Brand Strategist, Creative Director & Marketing Leader
(
LA →
NY )

For 15 years I've led brand marketing and creative direction for companies that shape culture across music, tech and the arts

Portfolio

( ©2026 )
BEATS BY DRE
Global Brand Marketing Manager scaling Beats through Apple's $3.2B acquisition
THE GRAMMYS
Creative and marketing lead for award-winning GRAMMYs campaign "Witness Greatness"
OMMUSE
CMO of a rapidly-scaling, creator-centered, AI-assisted music tech platform
THE RECORDING ACADEMY
Brand lead spearheading the Recording Academy's re-branding and visual identity
ASPIRE GLOBAL MARKETING
Creative Director and Fractional CMO for over 120 clients
SAGEN
Founder and Creative Director overseeing concept, research, art direction, and a team of artists

Specialties

Culture-Shaping Campaigns — Ideas that enter the conversation
Brand & Creative Direction — Building brand worlds, end to end
Music-Tech Brand Building — Making music tech feel human
Film Direction & Production — Cinematic craft, from board to final cut
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Some kind words

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"Chris stands apart as a very mature and professional marketer. He pairs this with great instincts and a consumer first approach to everything he does.

I’ve had the good fortune to work with Chris on a variety of projects, in multiple geographies, and he’s always delivered at a high level... often exceeding my expectations.

Chris is without question someone I want to work with throughout my career."
Tyler Williamson
CEO, Gatlan
Former VP of Marketing, Beats
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“Chris is one of the secret weapons to the Marketing team at The Recording Academy. He welcomes challenging projects and is not afraid to incite conversations when it benefits the overall health of the GRAMMY brand.
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His thoughtful approach not only elevates his colleagues' work but also creates a higher standard of excellence throughout the entire organization.”
Marisa Kurtz
SVP Marketing, Fearless Records
Former Director Brand Marketing, Recording Academy
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"It was an absolute pleasure working with Chris and Aspire. His deep knowledge of the industry, his professionalism, reliability and timeliness on all projects were key to making it such a success for us.

After working with Chris, traffic to our website more than doubled, merchandise and ticket sales heavily increased, and our brand was refreshed in exactly the way we wanted it. Another reason we loved working with Chris was that he completely respected our brand and our voice. He worked with us to ensure we only changed exactly what we wanted to.

The level of detail and passion he provided on the project was unprecedented to other marketing professionals we've worked with. I would recommend Chris and Aspire to any company looking for branding, marketing, designing or sales help.

Thanks for everything Chris!"
Ethan Maccoby
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Burwoodland
Client of Aspire Global Marketing

Who is he, really?

Off the clock, I'm a curious, restless human who's happiest traveling somewhere new with strange food in front of me and half a language to get by on. Growing up between 3.5 countries seems to point to most of who I really am: curious, optimistic, inquisitive, adaptable, and caring a bit too much about other people's cultures and stories. I've always believed the best insights and ideas come from being genuinely interested in how the world works and how human beings think.

What’s it like being an American Brazilian Brit?
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What's the through-line in your career?
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What are you actually great at?
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You've worked for a Fortune 10 company and a tiny startup of less than 10 people. Which do you prefer?
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What are you most proud of?
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How do you feel about AI in creative work?
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What do you do when you're not working?
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What are some of your favorite books?
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Say hi :)
chrisgertz@gmail.com