From 2000-2008, she served as President/CEO of Winglatino, a Grey Group subsidiary within the WPP family of advertising and marketing agencies. In May 2009, she would take the helm of her own business and marketing advisory services firm, Redbean Society LLC.
Now, the U.S. Hispanic and Puerto Rican ad industry is paying tribute to Jackie Bird, who has died in a Miami hospital following a battle with cancer.
Bird’s career was filled with “firsts.” At Procter & Gamble in Puerto Rico, Bird was the first brand manager on the marketing team. A few years later, at Grey Advertising, Bird became the first woman to be named President by a global ad agency parent company in Latin America. Bird was also the first female member of the agency’s executive committee for the LATAM region.
Bird’s full involvement in U.S. Hispanic took shape circa 2005 in New York, where she led the reorganization, repositioning and new growth of Winglatino. Under her leadership, the company was able to achieve year-over-year double-digit growth.
Bird’s commitment to the U.S. Hispanic advertising and marketing industry would become more central in 2007 when her peers elected her president of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) which now operates as the Hispanic Marketing Council (HMC). She was also an active promoter of women in advertising.
News of Bird’s passing was first reported by HispanicAd. Publisher Gene Bryan noted that he had known Bird since his high school days, as his family and her were good friends in Puerto Rico. She is a 1974 graduate of the Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR). “She was born in the island from European parents and she was a true Boricua in heart and soul,” Bryan said. “Jackie was known for her strategic brain and her marketing intelligence. She was also highly respected as a leader. Above all, she was a truly good human being and the industry will remember her contributions but also for her kindness, humanity and sweet smile. Buen viaje, amiga.”
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