by Garvin Nelson

Created on: August 23, 2008

Who is Juan Valdez?

Everyone knows Juan Valdez form the advertisement in the print and electronic media, he is the Guy with the mule (Conchita) that sells the virtues Colombian coffee over other types. Thus sadly this means that Juan Valdez is not real. Juan Valdez was born of the imagination of advertising company of Doyle Dane Bernback in 1959. This fictional character was created Doyle Dane Bernback advertising agency for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia and was meant to differentiate Colombian coffee from other types in the market, thus Juan Valdez represents not a single coffee brand but location differentiation.

The Advertising Method
The advertisements styles have changed over the years to suit the changes in the market. The initial phase (described as "educational" on the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia web site) sought show that the climate, volcanic soil and farming methods resulted in a superior quality of coffee beans and thus a better tasting coffee. This "educational" phase of advertising started in 1959 and ended in the mid 1980's. Central to this campaign is showing Juan picking the coffee beans at perfect moment to produce the fine Columbian coffee bean.

From the Mid 1980's onwards is advertising campaign shifted to "image campaign" (again this is what it is called at National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia web site). The idea here is to associate the drinking of Columbian coffee with being sophisticated.

In the 1990's the "Grab the Life by the Bean" advertising campaign started. This was intended to introduce Columbian coffee to a new market segment. The younger more active generation of coffee drinkers thus Juan Valdez now Snow-boards, Surfs and Hang Glides.

The Men Of Juan Valdez. Only Three men have thus far portrayed the Juan Valdez Character. The first was Jos F. Duval who acted the role until 1969. Mr Duval was a singer and actor of Cuban heritage. He died in 1993 at the age of 72 after long career in film and stage.

The second was Carlos Sanchez who portrayed the role of Juan Sanchez from 1969 to 2006. He was a coffee farmer from region Antioquia, Colombia, he now is an avid painter and runs a silk screen business in Medelin.

The latest face of Juan Valdez is Carlos Castaeda also from the Region of Antioquia, Colombia and is also a coffee farmer.

So who is Juan Valdez? To me Juan Valdez is a symbol (not just of the over 500 000 members of National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia) of all hard working farmers who have finally realised that there is strength in numbers and are thus protected by each other from the vagaries of the "Free Market".

Ref:

National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia web site
http://www.juanvaldez.com/index.html

Jose F. Duval http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE 0DA123EF935A35750C0A965958260

Wikipedia on Carlos Alnchez
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_S%C3%A1nc hez_(actor)

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