January 23, 2012

The woman behind the Cisneros Group screens

Adriana Cisneros de Griffin directs strategic planning for one of the worlds largest privately held media, entertainment and telecommunications organizations.
BY JANE WOOLDRIDGE / THE MIAMI HERALD JWOOLDRIDGE@MIAMIHERALD.COM When Adriana Cisneros de Griffin takes the podium in Miami Monday at the annual convention of NAPTE, the global TV industry conference, shell be on familiar ground. The Cisneros Group and its subsidiary, Venevision, has offices in Miami, where she visits frequently. Her job keeps her on the road: As granddaughter of company founder Diego Cisneros and daughter of chairman Gustavo Cisneros, Adriana Cisneros directs strategic planning for one of the worlds largest privately held media, entertainment and telecommunications organizations. Currently, its Spanish and Portuguese-language content is offered in 120 countries and, she says, we are continuing the constant process of expansion. To do so, technologies. Cisneros is looking to new

Adriana Cisneros De Griffin is Vice Chairman and Vice President of Strategy of the Cisneros Group of Companies. ADRIANA CISNEROS DE GRIFFIN Title: Vice Chairman and Vice President of Strategy of the Cisneros Group; president of Fundacin Cisneros; chief executive of Tropicalia, a Cisneros Group eco-resort project in the Dominican Republic Family history: Granddaughter of company founder Diego Cisneros; daughter of chairman Gustavo Cisneros and Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Education: B.A. from Columbia University; masters degree in journalism from New York University; alumni of Harvard Business School Community: A director of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmys); involved with the Museum of Modern Art in New York and various international development and scholarship programs. Personal: Age 32, married with two young children

Our outlook is already pointed toward 2030, and we are betting heavily in markets such as Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Brazil and China; we are also seeking to have a greater presence in social networks and alternative media every day. Q: If you were a book, what would your title be?

This is Only the Beginning.

Q: What does your average work day look like? When I am home in New York, I wake up early for a morning run along the West Side Highway. Upon my return I wake the children, Eva Luisa (2) and Toms (4), have breakfast with them, take them to school and then I head straight to the office. My work day begins touching base with my teams in Caracas, Brazil, Madrid, Miami and the Dominican Republic. The rest of the day is filled with meetings and conference calls with strategic partners and alliances. When time allows, I step out for lunch at a nearby restaurant with colleagues or potential business partners. Once I have wrapped things up at the office, I head back home to play with the kids, keep them company while they have dinner, give them baths and read them a book (or two or three.) Once they are asleep I spend quality time with my husband, Nick, and occasionally meet up with close friends for dinner in our neighborhood. When I am traveling I fill my days as much as possible - meeting with associates, developing new business relationships, and networking in the community to ensure that I am constantly in touch and aware of the local business environment. I also try to find time to visit cultural exhibits and nonprofit organizations aligned with Fundacin Cisneros philosophy. Lastly, when time permits, I try to connect over a meal with friends living nearby. Q. Media has become an increasingly competitive business, even in the burgeoning Hispanic market. Whats your overall strategy for staying on top of the market? I could sum it up in one word, innovation. During the last five years that Ive worked for the Group, my main commitment has been to modernize the traditional media system and take advantage of the new technologies, transforming our content and the way in which we relate to our audiences. Thanks to an innovative interactive strategy, during its transmission in the United States, Eva Luna, our most successful telenovela to date, captured more than 2 million new viewers by refreshing the genre and making this soap opera into an attractive format for the younger audiences, incorporating blogs, episodes on line, summaries, exclusive web videos and surveys among others. Q: Whats your prediction for where media overall will go in the next 5-10 years? Will social media still be important? Will print have a role? And how will television change? The new technologies are transforming communications media and the social networks are a fundamental part of that. We are closer than ever to our audience, there is now practically immediate feedback and a greater involvement of the public with their favorite programs. The tendency is toward interactivity, when we produce a format, we have to do so thinking about designing special content for every screen. Technology also allows us to have ever greater and quicker access to information; in my own case, with the advent of the iPad I can say I now read more news than ever.

Q: What is the Cisneros Group doing to adapt to these new trends? Rather than adapting ourselves, we identify the opportunities provided by these trends and we capitalize on them. There are two ways of talking about our work: 1. Activities aimed at creating synergies with our traditional business such as: our alliance with Netflix; the work we have been doing with Hulu in the United States; our winning presence on YouTube (where we receive 25 million visits a month); and of course on our site www.venevision.com. 2. The initiatives we undertake based on business opportunities that present themselves. Even when these initiatives are not directly linked to our traditional business, such as the advertising network and mobile agency that we are creating for the Hispanic and Latin American market. Q: Do you envision Cisneros moving into English-language programming? Or will the shift in demographics and increasing use of Spanish in the U.S. be enough to keep the company where it wants to be? The Hispanic market is the segment with the greatest growth in the United States; the Hispanic population grew 43 percent from 2000 to 2010. Moreover, this segment watches more television and its buying power and influence grows every day; which is why it is such an important focus for the Cisneros Group. However, we are aware that this segment is changing, and if there is a part of the population that still prefers content completely in Spanish, there is also a good part, principally bilingual families, that watches more and more television in English, but that doesnt mean they stop being Latinos and thinking as such. There is a great opportunity in the creation of content for this market and that is why we are starting to work on a strategy for the development of content in English. Q: You work in a high-profile company that also happens to be a family business. Whats the hardest part about being in a family business? And whats the best part? Given that our company is 80 years old this year, our TV network 50 years old and our Family Foundation 35 years old, the hardest part of running a family enterprise is knowing that I am expected to do so for the next 20 or 30 years. I know that my family is looking forward to celebrating our 100 years, so clearly this is a game of not only strategy and success but also of endurance. The best part is knowing that all the hard work, the long hours, the endless travel is all to benefit my family and our business. I like having that sense of purpose. From a young age I have been immersed in the business culture of the organization, which allowed me to have a natural formation of the business philosophy. I always knew I wanted to work for my family, to continue the work that my father and mother have done in the Organization and the Foundation; its a vocation that I enjoy tremendously.

Q: Being a woman in business in Latin America isnt always easy. What impact do you think that has had on you? Have you had any difficulties because of it? Do you have to juggle more between family and business? Has it in some ways been an advantage? The woman issue has never been an issue at Cisneros. I grew up in a household where our parents had the same expectations of us regardless of gender, so I suppose that way of thinking also carried over into the work place. The only challenge I face in being a woman is feeling like I am always in a hurry from work to home. For me, it is as important to succeed at my job as it is to be a great mom and wife, but doing all three can, at times, be exhausting! I wouldnt have it any other way though, all three roles are equally important to me. Q: Whats the best business advice you ever got? Put Mind, Heart and Courage in business. This was my grandfather, Diego Cisneros, philosophy. He inculcated it in us, and over three generations it has allowed us to consolidate into a leading organization, diversified, innovative and with a great social commitment. Q: Whats the best business advice you wish you had been given, but had to learn the hard way? I wish someone had told me early on that this is an endurance race, with long-term goals, where time is a key factor in planning any business. I am a results-oriented person and have always wanted to see immediate results. I can be impatient in that regard, but now I can see that timing is a key factor in the planning of any business and that being in a hurry to deliver can actually get in the way of seeing the greater potential of a deal. Q: As women, we know that packing for business trips is harder for us than it is for men. How do you handle packing? I travel four days a week on average, so packing is a big part of my life. At this point I have it down to a science. When I am packing for a business trip, I have two objectives: to be able to take only carry-on luggage and that my clothes should arrive without needing pressing. I have a few cardinal rules: commit to one color accessories, fold clothes strategically to avoid getting wrinkles, and though I am an avid runner, if the hotel has a pool I bring goggles instead of my sneakers, which gives me some welcomed extra space. When I travel I like to be able to focus on my job 100 percent, packing strategically is one of those things that really makes my life less complicated. Q: How does being the CEO of a real estate project square with your companys media interests? The companys entrepreneurial spirit has always been to identify and capitalize on opportunities, my grandfather said we should "collect all the diamonds that we find"; we have worked under this philosophy and as a result, we are a company capable of successfully undertaking new business when it presents itself, regardless of the sector.

Q: Whats the hardest thing youve ever had to do in business? The hardest thing I have had to do in business is accepting the challenge to be my fathers successor and to feel confident that I am the right person for the job. I am surrounded by people who are extremely smart and have been at it for a much longer time than I have. I always feel that I still have so much to learn from my team and most importantly from my father. Q: What keeps you awake at night? I lose sleep when I feel that the day has ended and I dont have full clarity on something I am working on. Q: What do you do to unwind? To unwind I like spending time with my family. I try to make it home for the weekend no matter where I am. I love cooking for them, going for long walks in the woods with our kids and dog, and reading books. Pretty simple, but very gratifying. Q: Tell us one thing your colleagues might be surprised to learn about you. I love climbing big mountains. More concretely: I like climbing 14,000-foot peaks. Recently I climbed Plata Peak, Pyramid Peak and Mt. Elbert in Colorado. Next on my wish list are Pico Duarte, Cotopaxi and Kilimanjaro.