David Friend
A creative thinker with a business brain. Someone who sees around corners.*
Marketing | Strategy | Creative
I connect what moves consumers with what drives results. I care about people, understand products, and know business. I work with brands like Nike, Burton Snowboards, and REI.
Two decades of experience understanding how people feel, what they actually want from a brand or product, and what they’ll accept before they call BS. I’m forever curious about what’s changing and what comes next.
What I Bring
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I recognize where culture, consumers, technologies, and the business are moving, and what potential that creates.
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I make complexity understandable and actionable.
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I turn that understanding into something distinct, ownable, and meaningful to consumers.
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I turn insight into something genuinely new.
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I make Brand, product, marketing, creative, and experience reinforce the same idea.
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I give teammates across different functions something they can understand, contribute to, and feel excited to deliver on.
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I turn the work into measurable impact.
Marketing
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Strategy
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Creative
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Fun Times
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Marketing | Strategy | Creative | Fun Times |
Roles I’ve Had
Working in roles across different areas of business has shown me how interconnected they are. The most interesting opportunities emerge where those areas intersect.
Brand Director
Strategist
Copywriter
Creative Director
Marketing Manager
Product Manager
Product Designer
Founder
Brands I’ve Worked With
From global brands to startups, I’ve worked in-house, at agencies, and built my own. My expertise lies in my perspective and approach, not in any particular industry or product.
Burton Snowboards
Nike
Under Armour
REI
Tiger Woods
Zero Motorcycles
Instrument
This Design
Nemo Design
K2 Sports
HUBweek MIT/Harvard
Pub Beer
Forum Snowboards
Special Blend
Peet Kegler Design
Electric Lettuce
Pale Blue Earth
Skullcandy
Goorin Brothers
Foursquare
Turning my instinct and taste into a global perfume and jewelry business.The Sum: Everything is Connected.
The StoryI built The Sum around an instinct about where culture and design were headed, turning an emerging shift in masculinity into a global perfume and jewelry business.
I sensed masculinity changing, becoming more open, expressive, self-aware, and less constrained by old ideas of strength. The Sum was built around a quieter kind of confidence: the belief that the most meaningful things don’t need to announce themselves. Vulnerability, curiosity, integrity, and looking inward became expressions of strength.
Connection to ourselves and to others was central to The Sum. Black diamonds and construction details were hidden within jewelry. Beautiful, distinctive perfumes were designed to be discovered through closeness rather than imposed from across a room. Each product was unique, but never too precious to become part of everyday life.
The things we wear on our skin can be transformative.
Building The Sum from the ground up meant treating the entire business as an interconnected expression of the Brand. Product, creative, pricing, margins, commercialization, ecomm, wholesale, and retail all shaped one another and the whole. Every decision was considered for its impact on the consumer and the business.
*David Friend can see around corners and what's ahead, but he cannot see through physical objects. Sorry.
What started in my garage reached retailers around the world, showing at Paris Fashion Week and ComplexCon. The Sum earned recognition from WGSN, The New York Times, and other media, and was worn by Ty Dolla $ign, G-Eazy, Maxime Plescia-Büchi, and others. The Sum was sold in 2019.
