User:Two Hustlers/sandbox

Two Hustlers, a new media, creative company working in collaboration with global brands and celebrities in fashion, design, art, technology and music. The company is dedicated in creating transformative experiences for brands like Diesel and NICOPANDA by combining the digital and physical worlds together in an innovative way. It's widely known for creating some of the most out-of-the-box thinking for global brands by executing new media initiatives, pop-up shops, collaborations and experiential marketing.

History
The company was founded in 2011 by Kevin Kollenda and partner Nicola Formichetti after coming together in London during the last decade. Before establishing the company, they partnered with Lady Gaga in 2010 and noticed how she strategically used social media to communicate with the public. This new media movement was what always intrigued Formichetti and Kollenda firmly believed this would be the future of communication. They were determined to figuring out this new media and how to merge social media with captivating content. One of their first collaborations was with Mugler and Zombie Boy where they used Lady Gaga’s new music for Mugler’s show. Simutaneaously, they set an exclusive deal with AOL releasing a video on AOL’s website which gained a lot of exposure in a short amount of time. Kollenda and Formichetti built their own pop-up shop in downtown New York on Walker Street featuring Lady Gaga's costumes, vintage Versace, Mugler, Uniqlo and NICOPANDA products. Together with a team, they created the online experience fused with social media; the experiential retail was a success. A month and a half after the shop opened, they received calls from retailers, equity firms and goods companies asking them to work together.

Agency
Two Hustlers, a creative collective of radical thinkers, designers and storytellers, … It is rare that an agency will literally put their money where their mouth is by crossing the divide to develop a label, but that is exactly what the creative think tank has done via Nicopanda. The benefit to clients is that Two Hustlers understands firsthand what it takes to walk in the client’s shoes, developing custom shop-in-shops, driven via digital touch points from web to social, creating events and experiential marketing and ultimately engaging the consumer. All within a budget that is fiscally responsible and tied into sales goals. So while we may be drawing to their lofty digital ideas of community engagement, it is the grounded aspects of the work that ultimately makes them an agency of note.

Two Hustlers is determined on disrupting, inspiring and challenging the fashion, music and fine art industries. The creative duo built a new media lab with radical thinkers, digital natives and industry influencers who intend on pushing the new digital era forward.

Diesel
Diesel contacted Formichetti and Kollenda with an opportunity; they hired Formichetti as the artistic director and Two Hustlers as the agency to support the vision of the artistic director. They aimed to create the first user-generated crowd-sourced campaign for Diesel. After Diesel's approval, the #Dieselreboot campaign was launched in which Two Hustlers incorporated the Tumblr community to become a part of the #Dieselreboot by submitting their own content. They took their submissions and wrapped Galeries Lafayette with two thousand of their images from Tumblr. These images covered full-page ads in the New York Times and billboards; bringing the digital to life which no other brand had done before. The 2014 CLIO Image Award for Integrated Campaign was given to Two Hustlers for their #DieselReboot campaign.

NICOPANDA
Recently helping launch NICOPANDA http://www.dexigner.com/news/24644

Two Hustlers is also responsible for creating works such as PEPSI Challenge 2015, MAC VIVA GLAM and EVE Online. As well as winning over notable clients such Uniqlo, Gilt Groupe, CCP Games, Lane Crawfrod, Barney's New York and Tumblr.

Heading text
In 2014, the agency launched an Arts Grant, sponsored in part by Pepsi, opened to college seniors willing to submit their portfolio of five samples along with an artist statement and a short bio. The prize included a "substantial cash award", having their work showcased in Two Hustlers' gallery, portfolio reviews and future collaborations.

The Arts Grant applications were sent to the School of Visual of Arts, Hunter College, Parson’s School of Design, Pratt Institute and New York University as an open call to all young artists. More than 300 applicants submitted five samples of their work resulting in nine art students winning the prizes.

“We recognize that social media is an enormous source of creative freedom for this generation, as costs of going to college rise, these places become extremely important for these kids to have a creative outlet” says Kollenda.

Grant recipients' works were displayed at the agency's headquarters in New York. Proceeds from exhibition sales were contributed to future Arts Grants.