Belinda joined Robot Creative as our creative director in 2024. She has more than 20 years of experience working in media and on creative design campaigns for national brands and companies. Find out more about Belinda in her Q&A interview below.
Get to Know Belinda
Q: What was your path to becoming a creative director?
A: There was a series of different positions I was placed in that allowed me to become a creative director. My experience includes media, marketing, video, website, print, direct mail and creative development. I’ve really had a diverse set of positions that made me well-rounded in this area. While I think I still have much to learn, I’m pretty well-balanced, which allows me to look from a very high level at all the pieces that go together to make a comprehensive creative campaign. What I loved about my previous jobs was that they allowed me to work with teams, talented individuals and wonderful clients across the country.
Q: What is your favorite thing about being a creative director?
A: It’s still a moving target, but I’ve always loved working with teams, mentoring and helping people develop their careers. I enjoy seeing people’s passion and growing it so that they become all they can be and want to be. With clients, seeing their visions grow, businesses grow and campaigns successfully come to fruition is very satisfying.
Q: Who is a role model or peer that continues to inspire you?
A: One of my first supervisors from Spectrum Reach inspires me. However, it’s not a creative inspiration; it’s more of an inspiration for how to be a good leader. This person was my representative when I was a marketing director; interestingly, she became my boss. She’s intelligent, passionate, successful, goal-oriented and driven. One of the things that she taught me early in my career was that her job was to grow everyone who reported to her to the point that they could one day take her job. I’ve always aspired to be like that. I don’t want to fear someone doing something better than me or that I will somehow become insignificant. She wanted everyone to learn everything they could to be their best. She inspired and mentored me to the point where I grew in my position at Spectrum Reach to a national level, moved to New York and led the national creative department.
Q: How would you describe your creative process?
A: It would depend on what kind of creative. For example, coming up with a name for a company is a different brainstorming process than doing a social media post or website design. However, generally speaking, I like to listen to several perspectives, do tons of research to become inspired, read, talk to people and look at other inspirational pieces that are in the same vein as what we would be doing. I believe that great creative, regardless of what it is, has to be founded on research and a sound strategy. You must have a compelling reason to present something in a certain way. For example, you can come up with a cool design or a great commercial idea for a client, but it doesn’t matter how great it is if it doesn’t speak to the right demographic in the right way.
Q: What are your favorite types of project(s) to work on?
A: I enjoy building out full-scale creative campaigns. There’s something about putting together all the parts and pieces to launch something amazing for a client. Figuring out how to communicate the messaging effectively across all of the available channels is both challenging and rewarding.
Looking Ahead
Q: In the next 10 years, where do you see the industry going?
A: For better or worse, AI will play a more significant role in the future of marketing, advertising and creative development. AI already plays a huge part in copywriting, photography and video development, and it’s only getting smarter. However, I also think AI and technology, used correctly, can help creative people improve, look for other ideas or get help with processes. Still, with all that being said, I believe that there needs to be a large human component in creative development to be effective and ensure the success of this industry.
Q: How do you think the current role of AI and technology will evolve both in the industry and outside of it?
A: We live in a generation where there’s always a hot app like TikTok, and I know that there will be another “next big thing” in terms of a social media app or communication platform that will grab the attention of the younger generation even more. However, whatever that next new thing will be, it will likely be an important way for us to get client information out. Younger generations, especially, are so attached to devices that the majority of communication is consumed via mobile. Still, I believe that there will be a breaking point in technology that will make people want to get off social media and consume things more traditionally. This could be social circles, groups, direct communication, you name it. I think the more pervasive AI becomes, the more people will start to look for human connections.
Q: What helpful advice do you have for someone who wants to pursue a creative role at an agency?
A: Do your homework. Conduct extensive research, not only about the agency and agency world but also about the different roles and responsibilities. Understand a typical agency culture and how you could best fit in. Also, learn how projects are worked on and processed in an agency. Ensure you completely understand the differences between doing a creative job within an agency environment, working in a similar role inside a corporation, working internally for a private company in marketing or creative and working independently as a creative developer. It’s crucial to know what the job requires and what the environment is like to ensure that it matches your goals and future desires professionally and personally.
Q: What do you look forward to when thinking about the future of Robot Creative and where it’s heading?
A: The future looks bright. We have tons of potential to grow the business in every way – design, interactive, strategy and marketing, video and media – the sky’s the limit. As we explore additional partnerships, it gives us a way to scale quickly and become even more successful. I also enjoy that Robot Creative has creative people who genuinely care about each other, the team works hard, and everyone is a team player. Everyone wants to be successful individually and as an agency, and regardless of how people go about it, the end goal is personal and business success.