Stink Studios Lands Top Beats Marketer and Luxury Agency Head to Lead LA and Shanghai

Stink Studios has appointed Beats by Dre top global marketer, Marlina Fletcher, to head up its LA office as Managing Director.  Pek Yee Lai, General Manager at SAME SAME But Different, the luxury social and digital arm of Dentsu, also joins the global creative studio as Managing Director of Stink Studios Shanghai.

 

The hires come during a period of strong growth for the company, having recently opened in Sao Paulo and Shanghai, increased headcount by 31%, revenue by 70% and profit by 100%. This success is matched by its creative output, as Stink Studios continues to be recognised in global award ceremonies and this year was named as one of the Top 50 Places that Creatives Would Kill To Work For.  

 

As the business looks to further develop its offer as a full-service creative studio, Marlina and Pek are tasked with building its appeal to global brands especially in technology, luxury and entertainment, continuing to deliver outstanding creative work and driving forward the Stink Studios culture of creativity and innovation, attracting local talent to their offices. They will report to the recently promoted Global MD, James Britton.

 

Marlina Fletcher has a wealth of senior client-side experience, driving Beats by Dr. Dre’s global digital communications and brand for the past four years. Shifting from Digital to Global Brand at the start of 2016, she led strategy, key campaigns and NPD, launched the likes of Beats Pill+ and created defining work such as the 2014 World Cup campaign ‘The Game before the Game’. She joined Beats from Nike and working in Sportswear, led campaigns like ‘Nike Sportswear’s The Chance’, a competition to find creative reporters from around the world to document the brand’s quest to find the top amateur footballers in the world. Prior to Nike, she brought sports lifestyle and culture together at FADER, producing major events for Levis and Converse at ‘The FADER Fort’ and Nike Sportswear, where highlights included leading ‘Pitch Perfect’, creating content IRT at the South African World Cup, global screenings and running creative workshops at Nike’s FTC Soweto.

 

Stink Studios LA was set up in Culver City just two years ago and is already making an impact working on a range of projects, from global clients like Netflix to local icons like visionary chef, Jordan Khan’s restaurants Destroyer and Vespertine. 

Marlina Fletcher commented: “There’s something special here. Stink Studios is in a unique space – it’s a non-traditional type of agency, a creative studio, that works directly with brands in non-traditional ways. We’ve been neighbors for a while and we’ve hung out at Destroyer. I saw a talented group of people making and doing things differently. It’s the perfect opportunity to be a part of a group that’s blending, shaping and creating a new way to work while bringing my client-side experience to help Stink Studios get closer to entertainment and technology brands and go to the next level. I’m excited by the work already in the pipeline. Watch this space!”

Pek Yee Lai has built her career agency-side and joins Stink Studios Shanghai from SAME SAME But Different, the luxury social and digital arm of Dentsu, where she was General Manager. Here, she was responsible for a number of important campaigns and digital firsts, such as the first social commerce project for Valentino in China – a Valentine’s/Chinese New year campaign for the Rosso Collection – and see now by now Fashion Week campaigns for Coach. Previously, she was account lead on the Coca-Cola business at Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai, part of the pitch team that won the Sprite business and repositioned Fanta for a teenage audience.

 

Pek will build a team and client base in the recently opened Shanghai office.  Working alongside the established Stink Films team, she will seek to position Stink Studios for brands especially in luxury, which are shifting their content strategies to favour quality over quantity and for whom the Chinese market accounts for a significant proportion of global revenue.

 

Pek Yee Lai said: “I’ve always wanted to do good work in a digital environment, and that’s a major attraction with Stink Studios: so driven, professional and creatively outstanding. This is what luxury clients are looking for – exceptional craft and technological innovation married to local knowledge, excellent client service and a well run business. I’m looking forward to building on the reputation Stink Films has established in the last 10 years in China and developing a market leading digital offer and team for the Shanghai market.”

 

Global MD Stink Studios James Britton added: “It’s always been important to us to bring in new talent that we can learn from; people who can add a new dimension to what we do. Marlina will help us better understand the needs of modern clients and work more closely with entertainment and technology brands, while Pek has a deep understanding of the unique digital landscape of China and the luxury market.  Locally, we will always be small enough to allow our leaders to stay hands on with the work, so it’s vital that we bring in people who share our philosophy for quality and purposeful innovation, and that’s definitely the case with Marlina and Pek.” 

“I’m delighted to welcome Pek and Marlina to the Stink family,” said James Morris, Global CEO of Stink group. “Attracting people of their calibre shows the strength of our brand and work globally, and lays important foundations for further network expansion next year. It is my mission to drive diversity throughout the business and I am delighted that we now have an even stronger group of female leaders and have achieved gender parity amongst our MDs.”