Diego Andrés Martinelli is an executive creative director, brand strategist and experience creator. He is driven by a desire to better understand human behavior, consciousness and value systems. He specializes in culture, music and hospitality.
Diego founded Defy Culture in 2014, an independent, full service brand agency with an honesty-at-all-costs approach and a value-based philosophy. In 2015, Defy became the smallest firm ever to be awarded work as a lead Agency Of Record by AB Inbev. Diego and his team have provided insights and successful strategies to organizations, while helping many of them bring forth meaningful contributions to culture in city communities. Notable clients include Budweiser, Stella Artois, Bud Light, Beck’s, Red Bull, Perrier, Airbnb, Frost Science Museum Miami and Perez Art Museum Miami.
Diego's career flourished working in the electronic music industry for over 20 years, earning him a reputation as a leading operator and boundary-defining curator in North America. While helping develop many successful music brands and properties, he has also produced thousands of world-class live events. Diego continues to inhabit the urban music scenes that shaped him, studying cultural economies and communities in cities across the globe. He's also a founding partner and curator at two renowned music venues, The Electric Pickle Co. [2009-2019] in Miami and Public Records in Brooklyn. Safe Sound, a community project he co-founded in 2007, remains one of America’s longest running underground music events series. Since he was a teenager, Diego has been an avid record collector, artist and writer. He also trained as a clinical mindfulness meditation teacher at UMass Medical School. He is currently based in Denver, Colorado.
Diego founded Defy Culture in 2014, an independent, full service brand agency with an honesty-at-all-costs approach and a value-based philosophy. In 2015, Defy became the smallest firm ever to be awarded work as a lead Agency Of Record by AB Inbev. Diego and his team have provided insights and successful strategies to organizations, while helping many of them bring forth meaningful contributions to culture in city communities. Notable clients include Budweiser, Stella Artois, Bud Light, Beck’s, Red Bull, Perrier, Airbnb, Frost Science Museum Miami and Perez Art Museum Miami.
Diego's career flourished working in the electronic music industry for over 20 years, earning him a reputation as a leading operator and boundary-defining curator in North America. While helping develop many successful music brands and properties, he has also produced thousands of world-class live events. Diego continues to inhabit the urban music scenes that shaped him, studying cultural economies and communities in cities across the globe. He's also a founding partner and curator at two renowned music venues, The Electric Pickle Co. [2009-2019] in Miami and Public Records in Brooklyn. Safe Sound, a community project he co-founded in 2007, remains one of America’s longest running underground music events series. Since he was a teenager, Diego has been an avid record collector, artist and writer. He also trained as a clinical mindfulness meditation teacher at UMass Medical School. He is currently based in Denver, Colorado.
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