With 104 matches across 16 host cities in three nations, FIFA World Cup 2026™ was the biggest single-sport event in history... by a lot.
The creative challenge was just as ambitious: build a hospitality brand capable of selling the tournament years before kickoff, then keep it relevant through every stage of the competition.
I joined the project early to help shape that foundation—helping develop the creative platform, define the brand voice, and translate that thinking into an integrated campaign spanning television, digital, social, CRM, experiential, B2B, out-of-home, and more. From celebrity-led films and Times Square takeovers to emails, landing pages, and matchday communications, every touchpoint was built around a single idea: bringing fans Closer than Ever to the action.
It was the largest and most ambitious project I've worked on, and one that challenged me to think beyond individual deliverables—to build ideas that could scale across channels, audiences, and every stage of the world's biggest sporting event.
Role: Helped develop the creative platform and brand voice for FIFA World Cup 2026™ Official Hospitality, carrying that thinking across television, digital, CRM, social, experiential, OOH, and B2B communications. From defining the platform to writing the emails that sold it, I worked across nearly every touchpoint of the brand—from launch through the Final.
A six city live activation. We turned pick up to premium a year out from FIFA World Cup 2026™ to give fans a taste of matchday elevated hosted by our celebrity captains.
Our Creative Director and ACD had just left the agency. I was suddenly the only creative on Nicorette.
Not great.
Especially since GSK had decided it was time to review the TV business.
So I started writing.
I kept coming back to one idea. Not because I thought it was the safest, but because I was pretty sure nobody else would bring it into the room.
Quitting is Beautiful shifted the conversation from how hard quitting is to celebrating the small victories along the way.
On pitch day, four agencies walked in with teams of creatives.
I walked in alone.
It won.
That pitch became Wunderman Thompson's first Nicorette television campaign, growing into an integrated launch across TV, digital, social, and photography. We spent two weeks in Madrid bringing the campaign to life around a new product line: Craving Relief Never Tasted So Good.
Role: Led concept development and pitched the winning campaign. Following the win, helped build the integrated campaign from scripts and storyboards through production across television, digital, social, and photography.
ACD Copy: Rob Tilberis
ACD Art: Chris Silva
Sticking to it is tough. It's even harder when you're trying to give up something you love – like smoking. There are rough days, and times you slip up. But there can be amazing moments, too. Small moments of victory each time you beat a craving and pass up a cigarette. With Nicorette, every day is a chance to feel that strength and success.
So, let's begin.
The tagline changed, but this anthem won the business.
Bonnaroo in June is hot.
Really hot.
So instead of creating another brand activation, we built festival-goers a summer oasis.
The idea was a miniature golf course inspired by Sonic's menu, complete with a Sonic-style clubhouse serving ice-cold slushes, great food, and a place to cool off between sets.
Every hole was originally designed around a menu item. Sadly, the tater tot volcano didn't survive production. (I'll never stop fighting for it.)
The final experience blended music, mini golf, cold slushes, and a little Americana into one of the coolest spots at Bonnaroo, earning an Ex Award along the way.
Role: Concept development, copywriting, client presentations, and creative development from pitch through execution.
ACD Copy: Rob Tilberis
Creative Director/Art Director: Casey Burns
Winner: Ex Award
Jack Daniel's thought younger drinkers had stopped seeing the brand as relevant to modern music.
We told them not to change.
Country hadn't changed. People's definition of it had.
What was once associated with rock, outlaw country, and Sinatra was now colliding with hip-hop, R&B, Latin music, and electronic. Instead of chasing culture, Jack could remind people it had been part of it all along.
So we stopped thinking about country music.
And started thinking about music country.
HWY No. 7 began as an idea for a road trip across America. It quickly became something bigger—a place where artists, outsiders, and modern-day troubadours from every background could meet on common ground.
What started as a tour became a brand platform, fueling live events, content, social, experiential, merchandise, and more.
Role
Concept development, copywriting, campaign platform development, client presentations, and integrated creative across experiential, social, OOH, branded content, and live events.
Every smoker already knows cigarettes are bad for them.
They've seen the warning labels. They've seen the PSAs.
The first reaction is usually to look away.
We wanted to try something different.
Instead of reminding smokers what they already knew, we focused on something they could instantly relate to: the strange, often hilarious lengths people go to hide the habit.
I'd enjoyed the occasional sneaky cigarette myself, and one thing always stood out. I wasn't thinking about the health warnings—I was thinking about not getting caught.
That became the creative lens for the campaign.
Not to laugh at smokers.
To laugh with them.
Because while there's nothing funny about the health risks of smoking, earning someone's attention—and maybe helping them decide it's time to quit—sometimes starts with recognizing their humanity before reminding them of the consequences.
Role
Concept development, copywriting, pitching, and creative collaboration through casting and production.
Sr. Copywriter: Rob Tilberis
ACD Art: Tal Amiram
I was given a "test" assignment during the final round of an interview.
The brief was for an eye drop that helps people ditch their reading glasses.
I figured...
Let's push this.
Instead of talking about the drops, I started thinking about what people would be happiest to leave behind.
Reading glasses.
Which led to one obvious question.
How would Benjamin Franklin feel about that?
The inventor of bifocals became Presbysol's reluctant spokesperson, campaigning against the very product that threatened his greatest invention.
The agency loved it.
They also didn't hire me.
Apparently it was...
...too creative for pharma.
My bad.
Role
Concept development, copywriting, and campaign development as part of a creative interview assignment.
ACD Copy: Rob Tilberis
ACD Art: Chris Silva
Wells Fargo was looking for a way to connect with college football fans to create awareness for their fully licensed team debit cards.
We started by creating animated team mascot emojis that fans could use on Instagram. We launched the emojis during bowl season with animated story-driven digital content starring the emojis themselves.
Next, we brought the emojis to life, shooting content on campus with the mascots using their team debit cards.
When the final whistle blew, the emojis had been used and shared hundred of thousands of times and Wells had earned the right to be part of the game day fan experience.
ACD Copy: Rob Tilberis
Creative Director/Art Director: Greg Tatum
On the path to greatness every athlete has moments that build their connection to the game. When AT&T wanted to feature the world's premier soccer stars in a social campaign, we created My First Connection - a social series that told an animated story from the athlete’s past, in their own words.
In order to cover new ground for fans and viewers, we really delved into the history of each player through extensive research and live interviews, pulling on threads to get stories that had never been told.
Senior Copywriter: Rob Tilberis
Senior Art Director: Bella Oriella
Here’s how it looked in the wild… https://www.instagram.com/p/ChDwrjQpmg6/?hl=en
Here’s how it looked in the wild… https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci39NJJAp1h/?hl=en
Smokers often feel that branded messages are bogus and therefore, don’t mean much to them. So, Nicorette asked us to build a new kind of support program, one that gets the realities of quitting and understands that just because you slipped up and had a cigarette doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
The result was MyQuit, a behavior modification program which included a customized, daily email program, an app that let you track cravings in real time, and about a dozen, inspiring video testimonials from ex-smokers. In the end, the client couldn’t have been happier and the boss was too when we brought a Clio and an Effie back to the agency.
Copywriter: Rob Tilberis
Creative Director: Danny Sullivan
ACD Art: Tal Amiram
Clio Winner
Smartie Award Winner
MM&M Award Winner
Effie Award Winner
