at Iris has been a real challenge, but an exciting one. What drew me in was the opportunity to work with a genuinely visionary leader like Ian Millner, who’s truly committed to making a change. He’s been instrumental in building a leadership team that elevates creativity, with recent senior hires like Menno Kluin, Katy Hopkins, Leigh Armstrong, Jill Smith and Zoe Eagle ready to drive the agency forward. Ian trusted me with the mission to transform Iris into a global creative powerhouse, and that’s what excites me the most,” he says.
He names campaigns like Samsung Skate and Pizza Hut’s tongue-in-cheek announcement as the 'The Official Sponsor of Dominoes', as being proof of Iris’ creative strength, and how the agency brings together creativity, data, and digital expertise to deliver campaigns that have cultural impact. “I want to work with the team to elevate this even further by reshaping our creative culture, enhancing our capabilities across brand participation, experience, and media, and attracting and nurturing the best talent to drive this vision forward. My goal for Iris is not just pushing creative boundaries, but putting the agency on the map in a way that hasn’t been done before.”
In the time between setting up Maruri and taking on the mantle at Iris, he honed his approach to leadership and creativity, landing on two key principles that have shaped his own work and his expectations of those around him: bravery and honesty.
“For me, the number one value is courage. I have no patience for playing it safe or for those afraid to take risks,” he says. “I lead by example, and I expect my team to be brave—whether it’s in the ideas we develop or the risks we take in pitches. When we present something, I always push for the boldest option. In my view, if we present something safe, we’ve got a 25% chance of winning. But if we go with something risky and unexpected, we double our chances, because they’ll either love it or hate it. I’d rather take that 50% chance and aim for something great than settle for mediocrity.
“Honesty is also crucial—being true to the craft, to the client, and to the creative process. It’s about being open to criticism, handling it with maturity, and knowing when to kill an idea quickly without taking it personally. These values — courage, honesty, and a relentless pursuit of creativity — are at the core of my leadership style.”
That sense of honesty underlines the importance that Eduardo places on the human, collaborative side of creativity. “I really enjoy working with teams and building up ideas together. It’s like ping-pong—throwing thoughts back and forth, letting them evolve into something bigger. That’s where I feel I can add the most value, and it’s also the part I enjoy the most. There's something special about those long creative sessions—sitting in an office with a pizza and a beer, scribbling ideas on the walls, laughing, and just letting the creativity flow. Those were the moments I love, where time seems to stop and anything feels possible.”
When leading creative teams, he’s always fostered a culture where creatives are expected to present new ideas regularly, even if they’re not tied to clients. It’s important to keep the creative muscles working out and to foster an atmosphere of proactivity. “I’ve seen first hand how this approach helps teams produce the best work of their careers, because they’re constantly creating without limitations like budget or client constraints.”
It’s then his job to be the ‘diamond seeker’ (during his time at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, a Japanese instructor told him that after 40, you move from shaping the diamonds to the one who can recognise the diamond, spotting potential and knowing how to elevate them, make them sparkle).
Navigating the lack of face-to-face collaboration is something that he’s found challenging in the covid-19 fallout, as more creative sessions transitioned to screen — and indeed as his own career has progressed to more geographically dispersed roles.
As much as he thrives off the electrical alchemy of in-person creative collaboration, Eduardo’s had to adapt and teach himself new ways to lead. “I realised the importance of staying true to my core values—especially honesty and courage—but also learned that leadership at scale requires a different approach,” he says. “Communication became key. You need to keep people inspired and aligned across different countries and cultures, which isn’t easy. I had to learn to trust my instincts while also delegating more, and giving people the freedom to take ownership of their work. I couldn’t be everywhere, but I could still make sure my team felt empowered and connected to the overall vision. Staying adaptable and being open to new ways of working helped me navigate the shift, but it was definitely a challenge.”
That’s where Eduardo’s compunction to throw himself into new experiences and challenges comes into play. Every year he pushes himself to do something new, like climbing Kilimanjaro or doing an Ironman. Recently he even climbed Everest Base Camp.
“I think those moments of doing something extreme or different really feed my creativity in a way that nothing else can,” he says. “Those experiences with nature, where you're really disconnected from everything, gives you a chance to think deeply and recharge in a unique way.”
But Eduardo doesn’t limit himself to physical challenges out in the wilds. When he says he pushes himself out of his comfort zone, it’s not cliché. He means it. We can’t think of any other advertising industry creative leaders who have both taken on a football club and thrust themselves into the political arena. There’s a handful that have attempted one or the other… but not to our knowledge both.
In the 2000s, Eduardo became involved in Ecuadorian politics, and was elected President of the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce in 2004, raising the possibility that he might even run for President of Ecuador. He was driven by his passion for his country and the fact that politics, like advertising, allows enormous reach.
“I have a deep love for my country, and I’ve always felt a strong pull toward politics because it’s a way to create real, large-scale change,” he says, “You can affect millions of lives with the decisions you make and that’s what drew me in—the ability to positively impact people’s lives.”
Having never lost an election, Eduardo is adamant that his background in advertising served as a huge advantage. Unlike many politicians, he even managed to find ways to apply his creative thinking to social issues. “Advertising taught me how to deliver a message in a way that resonates with people, understanding what they’re looking for and how to communicate it effectively. Once I was in office, the creative approach I brought helped me lead and make decisions in a way that was relatable and impactful. Politics, for me, is just another way of using creativity to bring about meaningful change.”
Perhaps the biggest test of his creative muscle in the political sphere was re-writing Ecuador’s constitution, which he says is the ‘ultimate copywriting job’. As he explains, he wasn’t just trying to create something that worked in the moment but that would last and stand the test of time.
The experience also ended up feeding back into his work in the advertising realm, particularly when it comes to his work with brands on sustainability. “One of the key articles I pushed for was about giving rights to nature, and that idea of sustainability has influenced a lot of my creative work ever since,” he says. “It taught me the importance of having a clear purpose behind everything you create, whether it's a law or an ad campaign. The experience also deepened my understanding of the big issues like nature versus human-centric approaches, which has shaped some of my best creative work in sustainability campaigns. The biggest insight I brought back to advertising was the need to think long-term, creating work that not only resonates today but continues to be relevant in the future.”
Indeed, that experience is deeply tied to two of the creative campaigns he’s most proud of. “The ones that stick with me are those that made a real impact—whether on the audience, the brand, or myself,” he says. “The Nature Represented campaign, which helped change Ecuadorian law to secure legal rights for the environment, is one that will always stand out. Another is the Declaration of Rights of Nature, which broke new ground by advocating for the legal protection of nature itself. These campaigns succeeded by connecting on a deeper level, often by challenging norms or telling untold stories.”
All of that experience on the inside of the political machine also affords him quite a bit of insight into this bumper year of elections. When it comes to understanding the febrile, contentious atmosphere right now, Eduardo thinks that marketers and advertising professionals have much to learn.
“One of the biggest mistakes agencies and clients make is underestimating the emotional aspect of politics. It’s not just about policies or facts; it’s about how people feel and how they perceive the world,” he says. “Emotions drive voter behaviour, and that’s something brands can learn from. Look at Trump in 2016—he polarised, took risks, and communicated in a way that tapped into those strong emotions, whether people loved or hated him. It wasn’t scripted in the traditional way politicians usually operate, and that resonated with his target audience. Brands and agencies can learn from that strategy: you can’t please everyone, but if you choose your audience and go all in, you can make a much stronger impact. Sometimes taking risks and embracing polarisation can be powerful, as long as it’s done with purpose.”
If extending into the world of politics was an unparalleled success, soccer was not quite so forgiving. After all, if politics can get people emotional, that’s nothing compared to the beautiful game. He was elected as president of the Barcelona Sporting Club football team of Guayaquil between 2007 and 2011. Charged with turning the team’s fortunes around, he got the team to fifth place in the Ecuadorian Serie A league in 2008, but it turns out that winning multiple Cannes Lions Grands Prix (as Eduardo has done) may be an easier task than leading a soccer team to victory and getting fans on side.
Still, it was an opportunity for profound learning. Trying something new is always a chance to grow even when—or perhaps especially when—it doesn’t entirely go to plan. “It was an incredibly intense experience, and honestly, one of the toughest in my life,” says Eduardo. “I quickly learned that in football, you don’t control what happens on the field. You can put together the best team, invest in all the right places, and still, the ball might not go in. That taught me a huge lesson in humility—how to accept outcomes you can't fully control. We didn’t win as much as we should have, and the public backlash was overwhelming. Millions of fans had high expectations, and not meeting those was a massive public failure. Those three years were filled with pressure and stress, but they taught me how to manage those feelings and how to handle major setbacks in a very public way.”
The experience, it must be noted, did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for soccer. “Football will always be a passion for me, though—it’s much more than just a game. It’s about community, connection, and learning to deal with both victory and defeat.”
Beyond football and politics, Eduardo is a sponge for creativity and a great lover of music and film, citing the likes of Rick Rubin, Wes Anderson and Paolo Sorrentino as inspirations. He thrives on long-form content, whether that’s music or film because he enjoys the depth of storytelling and creative expression it allows. He also makes a deliberate effort not to limit himself to one genre or culture or flavour of creativity.
“I’ve found that something seemingly irrelevant can spark a connection between ideas. It might be a Korean production that somehow links with a political event in South America, and suddenly there’s a creative breakthrough,” he says. “For me, it’s all about staying open to everything and trusting that even the most random bits of culture can feed into the creative process.”
Indeed he’s seeing that connection between culture, long-form content and brands become stronger than ever. “One of the biggest opportunities for brands right now is in long-form content. Brands are becoming the new Hollywood stars—just look at how films like Barbie and Air are tied to brands that have deep relationships with people,” he says. “The brands that embrace this shift and create content people actually want to pay to see, rather than paying to be seen, will have a real edge. It’s about moving from pushing ads to creating something that feels like entertainment or storytelling that people willingly engage with.”
Eduardo explains that what really excites him right now is the ‘convergence of Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and Silicon Valley’, which is bringing together storytelling, advertising and tech. That trifecta is, he believes, only going to become more intense and exciting.
Now, of course, Eduardo is finding more opportunity to push himself into more new spaces. The advent and rapid development of artificial intelligence is yet another frontier full of unexplored potential. Never being one to shy away from the new and unfamiliar, Eduardo is largely excited by the possibilities that AI presents.
“Soon, we’ll be able to create entire films just by giving instructions to AI. The challenge, of course, is staying relevant and authentic in this fast-moving landscape. Consumers want brands that stand for something real, not just the next trend. It’s about embracing technology while staying true to the brand’s core values.”
Bravery and openness are not just the things that connect Eduardo’s own circuitous and often unexpected journey, they’re also qualities that he values in clients too. When the appetite to try new things and make a real stand align, the creative work that emerges is unmatched.
“The common thread in my most successful work has been clients who are brave enough to take risks. Often, the best ideas weren’t what the client originally asked for—they were proactive or completely different, which made them hard to sell. But when clients see that you’re willing to push hard, to take risks with your own career and reputation, they’re more likely to share that risk with you. It’s that mutual trust and courage that leads to something truly innovative,” he says.
“Some of my best work has come from personal experiences that I’ve been able to weave into the creative process—whether it's sustainability, football, or other aspects of my life. That emotional connection makes the work more authentic and powerful, and when clients embrace that, it takes the creativity to another level.”
