Barcelona has had a hub for a few weeks now, whose objective is to boost the communication and advertising industry so that it regains the leadership position it had decades ago. The new space, named Hub del Màrqueting i la Comunicació de Catalunya, is already part of the 22@ technology district and its primary mission will be to drive the sector, fostering synergies between companies, knowledge exchange, and the creation of new businesses in the field of marketing, advertising, public relations, and communication in general.
The initiative has been promoted by the Col·legi del Màrqueting, la Comunicació, la Publicitat i les Relacions Públiques de Catalunya, which has partnered with the coworking firm Attico and received institutional support from the Generalitat, the Diputación, and the Barcelona City Council. Located on Pallars street, the hub has 6,000 square meters and a capacity for more than 600 people, offering a wide range of options for renting fixed and flexible workspaces, private offices, meeting rooms, and an auditorium, as well as common areas such as a dining room, gym, and a 300-square-meter terrace, among others.
The sector of advertising, marketing, and communication agencies is experiencing, like others, profound processes of change, forced not only by digitalization but also by the modification of an ecosystem that tends to incorporate more transversal work methods and new dynamics in the relationship with brands. Creative talent alone is no longer enough; professional profiles that incorporate analytical and management capabilities are required.
All these changes and the sector's adaptation process to new times have caused a certain disorientation and loss of leadership in the local industry. Reversing this situation is in the DNA of the hub, which offers itself as a tool to strengthen the sector by facilitating a relationship environment that generates business opportunities. Collaboration is key today to developing the economy, also in communication.
In this new ecosystem, it is highly recommended to prioritize collaboration over competition. It is not about giving up competing, but doing so in a balanced way with collaborating. It is evident that business clusters increase efficiency. And this should also be applicable to the communication sector. For now, it is glimpsed in the hub. That brands, agencies, companies, and institutions converge in this initiative gives reasons for optimism. In fact, the hub is nothing more than a creative and strategic action that emerged from the sector itself. In other words, common creative talent has been put at the service of a common strategy. Cooperation adds, but only competing adds zero.
The strategy for brand building is now fully implemented in companies. For this reason, Rosa Romà, dean of the college, advocated during the presentation event that the hub can facilitate companies' path for their projects to have "greater depth." In this sense, the communication sector decisively contributes to companies having more revenue. Thus, Romà maintains that "the hub means wealth for the country."
Surely, it is not as simple as the previous syllogism, but it is evident that the strength and success of a brand depend on its communication capacity and strategy. And all of this in the hands of a Catalan sector that must regain the muscle it had a few decades ago, when it experienced a golden age that is now longed for. We must assume that the talent is there, that the only thing to do is adapt to change.
Not long ago, I read an interview with an important executive of an advertising agency in which he called for "a shake-up" in the sector. The hub could be it.