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21 Most Intriguing: Diego Scotti
Jeremy Greenfield & Courtney Barnes

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Vice President, Head of Global Advertising, American Express

He’s got an accent. He speaks more languages than an international CIA operative. He’s well traveled. He’s got a palate the likes of Mario Batali and Wolfgang Puck would envy (just check out that list of his must-have foods). Clearly, he has enough personal intrigue to keep any cocktail-party conversation going strong. But most relevant to this conversation is his visionary marketing philosophy, which has helped keep American Express at the forefront of the magazine advertising industry throughout the past year. After all, according to the Magazine Publishers of America's most recent (2006) numbers, Amex is the only credit card company to make the list of the top 50 magazine advertisers.

So how does he—Diego Scotti, VP of global advertising for Amex—keep the momentum building in such an evolutionary time?

“Today’s challenge is having a dialogue with people versus talking at them,” he says. “We must create engagement programs to do this. If, as a brand, you don’t get invited to that conversation with consumers, then you are just an interruption.”

Birthplace: La Plata, Argentina, Janury 25, 1973
Spoken Languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese
Stamps in his passport this year: Argentina, England, Japan and France

A Year In The Life:

Had a baby in November of 2006; Emilio is now 9 months
Vacationed with family as much as I could
Began learning to cook
Launched the new "Are You A Cardmem- ber?" campaign featuring high profile card- members including Shaun White, Martin Scorsese, Ellen DeGeneres, Larry David and John McEnroe
Watched my team really grow and develop and take on new challenges
Learned a lot from and worked with some of the most creative minds in the industry

Hobbies

Horseback riding
Reading every magazine I can from all over the world. I learn a lot about what different people, businesses and governments are doing from looking at different publications - whether specific to sport, arts, culture, music, lifestyle, business or particular industries (even if I don't under stand the language)
Leaving the city every weekend—even in the winter when there's nothing better than sitting next to the fire and reading or watching a movie

Playing Favorites

Favorite restaurants: Sucre, Buenos Aires, Spotted Pig, New York, The River Cafe, London
Favorite music: Fito Páez - Brazilian Bossa nova (the old and the new), and, of course, Tango
Favorite Web site: clarin.com
Must Read Book: Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
Favorite Magazine(s): The Economist • Monocle • Vogue L'oumo • Noticias
Must-watch TV: The Office • Dexter • Get Smart • BBC World News
Must-watch Movies: The 39 Steps (the original version) • North by Northwest • The Official Story, the only Argentine film ever to win an Oscar
Desert Island Foods I couldn’t Live Without: An Argentinean "asado," Mortadella sandwich (no mustard) from Sant Ambroeus, Alfajores from Havana
(Mar del Plata), Shepherd's Pie from Myers of Keswick, My mother's Milanesas, Boiled egg and soldiers for breakfast during a lazy weekend, A good Pad Thai (no shrimp), Ham and cheese baguette with a generous smothering of good coldsalted butter, Shabu shabu, A chewy pavlova

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