Bumble, Finally — Sarah Sherman

SARAH SHERMAN

About

Not the SNL cast member. I’m a multidisciplinary creative director, strategist, and writer with a nonlinear background. I come from film, journalism, advertising, and New York City.

I started in documentaries, built the video team at The Atlantic's award-winning content studio, and developed brand, comms, and creative strategies for start-ups and legacy brands, including Playboy. Now, I run creative strategy (in a fractional capacity) at a hyper-innovative little agency called SpecialGuest. We make campaigns for brands like Bumble, Meta, and Ray-Ban. A few braggy quick hits:

(1) I’ve pitched creative work to Sam Altman across a very large conference table. (2) I’ve remotely directed Jeffrey Wright from his preferred recording studio in Hawaii. And (3) I was the lead creative on a 100+ person set for Bumble’s first global brand campaign.

When I’m not working, I’m reading New York restaurant reviews from my house in San Francisco, dressing my toddler like Jeff Goldblum, and lovingly approaching every pitbull mix I see.

Coaching

“Coaching” is a silly word, but I do work that a lot of people would describe as coaching.

What I offer: (1) Counseling through work challenges and transitional moments, e.g. managing tough relationships with colleagues, navigating negotiations, advocating for role growth or change. (2) Developing and refining the story you tell about your work experience and aspirations. (3) Tactical job search support, e.g. networking strategy, materials review (resumes, portfolios, cover letters, work samples, etc.)

Who I support: I'm field agnostic, but I will have a particular edge with people coming from media, creative industries, advertising, etc. I have the most experience with early and mid-career women, but I'm open to working with anyone.

Clients

Ray-Ban, Meta, OpenAI, Lyft, Filmhub, Oatly, Bumble, Google, Jaguar, Porsche, Playboy, The New York Times, TikTok, IBM, Foundation, Instagram, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNN, Dyson, Kohler, Boeing, AT&T, VMware, Cove, Marriott, Cathay Pacific Airlines

Awards

Indie Top 40 Independent Agency (SpecialGuest), Small Agency of the Year (SpecialGuest) , AdAge Silver Addy (Shortlisted), Shorty Awards, Vimeo Staff Pick (Moral Code), Folio Class of Top Women in Media in the Up & Comers, 100 Significant Women in Native Advertising, OMMA finalist, Emmy nomination: Investigative Journalism, Webby nomination: Best Branded, OMMA Finalist, Folio Awards

Films & Shows

Fault Lines (Big Sky Film Festival Official Selection), American Pathogen (narrated by Jeffrey Wright, NowThis) Chicagoland (CNN), Freeway (Al Jazeera America), Letters From Baghdad (Prime), (Dis)honesty (Prime), Gainesville (CMT)

Select Work

Bumble, Finally
HPE, Eighteen Zeros
Ray-Ban Meta, Live All In
Cove
Lizzo x Meta
Dogchurch
Bumble, Voices

Substack

BUMBLE, FINALLY

After a historic IPO and a year of Covid isolation, Bumble wanted to position itself as the app to unlock users’ summer of love. So, we focused on the little things that single people missed the most—holding hands, making out, dancing close—and created a visceral brand campaign around an original remix of CeCe Peniston's iconic track “Finally.” We built the campaign to stretch globally, tailoring the message for each region (and encouraging vaccination).

I led creative strategy for the original Bumble AOR pitch, which we won that January. For the campaign, I co-led creative and developed the the “Finally” concept. I was the primary agency creative lead during the on-location shoot across New York and oversaw post, finishing, and delivery.

Agency: SpecialGuest