Martin Staaf

Hej,

I’m Martin, originally from Stockholm, Sweden - I’m a nerd turned Creative Director.

I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few. If you asked me what I did last night chances are I’ll tell you about my latest 3am Wikipedia rabbit hole. Did you know sharks have been around longer than trees? (350M vs 400M years).

I was most recently at BBDO New York where I worked across most key clients, both global and national and helped with notable new business wins such as EA Sports, Ford, Meta, Home Depot and Direct TV.

I strive to create work that people want to take part of and engage with. Work that’s culturally relevant, solve real problems, or encourage people to think differently, and I’m a firm believer that it all starts with asking good questions and listening more than you speak.

My work has won numerous awards, once almost changed Parliament Procedure in Sweden, and has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, CBS, Forbes, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, Mashable, Gizmodo and others.

Email
LinkedIn
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Experience:

Creative Director, BBDO New York
December 2021 - July 2024

Associate Creative Director, BBDO New York
January 2020 - November 2021

Senior Art Director, BBDO New York
March 2017 – December 2019

Art Director, BBDO New York
December 2014 – February 2017

Graphic Designer, Freelance
July 2012 – November 2014

IT Consultant, Excanto
September 2008 - June 2011.

Clients:

Bacardi
AT&T
Snickers
KLM
St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
HBO
EA Sports
Ford
CVS
General Electric
Meta
American Red Cross
Visa
Footlocker
& More
Bacardi - A.I.BUM

A concept album featuring 5 emerging artists produced by a generative A.I trained on the music of Grammy Award-winning producer Boi-1da.

The world’s first AI produced album, created with the full buy-in of all parties and certified as Fairly Trained.

An experiment in, and potential future model for how A.I can be used ethically to augment human creativity and democratize the music production process rather than cannibalizing it.
Digital Innovation



















STHLM Fields - The Hives vs. Viagra Boys

When a festival headlined by both the biggest Swedish rockband of all time - The Hives, and the hottest band right now - Viagra Boys has a few thousand unsold tickets with just days to go, what do you do? 

You up the stakes and turn it into a heavyweight brawl by creating a good old fashioned beef.

Conceptualized, shot, edited and pushed live in 2 days, on the front page of Swedish news on day 3.
Social








AT&T - Cowboys Nation

As the saying goes: Everything is bigger in Texas. So to celebrate the Dallas Cowboy’s legacy and get the fans pumped we created a 17 screen in-stadium experience for the Dallas Cowboys at their home - The AT&T Stadium. 

It plays during the first half of every home game, and the fans are loving it. In-Stadium Experience

























Snickers - You’re Not You When You’re Hungry

The world is full of annoying sounds and they all sound even worse when you're hungry. That was the message we hoped to communicate with this Snickers spot we made to launch a Snickers X Spotify collaboration.Video & OOH


KLM - Care-E

An adorable self-driving luggage trolley, that'll make navigating the airport more enjoyable, while showcasing KLM's commitment to innovation and customer care.
Product Innovation











Hall of Heroes - St Jude’s Childrens Hospital

An epic virtual celebration of the incredible bravery displayed every day by children battling for their lives against pediatric cancer.

We interviewed 8 patients, their families and the people around them at the hospital, and used that to create 60 feet tall statues in VR, celebrating them.

Each statue was accompanied by an audio story, narrated by someone close to them. Virtual Reality Experience









HBO - The Content is Calling

If you have HBO on cable you have HBO Max for free.

A simple message told by actors of your favorite shows that didn’t read the fine print in their contracts.
Video







Bacardi - Incognito Tickets

A hidden website with VIP Tickets, Limited Edition Merch and a preview of Goldroom's latest video, only accessible for fans browsing the site in incognito mode.Digital Stunt








YACHT - Traffic Jams

A website that only let you listen to YACHT’s new single L.A Plays Itself when Uber was surge pricing in LA, and released a special remix anytime the surge factor was above 2.0Digital Stunt