Creative Strategy & Brand Leadership, New York

Isobel
Shirley

Creative brand building for cultural moments. Bespoke consulting for music, fashion, and the spaces between.

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15+ years across music, fashion, and culture. At Universal Music Group I built and led the Creative Strategy department across the full label roster. Before that: artist management, independent label operations, and the full creative ecosystem from the inside. I now work with a small number of organisations on a fractional basis, bringing that same depth of experience to bear without the commitment of a full-time hire.

Selected Campaigns

The Beatles Anthology

Universal Music Group

The Beatles: Anthology

VP Creative Strategy

Olivia Rodrigo GUTS

Universal Music Group

Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS Album & Tour

VP Creative Strategy

Blue Note Records

Universal Music Group

Blue Note Records: Seasonal Collections

VP Creative Strategy

Rolling Stones RS No.9 Carnaby

Universal Music Group

Rolling Stones: RS No. 9 Carnaby

VP Creative Strategy

Lizzy McAlpine Five Seconds Flat

Harbour Artists & Music

Lizzy McAlpine: Five Seconds Flat

Executive Producer

Bruno Major To Let A Good Thing Die

Harbour Artists & Music

Bruno Major: To Let A Good Thing Die

Executive Producer

Timo Weiland Ecommerce

Timo Weiland

Ecommerce Launch

Director, Sales, Marketing & Digital

Eloise Somewhere in Between

Harbour Artists & Music

Eloise: Somewhere in Between

Executive Producer

Banana Republic x Timo Weiland

Timo Weiland

Banana Republic x Timo Weiland

Director, Sales, Marketing & Digital

Expertise

01

Creative Leadership &
Department Building

Building teams and departments from scratch. Structures, service models, and cultures that scale. At UMG: building and running a Creative Strategy department across every label in the portfolio.

02

Brand Architecture &
Creative Strategy

Finding the creative logic that connects an artist or brand's identity to everything they put into the world. Visual systems, campaign frameworks, and the details that make objects feel worth owning.

03

D2C &
E-commerce Strategy

Shopify architecture, range planning, high-conversion campaign design. D2C businesses built for artists and fashion brands at every scale.

04

Omnichannel
Campaign Direction

Tour, retail, digital, experiential. Aligning activations so the brand voice stays coherent whether someone's at a show, scrolling a store, or seeing an OOH placement.

05

Partnership &
Collaboration

Urban Outfitters, Levi's, Reformation, ba&sh, Banana Republic, the CFDA. Finding the right collaborators, structuring deals that work for both sides.

06

Live Production &
Touring Operations

Concert production from theater to stadium to music festival. Global tour management including production budget ownership, vendor management, crew, and artist advancement.

Services

01

Strategy &
Brand

  • Creative strategy & campaign direction
  • Brand architecture & identity
  • D2C strategy & e-commerce
  • Range planning & collection development
  • Department building & team structure
02

Creative Direction
& Production

  • Creative direction end to end
  • Creative commissioning
  • Artist & album campaign production
  • Visual world-building
  • Content strategy & production
03

Partnerships &
Activation

  • Brand & artist partnerships
  • Cultural collaborations
  • Licensing strategy
  • Retail & experiential activation
  • Community building & audience development

How I Engage

Fractional Retainer

An ongoing engagement with a set number of days per month. Suited to organisations that need sustained senior creative input without a full-time hire.

Project Engagement

A defined scope and timeline around a specific piece of work. Scoped at the outset and delivered end to end.

Strategic Advisory

Regular sessions and on-call perspective for teams that want senior input at key moments without an ongoing engagement.

If something here resonates, I'd love to hear about what you're working on. Drop me a line and we can set up a call.

Get in touch ↗

For Unsigned Artists

Each month I set aside time to work with early-stage artists, free of charge. If you're unsigned and would find an outside perspective useful, get in touch. A short bio, links to your music and socials, and a sense of what you're working towards is all I need to get started.

Submit an enquiry ↗

Contact

Available for select consulting in music, fashion, and culture.

Email isobel@isobelshirley.com ↗ LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/isobelshirley ↗