Ex Edelman Director and Founder / CEO of luxury brand strategy and public relations agency, Issa PR has launched Subculture—a new culturally defining brand marketing agency that will focus on the intersection of art, culture, music and fashion. Co-headquartered in London and New York, the new agency will represent culturally relevant and culturally defining clients in both the UK and US.
Launch clients include: Ten Count, a mental health sports documentary by footballer Leon McKenzie that features intimate interviews with top athletes and Olympic Gold Medallists, including Dwayne Johnson, Alan Shearer, Jamie Redknapp, Ricky Hatton, Frank Bruno, Danny Cipriani, and Dame Kelly Holmes, as well as leading psychologists and experts to shine a light on the struggles that face top athletes, and the significant effects on their mental health; “Unseen Amy” a never seen before photography exhibit of the late Amy Winehouse, which will take place in London and NYC; SLAY, a music festival and media powerhouse for queer and trans people of colou;, and “Millennial ‘X’”, a clandestine project coming soon in 2019.
“The anthropological definition of Subculture is the dispersement of culture to other regions and people. Subcultures are an intricate fabric of our society. The agency will work on bold, game changing clients to highlight important themes that affect the world today via powerful content or the narratives we create. We hope to provide insights on human behaviour to impact cultural mindset across the globe,” said Viet N’Guyen, Founder and CEO of Subculture Agency.
Subculture will launch with six team members—a combination of strategists, content creators and publicists who will handle PR, content creation, digital, social media, events, experiential, and crisis / issues management. Subculture will also launch with a brain trust of behavioural scientists and anthropologists, who have consulted with brands, such as Samsung, IBM and WeWorks on campaigns, and will work with the agency on thought leadership and campaign planning.
“Our mission is to bring important issues to the fore and make them a part of culture today – whether it’s to deconstruct binary perceptions on social constructs or to elevate progressive and innovative thinking that leads to behavioural change,” said N’Guyen. “We are excited to launch a new type of agency. Our campaigns will not only be culturally relevant, they will be culturally defining in the world we live in today.”
During N’Guyen’s career in marketing and PR, she spent eight years at Edelman as a Director in the London office, then SVP in New York working on brands, including Tiffany & Co., Maserati, Bowers & Wilkins, Hakkasan, Heineken and Empire State Building. George Wayne from Vanity Fair named her as the only PR professional on his “Downtown 100 List” of inspired and influential people who define downtown New York. NY Business Journal gave N’Guyen a “Woman of Influence” award in 2018. She joined NYU (New York University)’s School of Business, Stern, as a guest lecturer and recently lectured on “The Intersection of Luxury and Philanthropy”. Issa PR’s clients have included Absolut, Absolut Elyx, Vogue Italia, Warner Bros. Records, Def Jam Records, Davidoff Cool Water for Coty and The United Nations.
