What makes a ROCKSTAR?
Your hard work stands above the crowd and shines bright. By being engaged and curious, you are a producer of excellence.
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David Pilgrim was born in the quiet English village of Bristol to parents hailing from Barbados in the sunny Caribbean. He landed his first advertising job at Ogilvy and Mather NY, where he worked on their Merck, Kraft, Post, Seagram’s, Hardee’s and American Express businesses. After frustration with the lack of diversity in the general market milieu, he migrated to multicultural marketing at the UniWorld Group. In his tenure with them, he worked on efforts for Bank Of America, Pepsi, AT&T, Astra Zeneca, Motorola, Mars/M&M, and was Group Creative Director of their Colgate-Palmolive and Ford businesses.
After becoming Chief Creative officer at Footsteps LLC, he continued his work in the multicultural arena on shaping brand tone-of-voice for Lowe’s, Gillette, Diageo, Nissan/Infiniti, Visa and PNC Bank.
His activity as a freelance multicultural content specialist included work for Spectrum, Clorox, Nike, Hallmark-Mahogany, Sentient Blue and a special turn as Creative Lead in the non-profit world for the amazing Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy in his beloved Brooklyn NY.
He has recently accepted the title of GCD at VaynerMedia’s NYC office on their American Eagle and Express brands, deepening robust consumer relationships in Social.
By day a doting father to 2 rambunctious youngsters, night finds him a compulsive participant in NYC nightlife (covid allowing); recording, singing and playing bass and guitar for a few bands in NYC, all the while still listening closely to the desires of the audience.
Bio as 4 quick bullets: (4 Bs)
- I play much Bass (and guitar and sing). Been playing the NYC circuit for years now, dropping recordings every few months since 2004!! Spotify link below.
- Raised in Barbados in the Caribbean, all my family still live there. The best beaches in the world, My dad was a former principal at Rihanna’s high school lol.
- Born in Bristol, England to parents from Barbados, who were studying there at the time.
- I believe great teams make great work. Love learning and building teams. Taught Art Direction at Pratt Institute in BK in the late 90s and I’m the son of 2 teachers. Its in my veins!!
— The AD Club Foundation is proud to recognize outstanding industry professionals, during our 5th Annual Black History Month recognition series titled, “Icons, Rock Stars & Innovators”.
Each day during Black History Month we profile a selected “Icon, Rock Star & Innovator” across all our digital platforms. Though we cannot be together in person, the spirit of our history and the legacy of our excellence lives on in us. Follow the series on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn!
Sponsored by:
Check out our other content from previous years
2020 – Honorees 2019 – Sizzle Reel 2019 – Online Exhibition 2019 – Icons, RockStars, & Innovators 2018 – Icons, RockStars, & Innovators