General Idea, a New York-based creative agency, has tapped Edward Campbell as president, a newly created role.
He will lead the agency’s expansion beyond its fashion roots, tailoring its expertise to new categories and evolving their core services in strategy, talent and celebrity, and experiential. He will be based at the company’s New York headquarters at 545 W. 25th Street.
Most recently Campbell was executive vice president and global luxury strategy lead at Dentsu. Before that he held strategic roles at Akqa, working on global Nike accounts; Warner Music Group record labels and artists, and Highsnobiety, where he established their strategy practice, led the “New Luxury” research in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and drove cultural campaigns and strategic plans for brands such as Gucci, Coach and Mercedes Benz.
“It’s no secret that agency giants are struggling to match the speed at which the consumer moves,” said Campbell. “Clients needs agile partners that have cultural IQ, taste and cultural credibility. What stood out to me about General Idea was not only its best-in-class creative world building, but the teams’ inclination to consult past the creative, assuming a deeply strategic role. The studio’s ‘left and right brain’ approach combines a deep understanding of the cultural zeitgeist and intuition for business, product and celebrity. I’m thrilled to join General Idea as president in this next phase of growth, to further build out the team, and connect with CMOs on how to build cultural relevancy.”
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With a record $35 million in revenue in 2025, General Idea serves leading fashion and luxury brands, and is expanding on several fronts, namely international expansion, executive hires and new service offerings.
General Idea led work for Reebok and its Karol G partnership, Tommy Hilfiger‘s spring campaign featuring Patrick Schwarzenegger and Lionel Richie and a viral campaign for Fendi featuring Katseye.
“Marketing is reaching an inflection point, and brands are demanding more from their agency and creative partners,” said Tanner Graham, chief executive officer and cofounder of General Idea. “To meet these needs, General Idea believes that it is mission-critical to strengthen our cultural and consultative expertise and expand our geographic presence.”
The agency plans to expand to Los Angeles and London. The L.A. office is headed by founder Ian Schatzberg, where he is leading the team through several pieces of business spanning beauty and culture, including a long-standing relationship with Roc Nation. The newly opened London office includes Fred Paginton, newly named executive creative director of EU+UK. He recently held executive creative director roles at Spring Studios and Dazed Media. By being stationed in London, he will enable General Idea to better service its European clientele, such as long-time client LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, while also expanding throughout the region.
“We’ve always been a quiet agency because our work speaks for itself and we believe our clients always come before our own brand. For this next phase, we want to share more of what we do with more people. we’ve chosen London and L.A. as our next two strategic hubs as they allow us to tap into key business hubs built arounds specific industries that are very style adjacent — be it California’s tech and entertainment or London’s proximity to European luxury,” said Schatzberg.
