Ruben Figueres

Ruben Figueres is a Spanish/American political consultant and advertising executive who advised the mayoral campaign of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and the 2012 presidential campaign for Barack Obama.

Advertising

Alario logo

Figueres came to the United States in 1998 and entered the advertising world in 1999 working for Starcom, the Hispanic media department at Leo Burnett. Later he joined Telemundo before starting his own advertising company, Alario Group, which is an advertising agency catering to the Hispanic market. The firm is based in Chicago.

Chicago Political Work

Figueres worked on Rahm Emanuel's Chicago Mayoral campaign and was part of a team of advisors including Stanley Greenberg and David Axelrod, both of whom worked on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential election campaign. Figueres' experience with Emanuel's election win and relationships with advisors connect to both Emanuel and Obama led to Figueres' work on Obama's 2012 campaign.

Figueres was also an advisor of Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and was tasked with bringing out the Hispanic vote. His Alario Group was brought on to handle Hispanic advertising for the campaign with a goal to match or beat the 2008 campaign's success of garnering 68% of the Hispanic vote. After the election he helped commercialize a software system used in the campaign called The Optimizer, which gathers all the information that potential voters generate through social networks on a daily basis and then aggregates that data to assist with forecasting their eventual vote.

In 2015 he published an autobiography and his reflections on the Obama campaign titled "De Gandia a la Casa Blanca," which translates to "From Gandia to the White House."

Athletics

Figueres has competed in over 100 triathlons across the world and has represented both Spain and the United States in five world triathlon championships.

• From 2004-2010, Figueres was sponsored by Powerbar as an Elite Amateur Triathlete on its Powerbar Team Elite squad.
• Represented Spain in the 2004 ITU Triathlon World Championships.
• Represented Spain in the 2007 Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
• Competed for Team USA in the 2012 Xterra World Championship.

• ^ "A part of the team gandiense the Obama campaign". Levante-EMV.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• "Spanish Advertising Man Aspires to Join Obama's Reelection Campaign". Latin American Herald Tribune. Retrieved 11 January 2015. 
• "RUBéN Figueres, PUBLISHER AND RESPONSIBLE FOR PART OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR OBAMA". Cope Onda Naranja 90.6fm. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• "A Spanish Publicist Points to the Obama Re-election Campaign". San Diego Red. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2015. 
• "US Elections: Spanish in the Campaign of Obama and Romney". ABC.es. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• Jim Rutenberg (12 November 2012). "Obama System, 'the Optimizer,' Targeted TV Viewers for Support". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• T.W. Farnam (14 November 2012). "The Influencer Industry: Obama Campaign took unorthodox Approach to Ad Buying". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• Guillermo Angula (27 May 2013). "Video presentation of Risto Mejide of its agreement with Obama advisers to offer in Spain the 'Optimizer' tool used in the Democratic campaign.". el Programa de la Publicadad. Retrieved 10 January 2015. 
• Guillermo Angula (25 May 2013). "The Key Element of the Publicity Campaign Behind President Obama's Victory". Esade Alumni. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• "De Gandia a la Casa Blanca". 
• "De Gandía a la Casa Blanca". Libreria Santa Fe. Retrieved 19 January 2015. 
• "A Cien Millas de Manhattan: La historia de Rubén Figueres". Onda Cero. Retrieved 19 January 2015. 
• Matt Baron (21 July 2014). "Early Registration Ends July 31st for 3rd Annual Pleasant District Family Triathlon". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 January 2015. 
• Christopher D. Jensen, PhD, MPH, RD (26 October 2010). "Nutrition Tip: Stock up for Performance". Retrieved 10 January 2015.  CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
• "ITU World Championships Results" (PDF). Retrieved 6 February 2015. 
• http://www.hawaiiforvisitors.com/hawaii/events/ironman/2007-results.htm
• http://www.triathlon.org/uploads/events/2012_ITU_-_XTERRA_Press_Guide_lowres.pdf&ei=7Iy0VJiXM4GGgwS6roOADg&usg=AFQjCNFI4UXNoTQBUkR-46qIy-hUFcWnCA&sig2=QkClrUpYJV7_Zynmx92Kzg
• http://www.xterraplanet.com/uploadedfiles/2012XTERRAWorldsGuide.pdf

Figueres lives in Chicago with his wife, Elizabeth and children, Kai, Luca and Olivia.