Daniel Pellegrini

I started at the bottom.

2 years getting yelled at by a movie producer and then 5 years working as the assistant to a gentle and brilliant man named Mike Toth. Mike owned a lifestyle branding agency called Toth. I didn't know what branding was when I showed up at his door. I listed AOL as a “special skill” on my resume.

I told him I liked to write and one day was going to make films. He took pity on me and moved me into the video department, which, at that time, was one person.

I cut my teeth writing and editing sales videos for big brands. I quickly learned that, even when smothered by metrics and ROI, every piece of communication needed an enticing message. You have to capture imagination. Even if it’s a boardroom full of suits. Hell, maybe that’s when it counts the most.

Sales videos became radio ads became TV ads. I learned from legendary copywriters. I discovered the “soul of a brand”. I marveled at designers whose work filled the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Men’s Health and more.

Writing and editing video became concepting. Headlines became taglines. Campaigns spread in new directions. They popped up at concerts. They filled up social feeds. They hooked onto influencer followings. They had to be stealth, real, no gimmicks.

In 2018 I moved to Tank Design. Traditional became digital. Consumer brands got overshadowed by B2B. Shoes and jeans became healthcare and fin tech. I learned a bunch of letters: UX/UI, KPI, SQL. I learned about wireframes and information architectures. I chewed up brand strategy. I helped brands define their position, their audience, their reason for being. My pitch videos sold the promise of innovative websites. I tried my best to make data warehousing sound cool.

And here I am today. Still pitching. Still learning. Still thinking of those early sales videos - when you could use a Rolling Stones song and unlimited swipe to capture the audience’s heart and soul. Movie trailers for brands. The sky was the limit back then.

It still can be.