Bianca Fernandez never thought she’d be on reality TV—then came an Instagram DM from someone working on a new advertising competition show, NBC’s On Brand with Jimmy Fallon.
“I remember calling my mom and being like, ‘Do you think this is legit?’” Fernandez told ADWEEK. “‘But also, if this is legit, how perfect is this for me?’”
It was so perfect, in fact, that she won it all. On the show’s Season 1 finale that aired Oct. 31, Fallon and his co-host, Bozoma Saint John, announced Fernandez as the show’s first Innovator of the Year. Along with a cash prize of $100,000, her concept for the final client, Therabody, will be produced as a commercial.
“It’s pretty surreal,” said Fernandez, a Gen Z marketer based in New York. “Going into the experience, I had truly no idea what to expect, but I did know I really wanted to win, and I knew based off of what was described to me that I’d have a shot if I gave it my all and didn’t hold myself back.”
She embraced that ethos throughout the season, often becoming the project lead on campaigns such as creating a viral drink for drive-in QSR chain Sonic and adding a “spicy take” idea to Captain Morgan’s Super Bowl campaign. While on the show, she even proclaimed her intentions to make the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.
But success wasn’t easy. Fernandez noted there were “a lot of pressure cooker moments” throughout the season, with some of the most stressful times not even making the final cut. For instance, when meeting with graphic designers, contestants had equal but limited time—what Fernandez described as just “minutes”—to turn their ideas into campaigns, sometimes overnight.
As if that weren’t enough pressure, everything was on the contestants, with Fernandez saying NBC made sure to promote fairness so the behind-the-scenes creatives didn’t impose their own strategy while translating contestant ideas into pitch presentations, even if those ideas went awry.
The finale brought on added challenges as Fernandez and fellow finalist Ryan Winn had to create and shoot an entire commercial for Therabody, essentially by themselves and in an equal but “insanely short amount of time,” according to Fernandez.
“It was wild,” she said. “I remember in the bus on the way shot-listing [the ad] out on a piece of paper and a notepad, sketching out frame by frame each of the shots that I needed.”
But, in many ways, Fernandez had been training for that pressure for years.
You can’t just Tumbl’ into a win
The marketer’s journey to On Brand began in the early 2010s in high school, when she created a Tumblr all about preppy fashion. Fernandez built a following, met like-minded friends on the pre-influencer internet, and even scored a brand deal with Vineyard Vines. “It was my first taste of what would eventually become my career,” she said.
Though Fernandez had gone pre-law in college and even interned in politics in D.C., she eventually pivoted back to marketing, landing at TikTok in its early days to convince brands of the platform’s merits before running social at Tarte Cosmetics. Today, she serves as the head of brand engagement at actor Lili Reinhart’s beauty brand, Personal Day.
Besides her family group chat coming to life since the show’s release, Fernandez said there have been “a lot more” inbound requests for work collaborations. But she still has her day job, which requires interacting with marketers in the industry—and they have questions.
How to keep pitches On Brand
Firstly, yes, there is a ton of material that understandably didn’t make it to the screen, as pitches that could be around 5 minutes or more were cut down to seconds. Because of that, not everything translated, with Fernandez even speaking up for fellow contestant BT Hale’s out-of-this-world, alien-infused “Take Me to Your Dunkin’” pitch.
“I thought that’s genius,” she said. “That would take a lot more world-building, but I still think that’s one of my favorite ideas from the show.”
Fernandez also noted that since her day job focuses on strategy and facts, she tried to ground her campaign ideas in insights. But success on the show also required contestants to pitch more of their personal stories, as well as what they thought would play well for broad audiences and look good on television.
Actually executing their ideas also brought certain challenges. For instance, Fernandez pitched an ASMR activation for Pillsbury, complete with sensory deprivation domes, but those had to be replaced with clear structures for filming purposes, she said. That also created an emergency air conditioning situation after the clear domes and all the electronics inside overheated in the sun.
“It was all hands on deck,” Fernandez said.
Bianca Fernandez on set for her Therabody commercial shoot. (credit: NBCUniversal)
But Fernandez was down to roll with it all: In an episode where everyone had to act excited as a CGI Pillsbury Doughboy made its way into the show, Fernandez hammed it up with the other contestants, who she said were thrilled to bring “movie magic” to life. And though she wishes some of her facial expressions hadn’t made the final cut, she said it all “made for good TV.”
“You really wear what you think on your face, don’t you?” Fernandez said, also noting that she was proud of herself for leaning in and “wasn’t afraid to take big swings and show up every day.”
Though Fernandez hasn’t made the Forbes 30 Under 30 List “yet,” she noted she recently had an interview with the outlet. Meanwhile, she’s focused on growing as a marketer, taking on more commercial and branded production work, and enjoying the reactions now that she can share her news with the world.
“I’m lucky I have the opportunity to be head of brand at a consumer brand right now, run marketing campaigns, and do that kind of work,” Fernandez said. “I’m excited to keep doing that work, keep getting better, and—yeah—ride the wave.”