Northwest Arkansas Business Journal 2009 Fast 15: David Echegoyen

David Echegoyen, 27
Account Supervisor
Saatchi & Saatchi X, Springdale

Claim to Fame: Headed up the Wal-Mart Stores electronics account, which led to the the department’s new look and layout.

Next Step: Hopes to replicate U.S. successes for clients in other countries like Russia and Brazil.

One of the most influential people in terms of enticing American consumers to purchase electronics says he doesn’t watch much TV. Instead, he’s online or working.

For parts of 2007 and 2008, David Echegoyen headed up a 12-to 15-person team that worked on the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. electronics account for nine months. They analyzed consumer behavior and looked at traffic flow, layout and marketing materials which culminated in the new, fresher look of the retailer’s electronics department seen in it’s new stores and retrofits.

“I didn’t see my wife much,” he said.

Once that project was completed, Echegoyen moved on to lead other electronics accounts for Saatchi, dealing with Sony and Samsung, helping them connect with shoppers at the point of sale.

Now he is fully dedicated to Saatchi’s LG Electronics account, and as of mid-January, Echegoyen and his wife, who also works for Saatchi, are mostly residents of New York, N.Y.

Echegoyen grew up in San Salvador, El Salvador, and attended a private British academy there. But when it was time to look for a college, he looked to the University of the Ozarks because of its great record and he had a brother living in the area. He landed a presidential scholarship and headed for a degree in political science.

“I wanted to be a politician, so back home you become lawyer or an economist and that will help you get a political background,” Echegoyen said.

But thinking through politics when he got to school, he decided he might have to make too many compromises in his personal value system, or otherwise do things that didn’t fit his personality. Then a class on consumer behavior piqued his interest. He graduated with a degree in business administration and marketing.

In 2001, he landed an internship with ThompsonMurray, the firm that eventually became Saatchi & Saatchi X.

He was hired fulltime in 2003 as a marketing coordinator, but soon was doing marketing operations with a 10-person team contracted by Procter & Gamble. That team actually sat in the P&G offices and directed the company’s marketing efforts for Wal-Mart. He was promoted up through the ranks until his work with the electronics account.

(RELATED: Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 15 Young Pros on the Fast Track)