ELSEWHERE — Zine, Brand Growth Concepts

_{Tl;dr they wanted real-time digital community programming so we made a zine.}

Seeking to further engage their community and more fully support the musicians that make the Elsewhere experience so exceptional, the honchos enlisted Public Announcement—where I served as strategy consultant + music expert—to develop refined concepts for growth.

As brand expressions go, this belies Elsewhere’s exceptional talents at putting on shows and being a cultural lightning rod for a global community of music enthusiasts and musicians.




























NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® — Right At Home



No one wants to eat their words (gross), especially after they’ve delivered a pitch deck with a glut of advertising proverbs to the client. Under promise and over deliver? I could never.

Frankly, it’s much better for everyone involved to over-deliver on work you believe in because the work is good. 

We analyzed the brand’s positioning, competitors, and audience interests. With a strong email newsletter subscriber base and Discord channel, we determined that owned content ideas aligned with the relaunch of their Membership Program would have the most success.


THURSDAY HIFI — A weekly staff-curated selection of the best new music and sonic experiences from across the Elsewhere-verse.










If all this talk sounds like bravado, it’s only because the fourth season of VICE Media Group’s partnership with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is a clear example of, to borrow from a well-worn proverb, putting my budget where my mouth is (again: gross).

So, here’s what we did.

NAR is the trade association for REALTORS®—certified real estate agents who abide by a strict code of ethics—who’ve, for four years now, entrusted VICE to help tell the stories of how exceptional their members are when it comes to purchasing and leasing property.

STAGE CLOTHES — A recurring photo-centric series where artists tell us what they’re and how it relates to their performance.


It was a high-visibility effort and we wanted to get it right. And right we did. Two of the proposed brand growth concepts anchored Elsewhere’s foray into media and content publishing (with many more to follow).

The Communication Design Throughline™️ here is that we were inspired, but we started small, playing the long game because the more robust and compelling Elsewhere’s offerings are, the bigger the benefit to artists. Patently cool, you can find Thursday Hifi, Stage Clothes, and much more on Elsewhere’s Zine.




Along with our longform videos, we robustly extended the campaign’s reach through a bespoke series hub, social video + amplification, custom ad units, and video-rich media. By the end of Season 4, from impressions to clicks to views, we over-delivered our guaranteed metrics by 23%.

You can watch all of Right At Home here.

Right At Home is a branded video series depicting REALTOR® partnerships with first-time buyers. Shot in four distinct real estate markets, each episode tells real and relatable stories about the property-buying process and the invaluable relationships built along the way.

MUNCHIES — The Cooking Show
Product integration is a delicate art. Still, with a nuanced understanding of each of my client partner's goals, I was able to craft run of shows that successfully went above and beyond attribution, advocacy, and integration that felt a natural meld to the spirit of the show and our on-screen talents' personalities, all while continuing to entertain and inspire our audience.



A record for the brand, I have creative directed 8x branded episodes of the beloved MUNCHIES franchise, The Cooking Show. 

Due to pandemic restrictions, the first was filmed in the apartment of the star and host of The Cooking Show, Farideh Sadeghin. Created in partnership with Folgers, this episode featured special guest chef Helen Nguyen of Saigon Social.

The next three were "camping" themed, made in partnership with Yeti, and shot in Joshua Tree.

After that, the two following episodes were "pizza" themed and made in partnership with Ooni and were shot on the rooftop garden over at the Vice offices in Brooklyn and featured exceptional guest chefs Massimo Laveglia of L'industrie Pizzeria and pro pizzaiola Miriam Weiskind.

The two most recent episodes were made in partnership with Kingsford and, to best mimic an NFL tailgate, were filmed in a New Jersey parking lot and featured former NFL star Jason McCourty and grillmaster Tailgate Joe.

For each of these episodes, I collaborated with the star and host of The Cooking Show, Farideh Sadeghin, throughout the pre-sale to post-sale process, working together on ideation, creative concepting, film production, recipe development, brand integration, social copy, companion editorial articles, and 360-content promotion.



TikTok social extensions of the Ooni x The Cooking Show episodes are currently the two best-performing videos on MUNCHIES' account lending precedent and a case study to continue to make branded episodes of this series.

• Italian Combo Calzone


• Tavern-Style Pizza

GLENFIDDICH — The New Standard
The New Standard campaign marked a new era for Glenfiddich whisky. Team Epiphany’s directive was to eschew stereotypes and center the brand as the call of choice for contemporary tastemakers who believe that the genuine luxury item is that worth investing in.

To make The New Standard a declaration as a press-worthy, culture-influencing, unmissable moment, we brought together two creative powerhouses who were redefining contemporary luxury through the acumen and spirit of their brands.



For my part, I likewise ensured creative cohesion between the collaborations, micro-site design + UX, our ecommerce platform, and social, editorial, video, and social content. Similarly crucial to my direction was having a give-back component where 100% of proceeds of each product sold benefitted GoFundMe.org campaigns that offer relief funds toward small businesses, focusing on entrepreneurial pursuits that provide alternate perspectives of what it means to be “rich.” 

As a reinterpretation of the power suit and briefcase, we produced co-branded luxury sweatsuits and banker bags, respectively.

Waraire Boswell, with his eponymous label, and Jack Carlson of Rowing Blazers were our first powerhouse partners. We brought both into the Glenfiddich brand world as figures exemplifying The New Standard ethos.

I led the casting and ideating process with Glenfiddich and, in turn, worked with our partners on how exactly we could collaborate and produce a limited-edition capsule collection.

The two reimagined the traditional male work ensemble and conceived of items that did just that while concretely marrying the Glenfiddich brand to their future-forward designs.

The results exceeded the brand’s expectations and placed Glenfiddich in the contemporary lifestyle space and style press.

Glenfiddich has long prioritized community, quality, and innovation. My insight as the creative and strategic lead was simple: Do what other brands won’t and take the first step forward in setting a new standard.

REFINERY29 — OGX + ACLU
As a part of haircare brand OGX's Pride 2022 campaign, I was the Creative Director for a custom content series called Love Is In The Hair. 

A collaborative effort between OGX x The ACLU x Refinery29, our campaign boasted custom long-form video, TikToks, influencer activations, a UGC campaign, and a giveback drive hosted on a bespoke hub that houses all of the content on R29's O&O. 

Earnest, honest, and inspiring content from @hanzzz.a, @sieling.j, @b.q.a.i, @theglamnaija, @yassayassayasa, @yanece, @kailuaa, @kahhspence & many more drove donations and a concerted UGC campaign during and beyond Pride 2022, keeping us and our client partners above the pratfalls common to brands during this time of year.

We started this expansive digital video + social campaign with a custom-made episode of Refinery29's popular video series Hair Me Out.

Publishing on all of our highest-performing platforms and leveraging OGX brand ambassadors for high-touch social bombs, we brought the campaign messaging to our widespread R29 audience, greeting them not only with a compelling and diverse array of content + talent but underscoring the importance of our ACLU give back as well.

GLENFIDDICH
With coast-to-coast analogs in Los Angeles and New York, I led the creative concepting and execution of the launch events of Grand Cru, Glenfiddich’s super premium single malt scotch whisky finished in rare French Cuvée casks.

Both parties were as extravagant as the product. Living legend Martha Stewart, an old pal from my Page Six days, was in attendance along with lifestyle and industry media. The resulting earned media hits—My favorite? This absolute gem from The Daily Mail—further established the enticing allure of the Grand Cru brand world, helping us draw consideration and advocacy from tastemakers across our key markets.

BUDWEISER
How should Budweiser show up at ComplexCon NYC? Well, the ‘90s Whasssup?! campaign inspired my creative vision: a perfect brew of nostalgia, humor, and an appreciation for vintage Bud ads and apparel.


POV: You’re chillin’ at ComplexCon, havin’ a Bud.

The Budweiser booth was a big hit as a place to chill, grab a Bud, and score some deadstock gear (sourced by Procell). And all guests needed to do to come through was buzz the bell, look into the camera, and give us their best “Whasssup?!”



OVERTIME
Movies, memories, merch. For Overtime, I was the principal strategist behind the first-of-its-kind basketball experience I dubbed the Overtime Takeover. We brought Converse and Chinatown Market on board to ensure that this would be truly unforgettable for the top youth ballers in the country.

TEAM EPIPHANY TIMES
A few months into lockdown, following discussions with executive leadership, we launched the Team Epiphany Times. Getting to serve as both the Managing Editor and contributor, I was thrilled to create a space for myself and my team for creative writing—a compliment to our strategy work and a much-needed place for personal and pertinent expression during the pandemic.

Our design + layout inspiration for the Times, both as a print and digital product, was from the classic eras of famous, international glossy magazines and our favorite independent journals + zines.

More broadly, the Times is a medium of supportive + uplifting community-oriented creative expression and collaboration between Team Epiphany staffers, artists, and designers with the agency’s network of friends, mentors, and family.

Themes written and illustrated include Social Justice, Leadership, The Pandemic & Value.

FRANK RENAISSANCE
At the tail end of the 2019 hanami season, I visited Japan, touring Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, going to hip-hop shows, getting embarrassed by Tom Sachs, and prodigally dipping into my savings. In Sept. of that same year, moved by a desire to more fully connect my career as a creative director to my passion for music, I went to Japan again.

Our debut release was a super track featuring six musicians across Japan and America and boasted a merch line designed by artist Lorien Stern.

We premiered our second track in PAPER Magazine and several NFT releases.

 A collaboration between Japanese rapper Daichi Yamamoto and American artist Mick Jenkins, this was the first Japan-U.S. project of its kind.