A HIRED GUN

FOR LIFESTYLE-CENTRIC

STRATEGY, CREATIVE AND PARTNERSHIPS

Cultural Storytelling

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Talent Curation

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Strategy & Creative Pitchwork

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Collaborations & Activations

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Cultural Storytelling ✦ Talent Curation ✦ Strategy & Creative Pitchwork ✦ Collaborations & Activations ✦

With a decade of experience creating brands moments, telling high-impact stories and bringing people together, I’ve made this website to let you know that I’m here to help you and your team navigate the trecherous terrain between culture and cringe.

Project Highlights

  • Cape Town Highsnobiety Documentary

    JUST DALA : Documentary Launch @ SoleDXB Dubain

  • NEYMAR JR FOR PUMA: Athlete Activation

  • BALMAIN UNICORN: Special Edition Art Sneaker

  • CAMPARI AT CANNES FILM FESTIVAL: Brand Platform

  • BMW: TOKYO EVENT & LAUNCH STRATEGY

  • ADIDAS: CONFIRMED APP EDITORIAL STRTEGY

  • UMBRO X HIGHSNOBIETY: COLLABORATION & CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

  • MONCLER GENIUS: Activation & Storytelling

To get you in the mood…

Here’s Music For Goats: our radio show in search of history’s most tasteful era.

CASE STUDIES

01

STRATEGY CREATIVE FOR MONCLER'S STUDIO ASCENTI

MONCLER STUDIO ASCENTI I&II

Now in its
third year!

PROJECT: An open-format experiential space for Moncler Footwear

CHALLENGE: To embed Moncler’s renewed take on luxury outdoor footwear within an influential cohort of style-driven creators and cultural leaders.

MY ROLE: Driving key aspects of Highsnobiety’s strategic response to this brief, I was part of a team that Moncler’s first ever community-model for new product releases - which launched in Milan in 2021, and had a sophomore event in Paris 2022.

Now in its third year, Studio Ascenti is a bespoke activation platform we created to encourage dialogue between the brand and influential figures in the sneaker / luxury fashion community.

SKILLS USED:
Responding to Brief, Pitch Development, Copywriting, Strategic Development, Talent Curation, Creative Concepting, Event Curation.

02

HIGHSNOBIETY SOUNDSYSTEM

PROJECT: Highsnobiety’s first, and still ongoing, experiential music project.

CHALLENGE: To create a sub-brand for Highsnobiety which would allow the primarily digital-centric platform to have a more intimate connection with followers and fans allover the world.

MY ROLE: Building Soundsystem from the ground-up, I created both commercial and brand marketing propositions for the project, whilst also driving the artist curation, event selection and digital storytelling. Pictured right is Bakar performing at the Highsnobiety Soundsystem Warehouse Project - in which we hosted SWEET HARMONY ART/EDIT - an exhibition about rave, in a rave, in a warehouse.

I still DJ the Highsnobiety Christmas parties to this day.

SKILLS USED:
Brand Management, Talent Curation, Talent Management, Event Management, Creative Development, Commercial Development, Brand Strategy

03

PROJECT: A pandemic-beating, online/offline exhibition and event series, across the rooms of a hotel in Sydney

CHALLENGE: Knee-deep in European lockdowns, we collaborated with Aussie creative supremos SEMI-PERMANENT on a multi-channel activation that entertained, inspired, and aimed to make us feel a little more optimistic.

MY ROLE: Driving the creative and commercial aspects of the project from Berlin, I created the positioning for the project (the ‘Vision for the Future’ of our friends and family,) whilst leading sponsorship conversations with the likes of Nike and Polstar - the latter of which invested 1Mill Australian Dollars into the project.

I’ve still never been to Sydney.

SKILLS USED:
Brand Management, Pitching & Pitch Building, Sales, Project Management, Talent Curation, Talent Management, Event Management, Creative Development, Commercial Development, Brand Strategy

The Semi-Permanent Hotel, Sydney

Robbie Russell is…

…the name my mother gave me. She always wanted me to be ‘whatever you want to be,’ and this explains the blank stare that comes back to me when I try to explain the work of a cultural consultant. Don’t worry Mum, you’re not alone.

Well, I started my career as a Music Journalist (Clash, Noisey & others,) DJ (radio, clubs, festivals, weddings and funerals) and co-founder of the short-lived yet dearly beloved PUSH Magazine. It was dream job, but one of those dream jobs that barely kept the lights on. So in 2018 I moved from Leeds to Berlin to join Highsnobiety.

What then was a dynamic but less-than-slick operation is now a powerhouse of cultural marketing globally. I was fortunate that in my five-and-a-half year stint, I was able to work across Brand Management, Strategy and Brand Partnerships - with a healthy dose of writing, curating, creative, talent relations and event management thrown in along the way.

Supplying the likes of Nike, adidas, Moncler, BMW and Burberry with creative strategy, talent curation, storytelling and collaboration approaches - securing six and seven figure budgets along the way - allowed me to become fluent in the shared language of culture and commerce.

Now I’m starting life as a hired gun and the master of my own destiny(?):
Connecting brands with brands, and brands with people. Bringing meaning to marketing, impact to activations, razzle dazzle to pitches, and doing various other things to various other LinkedIn platitudes.

If you could use some help with creating an impact, connecting with a community, or finding the right talent to embody your brand…

Selected Writing & Interviews

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? let’s talk.