There can only ever be one winner of a reality show. On Brand with Jimmy Fallon saw 10 hopefuls compete against each other for a cash prize and recognition in the marketing world, but only one could come out on top.
The finale, which aired on Halloween night, Friday, Oct. 31, brought us a repeat of its first episode. Bianca Fernandez and Ryan Winn went head-to-head once more. In the end, Bianca was the one able to make up for the loss in the first episode, not only taking home the TheraBody campaign but also winning the series.
She sat down with us to discuss the series, looking into her big wins, her favorite campaign, and how she’s now a fan of a certain football team.
GeekSided: Congratulations on the win! You quickly became a favorite of mine because of how well you nailed so many campaigns.
Bianca Fernandez: Thank you! Wow, that’s really awesome to hear. You honestly never know in the moment. You have all these ideas that you’re putting out there, and you’re also losing a lot in the episodes. Now that I’ve been seeing the episodes come out and hearing the feedback, it makes my day to hear people like me.
GS: You did get that chance to redeem that Dunkin’ loss in the finale. How was that going up against Ryan again?
BF: It was almost like fate that we had to meet again in the finale. Ryan and I are both very competitive people. We knew that from the beginning, and we respected each other because of it. We have similar motivations and a similar thought process, but we approached our campaigns differently. He was such a good storyteller from the heart, and I was very methodical, so it was like we were two ends of the spectrum in our approach, but coming from the same place.
There’s a lot of mutual respect, but at the end of the day, when we had to compete again, we had to give it our all. There were no hard feelings.
GS: It did look like a lot of friendly competition. I think what made On Brand with Jimmy Fallon so different to other reality shows is that you had the individual element, but you also had to work together in groups. What was that like?
BF: It was kind of intense. You’re encouraged in the final pitch battles to poke into the other people’s campaigns and not just talk about your own. You have to convince the client that theirs doesn’t work and yours does, so that was the ask, and you had to float around it.
You want to get the point across because you do have a competition to win, but you have to work with these people. I encouraged everyone who went up against me, especially Sabrina [Burke] and Sonic, to leave it all on the table. This was their chance to advocate for their campaign, and there was a mutual understanding that we had to do this. Hopefully, people’s feelings don’t get hurt, but it’s part of the game.
GS: It’s a job, as well. You’ve got to take constructive criticism, and I think that’s what you guys were good at giving.
BF: Yes, it’s never personal. I think if someone could, and this applies to my work in real life, as I work in brand and creativity, if someone points out a valid gap or flaw in my campaign or concept or something doesn’t actually align, I’m thankful they point that out. I say, “Well, let’s pivot or change this thing.” So, yeah, it was a competition, but it was a work competition, and you had to take that into the experience.
GS: Let’s talk about the final campaign. Did it help not knowing who Josh Allen was?
BF: I’m so embarrassed. A lot of friends are Bills fans, and they were like, “Are you kidding? You didn’t know Josh?” My dad’s from Spain and we watch soccer. But yeah, I do think it helped, because I didn’t have the nerves going into it. I wasn’t afraid to give him the role that I did, which was a little wacky. He jumped into the script and the character. It was so different to his norm.
I think when you see something like that, you’re like, “Is that Josh Allen dressed as a nerdy boss?” So, I do think it ultimately helped.
GS: You mentioned fate before, but I feel like there’s another element of fate in this. Not only did you have Josh Allen in the finale, but you won the Super Bowl campaign.
BF: Yeah, I’m a Bills fan now. I never had a team to root for, but now I do, and I get to go to the Super Bowl. So much football experience at once, and I’m loving the culture debrief.
I think the Captain Morgan campaign was so fun. It feels like an unreal experience.
GS: Not only will you have that campaign in the Super Bowl, but you got to see the Therabody one in Times Square. How did that feel?
BF: Oh gosh, yes! I’m from New York, so to see something you created in a place you have such a strong connection to makes me emotional. As a New Yorker, it’s the spot you want your things to be in. Little Bianca would be so excited and proud and probably couldn’t even believe it. It was definitely a unique and touching experience.
GS: What was your favorite campaign out of the lot of them?
BF: In terms of the output and what came out of it, definitely the TheraBody campaign. Being able to direct a commercial that was so hands-on, working with the shot list and the editing work. Really, you were on your own with that. The team helped with the set design, but that was really the most. The rest is on you. If you didn’t have a shot filmed and it wasn’t on your shot list, it wasn’t going to be in your final commercial.
So, there was a real time crunch. I also really liked the product and the idea, and I won. That was the most fulfilling.
GS: What about going into it? Which campaign were you most excited to create for?
BF: Honestly, I was really intrigued about Sonic, just because I know they’ve done interesting things, and they’ve done viral drinks. I was hoping that would be an opportunity to do something weird with food. Their commercials have also always been really hilarious, so I was excited for that.
Then the KitchenAid one, because it’s such a legacy brand, and it’s been in my family for so long. My family’s really big into food. My dad used to own a restaurant, and my family was really excited about that one.
On Brand with Jimmy Fallon is now available to stream on Peacock.