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.
