Stylés Akira

Brand Architect | Cultural Innovator | Thought Leader | Creative Visionary

(Pronounced: /sty-less/ - /a-kee-ruh/)

Experience

Stylés Akira is a strategic branding and marketing expert with professional experience involving strategic client work on projects including Google, Samsung, Pepsi, Bacardi/Grey Goose, Darden, McKinsey, Coca-Cola, Walmart and General Motors. He is a veteran of the entertainment industry, having worked over a decade in New York City at firms including Sony Music, Bad Boy Entertainment, RnR Freelance, Butch Lewis Productions/Def Jam Recordings, and MTV Networks. He has also served in leadership roles as a Site Director for New York City Public Schools Supplementary Education Services programs and as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Southern California.

Founder/Strategist (Jan 2012 - Present)

Brand Development & Marketing Strategy
Multimedia Production Suite
Market research, data tracking, data analysis, trend forecasting, media planning, integrated marketing, content marketing, digital marketing, account management

Brand Strategist & Market Researcher (May 2017 - Present)

Progressive Consumer Research
Exploratory Ideation of Cultural Phanomena & Trends
In-detpth Market Insights Analysis
Report composition, presentation & video production

Contract Consultant (Aug 2016 - Present)

Primary qualitative research: Ethnography, Man on the Street
In-depth market insights, analysis, & pop cultural ideation
Report composition, presentation & video production
Project work for Bacardi/Grey Goose, & McKinsey

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Cultural Streetscaper (Jun 2016 - Present)

Primary qualitative research: Ethnography, IDI's, Man on the Street
Insights analysis & pop cultural ideation
Composition of in-depth reports and presentations
Project work for Darden, Walmart, & Coke

Contract Consultant (Nov 2015 - Feb 2016)

Primary qualitative research: Content analysis of ethnographic studies
Brand ideation, strategic planning, and product innovation
Market research and analysis for presentation and web design
Contributed to account projects for Samsung, Google, Pepsi, & GM

Research Fellow (Aug 2009 - May 2015)

Conducted, wrote & published research projects
Brand oriented quantitative/qualitative research & analysis
Innovation Lab/LACMA "Public Interactives" Project - ideation & strategy
Lectured class, developed modules, & advised student performance

SES Site Director - IS 349 (Brooklyn) (Aug 2007 - Mar 2008)

Directed after-school staff and managed program
Oversaw performance of middle school children
Coordinated recruitment events for children and staff
Screened and hired administrative and tutoring staff
Processed New York State regulated paperwork

Director, A&R (Jun 2006 - Aug 2007)

Project management and promotional design/development
National touring logistics, management, and video documentation
Digital marketing, content marketing, brand activation, artist engagement

Administrative Assistant - President/COO, MTV NETWORKS (temp) (Nov 2006 - Jan 2007)

General office support
Personal Assistant

Executive Assistant - Vice President, A&R (Jun 2004 - May 2005)

Studio client management for high profile artists
Screened and reviewed material for submission
Assisted audio mixing/recording engineers
Personal Assistant

Video Marketing/Promotions Consultant (Mar 2004 - Apr 2005)

Client account acquisition and consulting
Crafted ad proposals, contracts, and budgets
National cable, network, & public access video promo

Coordinator - Promotions/Marketing(Jul, 2002 - Apr 2003)
Consultant - Promotions/Marketing (Nov 1999 - Jul 2002)

Formulated marketing strategies for national campaigns
Managed budgets for artist roster promo and advertising
POP product development & content marketing
National radio/video promotion, pr, and touring management
Grassroots and industry event planning and organization
Supervised interns and national field teams

Education

Stylés is a trained social scientist and critical theorist who received his PhD and M.A. in Communication from the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles, where he refined his expertise in disciplines including strategic branding & marketing, advertising, mass media effects, semiotics, and behavioral economics. He also earned several fellowships and awards during his time at USC while publishing and presenting written work, and participating in multiple group-research projects. Prior to this he earned an M.A. in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Sociology from St. John’s University, New York City after first receiving his B.A. in Applied Psychology & Human Relations from Pace University, New York City.

Expertise in brand strategy, consumer culture, & design aesthetics
Core tenets of communication: meanings, processes, & effects
Advanced research methodologies, & analytic skills
Principles of social organization: networks, activity, & evolution
Fundamentals of human psychology: affects, cognitions, & behavior

USC Libraries Academy for Polymathic Study Fellowship

USC Libraries Lewis Carroll Wonderland Awards

High proficiency in professional, technical, & creative writing
Interdisciplinary critical thinking and problem solving skills
Strong leadership, organizational, and communication abilities
Facility with cooperative learning, performance, & productivity
Third space competencies for business strategies and solutions

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THEORY + PRAXIS

His dissertation work, titled Project Designer ID: Brands, T-shirts, & the Communication of Identity, is accompanied by a documentary film and explores the use of T-shirt design as a medium of mass communication in the signaling of identity and the perceived positioning of brand values. He is an award winning writer and artist who has developed several intellectual properties under his Casa La Doniccé umbrella, including an educational entertainment brand, a fashion label, and a recording label with a diverse catalog of musical compositions.

Brand Strategy Firm

Imagination, Creativity, and Action based on Refined Composition, Studied Articulation, and Informed Innovation.

Educational Entertainment Brand

Multimedia creative content with complete product lines for a pint-sized collective of charismatic misfits.

Animation, Print, Music, Games, Live Performance
Healthy lunch boxes with a social responsibility component
Clothing, Accessories, and Licensed Merchandise

A Study & Film by Stylés Akira

Dissertation, White Paper, and Marketing Briefs
Forthcoming Book for Popular Consumption
Documentary Film
Special Edition T-shirts

Clothing Line

An ode to the misguided ambitions of the forgotten adolescents of every era, finding refuge in the reckless abandonment of juvenile mischief and the delinquent antics of a heart spirited by the freedom to be young and wild amidst a world full of rules and boundaries. Youthful Offender celebrates those of all ages who resist the oppression of the status quo in the constant struggle for progressive change in the name of justice and equality.