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Matt articulates strategic platforms and creative concepts that propel brands forward.

Noun 1
Noun 2
Verb

Biography

Matt Colangelo is a strategy director and copywriter with a dozen years of experience rallying brands and agencies around sharp, purposeful ideas. Presently Senior Strategy Director at Athletics, he is applying his way with words to The New York Times, Google, Amazon, MLS, and others. He served earlier tenures at Code & Theory and Young & Rubicam, and was a 2018-2019 Fulbright Scholar in Italy.

Awards &
Recognitions

1
Webby Awards (x2)
2
Creative Review (x2)
3
Anthem Awards (x2)
4
Favourite Website Awards (x3)
5
Fast Company Innovation by Design
6
Cannes Lion Finalist
7
Clio Awards Shortlist
8
Awwwards Honorable Mention
9
Fulbright Fellow in Creative Writing
10
Official Speaker at SXSW Interactive
11
TED Top Ten Ads Worth Spreading

Recent Clients

Culligan
Research, Product Launch, Campaign
Major League Soccer
Research, Brand Platform
IBM
Research, Design Strategy, Concepting
Google Chrome
Research, Design Strategy, Voice, Creative Concepting
Google Chromebook
Research, Design Strategy, Voice
MLS GO
Brand Strategy, Naming
Guild Education
UX, Copywriting
Reaktor
Brand Platform, Voice, UX Strategy, Copywriting
AWS
Design Strategy, Creative Concepting
Tia
Brand Platform, Voice, Copywriting
Seattle Sounders FC
Brand Platform, Design Strategy, Brand Manifesto, Copywriting
Isolation Proof Gin
Brand Platform, Voice, Copywriting
826NYC
UX, Copywriting
Amplify
Brand Architecture, Naming
Galileo
Research, Audience Definition, Brand Platform, Voice, UX, Copywriting
The New York Times
Research, Creative Concepting

Musings

Book
Interested in Oppenheimer? Check out Amy Paeth's The American Poet Laureate for a history of the US government's promotion of poetry during the Cold War
Art
Currently obsessed with the frankness and craft of Al Freeman's artwork
Photos
Louis Bever is a London-based photographer marrying old-master portraiture with modern European football culture
Design
Last year Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby released a gorgeous and not inexpensive folding mirror that is haunting me on Instagram

Strategies

Client Description Date
Google Chrome
Reimagining Chrome’s visual and verbal identity for a new age of AI-assisted productivity
Google Chromebook
Elevating a well-known brand from lightweight netbooks to leading-edge laptops
Major League Soccer
Helping MLS connect with and inspire a new generation of soccer stars
Guild Education
Translating a fresh brand identity into a functional and effective website
Reaktor
Turning a fast-growing Finnish tech consultancy into a global brand
AWS
Concepting new design possibilities for the future of cloud computing
Tia
Expanding a vital women’s health resource beyond the millennial set
Seattle Sounders FC
Reconnecting one of America’s oldest soccer clubs to a sense of heritage and place
Isolation Proof Gin
Rooting an upstate gin distillery in the look and feel of the Catskills
826NYC
Re-platforming a literary nonprofit helping children develop writing skills
Amplify
Designing a new learning platform for Amplify's digital curriculum
Galileo
Crystallizing a singular brand platform for a modern, hybrid medical practice
The New York Times
Imagining a new front-page ad experience for the digital age

Essays

Title Publication Date
Imagine Yourself a Strained Body Breaking to Recover
Lunch Ticket
Interstate (short story)
Arcturus (Chicago Review of Books)
I Know You Love Me
Human Parts
Arrosticini: The Best Italian Food No One Knows About
Food & Wine
The Newcomer
Native Magazine
We’ve Got the Beef
Tasting Table
Kentucky’s Whiskey Fungus Problem is Out of Control
Munchies
A Desperate Search for Casu Marzu
Food & Wine
You Don't Know Mo
Native Magazine
Going Ham on Tennessee Prosciutto
Tasting Table
The Lazarus House
Native Magazine

Services

Strategy
Research
Connecting human and cultural insights to brand objectives
Audience Definition
Clarifying whom your brand can communicate with, where
Brand Architecture
Establishing strategic relationships between your brands
Positioning
Carving out a distinctive place for your brand to play
Brand Platform
Distilling your brand values, promise, and mission
Customer Journeys
Detailing the path to purchase from your customer's POV
Content Strategy
Outlining what content goes where, why, and who makes it
UX Strategy
Turning foundational strategies into strategic experiences
Writing
Naming
Identifying the right moniker for your brand and products
Brand Manifesto
Crafting an outward-facing expression of your brand purpose
Voice
Defining how you speak and examples of what you might say
Messaging
Framing what you say to whom, and why
Notional Copy
Collaborating with designers on inspirational example copy
Copywriting
Executing on voice and messaging for site, scripts, and social
Creative Concepting
Articulating succinct ideas for ads and installations