Al Garcia-Serra During his 50-year Advertising/Communications career Garcia-Serra has been Founder and Partner/COO/CEO of three Marketing Agencies. Among them, Commonground/MGS, marketing communications' first minority-owned holding company with eight multicultural companies: MGSCOMM, Commonground, The Vidal Partnership, The Cunningham Group, Sway Public Relations, CG Works, Post Master and Run Wild Productions. The holding group was headquarters in New York with offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami with an approximate 300 employees offering clients services including: advertising, public relations, event marketing, social media, content development, production and animation.
Early life
Born in Havana, Cuba, Garcia-Serra attended La Salle school in El Vedado, Havana, Cuba. He and his family, in 1960, immigrated to the United States, and settled in Miami, FL. He graduated from Coral Gables High School in 1964, and then attended the University of Florida, from 1964-1968 where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising. His first Advertising job was at Compton/Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising as an Assistant Media Buyer on the Procter & Gamble account. Garcia-Serra returned to Miami in 1970 to work at Hume Smith Mickelberry as Print Media Buyer and Account Executive.
Career
Prior to becoming a Partner in Commonground/MGS, Garcia-Serra Co-founded MGSCOMM with his friend and business partner Manuel E. Machado in 2003, a Minority Business Enterprise with headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices in New York City and Mexico City. The independently owned integrated marketing communications agency, which was the holding company for MGS, SWAY, PostMaster, and RunWild, ranked among the top 20 in the "2013 Advertising Age 50 Largest U.S. Hispanic Agencies", and was named among the top 100 in the "2012 Hispanic Business 500 Largest US Hispanic-Owned Companies". During a span of 50 years, Garcia-Serra has held numerous Marketing Director positions. From 1970-1976 at Flagler Federal Savings and Loan. At Barnett Bank from 1976–77 and Omni International Mall for its Grand Opening from 1977-1981, after which he started his first advertising agency in 1982, Garcia-Serra Blanco, a part of Interpublic Group of Companies, which was recognized by Hispanic Business Magazine as the fastest-growing company in 1987. At Flagler Federal he led the financial center's first Hispanic marketing effort. At the Agency level he's directed advertising accounts for various well-known national brands, including Burger King, McDonald's, Lipton, Eastern Airlines, Procter & Gamble, DeBartolo Corporation, TracFone Wireless, Pan American World Airways, Lysol, DHL, and Anheuser Busch. Garcia-Serra's early career started in the mid-1950s when he and a colleague at La Salle school started a "rag" tabloid to compete with the official school newspaper. He sold his first ad to Coca-Cola, Cuba. Later, after arriving in Miami in the early 60s his first job was at Food Fair as bag boy/cashier. His first business enterprise was called "Magigrip", a local franchise of magnetic signs. Other enterprises started by Garcia-Serra included 2 retail establishments: "Brasilia", a jewelry store at Dadeland Mall, from 1975-1978 and "Nothing in Common", a home decor store at Miami International Mall and Southland Mall from 1993-1997.
Honors
In 2008, Garcia-Serra was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year" from Hispanic Business. He is a founding member of the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana in Miami, FL and has served on the boards of Chamber South, the American Red Cross, Liga Contra el Cáncer, the National Diabetes Foundation and M.A.D.D.
