Sam Friedman
Strategy Director
Helping agencies win pitches + brands win audiences.
15 years at
Strategy work
Ex AwardExperiential
Barbie × Stanley 1913
Pop-Up Tour
A four-city tour that found common ground between two very different icons.
Integrated
Prime Video
Obsession Is In Session
A fandom-fueled 360 campaign for Prime Video's YA slate.
Social
BHS Haircare
Hot Girl Wash
A TikTok-first campaign that made dandruff shampoo cool for Gen Z.
Positioning
Vsauce
Rebrand + Curiosity Box
A Pentagram-designed brand that took YouTube’s science giant off the platform, and a $12M product.
Positioning
Group Nine Media
Bound By Optimism
One optimistic story for advertisers across Thrillist, The Dodo, NowThis, Seeker, and POPSUGAR.
Positioning
WarnerMedia
A Smarter Way
The go-to-market voice and strategy for a brand-new media giant, born from AT&T’s acquisition of Turner.
Experiential
Group Nine + Vox Media
Industry Events
Messaging, panels, dinners, and activations at CES, Cannes, SXSW, the Upfronts, and more.
Social
Dove Baby
Smilestones
Dove Baby’s TikTok launch: a kids’ chat show on a cloud, built on the little firsts parents love most.
Social
American Express
Epic Everyday
A mobile video series on BuzzFeed’s Tasty and Nifty that made everyday moments feel a little more epic.
Trend Report
Group Nine Media
9 Things To Know
A quick-bites trend report series that turned custom audience research into nine snackable trends.
Social
Best Damn Brewing Co.
Best Damn Thing All Day
BuzzFeed social posts and recipe videos that made hard soda the game-changer of your evening.
Trend Report
Experiential
Trend Report
Where immersive experiences are headed, and what brands can borrow from them.
Trend Report
Group Nine Spark Guide
Off The Beaten Path
A data-backed travel trend report that showed advertisers how to tap into what Group Nine’s audience was already watching.
Plot twist! ✦
I'm a copywriter too
Some agencies hire me for strategy. Others hire me purely for creative support. Here’s a peek at my copywriting work — spanning OOH, commercials, packaging, social, radio, stunts, and more.
See all copywriting work
Work with me
Senior strategic firepower delivered in a 3-day sprint.
Culture Scan
A deep dive into how people actually feel about a topic or brand, so your team walks in fluent.
Pitch CPR
Late-stage support that gives a solid creative pitch the strategic story it needs.
Creative
Thought Starters
Concepts that turn cultural insight, or an existing platform, into ideas worth building.
Strategic
Narrative Build
The story that connects the findings and ideas into a clear, pitch-ready point of view.
Agencies I’ve partnered with
Grey · GUT · Crispin · Giant Spoon · Highdive · Humanaut · MKG · OK COOL · Party Land
Sam Friedman
Cultural & Creative Strategist
Brand strategy, experiential, and social
I've spent 15 years brand-side, agency-side, and platform-side. For the past five, I've helped agencies win pitches like Prime Video, Barbie, Stanley 1913, and Planet Fitness.
More about me