Rob palmer

chief creative officer

Rob Palmer is a creative leader, art-director and storyteller whose work has helped shape some of the most recognizable ideas in modern advertising—from ESPN’s This Is SportsCenter to Apple’s Think Different and Miller High Life. Over the course of his career, he has worked at some of the industry’s most influential agencies, including Wieden+Kennedy, Chiat/Day, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and Razorfish, before co-founding Opinionated, the Portland-based agency he helped grow from a dinner-table experiment into a nationally recognized creative company.

Opinionated was built on a simple belief: a small, senior team could make work that was faster, braver, and more personal than traditional agency models allowed. What began as a two-man show evolved into an award-winning agency with global clients, multiple offices, and a reputation for creative work designed to earn attention by deserving it. Along the way, the agency earned repeated recognition from Ad Age, including Small Agency of the Year honors and A-List recognition, while producing work honored by Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clios, and the Effies.

Across his career, Rob has helped launch products, reshape brands, and create work that crossed into culture. He helped introduce the iMac during Apple’s Think Different era, contributed to the creation of This Is SportsCenter, and developed enduring work for brands including Nike, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, and eBay. His storytelling has earned both an MTV Video Music Award and an Emmy—an uncommon combination that reflects a career spent moving fluidly between entertainment, technology, advertising, and brand building.

Before founding Opinionated, Rob served as Executive Creative Director at Razorfish, where he helped lead major digital and integrated assignments, including Microsoft Bing. Earlier, as CMO and CCO of Fuhu, he helped build one of the fastest-growing consumer electronics companies in the country, connecting product, storytelling, software, and marketing into a unified brand ecosystem years ahead of category norms.

Beyond agency life, Rob has taught as an Associate Professor, won a The Moth storytelling event, and continues to mentor emerging creatives and entrepreneurs. Based in Oregon, he believes the best creative work comes from truth, curiosity, and a willingness to make people feel something. Whether building brands, teams, or entirely new companies, his focus remains the same: create work that earns attention because it deserves it. Which is either a creative philosophy or a lifelong need for attention.

Rob Palmer

Chief Creative Officer

Portland, Oregon • robpalmer@mac.com • 208-841-2344

Executive Summary

Creative leader who builds teams that produce work people notice—and that drives growth.

I believe great work earns attention. That attention creates press, momentum, and business results for both clients and the agency. I’ve spent my career building cultures that do that consistently—developing talent, leading teams, and turning creative into meaningful growth.

Career Highlights — Work That Defined Eras

  • Won a VMA video of the year MTV Spaceman

  • Co-created “This is SportsCenter,” one of the most iconic campaigns in advertising

  • Helped launch the iMac for Steve Jobs as part of the “Think Different” campaign

  • Helped establish Nike Golf as a legitimate force with Tiger Woods

  • Revitalized Miller High Life with “The High Life Man”

  • Helped transform Razorfish from a digital pioneer into an award-winning creative agency, including winning Microsoft Bing AOR over McCann

  • Served as Chief Creative Officer at nabi, Inc. during a period of rapid growth and national recognition

  • Co-founded Opinionated, building it into an award-winning, creative-first agency later acquired by Tombras

Experience

Executive Creative Director / Co-Founder

Opinionated

Built a culture where the work had to earn attention—not just exist.

  • Grew the agency from two people at a coffee table to $15M+ in revenue in eight years, driven by creative-led new business wins

  • Helped build major client relationships including adidas, Panda Express, Shake Shack, Seventh Generation, Voodoo Ranger, and DICKS Sporting Goods.

  • Built and led a team known for strong ideas, high standards, and a clear point of view

  • Mentored and developed creatives into stronger thinkers and makers, raising the overall quality of the work

  • Led the creation of campaigns designed to show up in culture

  • Stayed hands-on in the work, shaping ideas from concept through execution

  • Helped turn creative into sustained growth through new business and reputation

Executive Creative Director

Tombras

Scaled that same standard inside a larger organization.

  • Elevated creative quality and ambition across teams while maintaining a distinct point of view

  • Helped integrate and raise creative standards within a broader agency structure

  • Continued to mentor and develop talent while expanding output

  • Delivered high-visibility work designed to earn attention and drive impact

Chief Creative Officer

nabi, FUHU

Led creative during a period of rapid growth.

  • Built the brand voice and creative direction during a defining growth phase

  • Connected product, marketing, and storytelling into a cohesive brand system

  • Helped position the company as both commercially successful and culturally relevant

Earlier Career

Creative leadership roles at:

  • Wieden+Kennedy

  • Chiat/Day

  • Goodby Silverstein & Partners

  • Razorfish

Focused on building culturally resonant work for brands including Apple, ESPN, Nike, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and eBay.

Leadership

  • Build cultures where the work—not politics—drives decisions.

  • Believe caring deeply about people means being honest about the work.

  • Don’t shoot our wounded.

  • Believe attention is earned through relevance, craft, and emotional truth

  • Stay deeply connected to the work while scaling teams, ambition, and business growth

Press & Recognition

Featured in Ad Age, Fast Company, Forbes, Inc., The New York Times, and NPR

“The most ground-breaking videos on TV.”
— Billboard on Right Now

“How dare you put type on top of my lyrics.”
— Sammy Hagar

“One of the most iconic and enduring campaigns in advertising history.”
— Advertising Hall of Fame on ESPN “This Is SportsCenter”

“One of the most successful and longest-running campaigns in advertising.”
“A campaign that helped define ESPN’s brand voice.”
— Ad Age

“There’s no way Apple could have possibly gone from laughingstock to ‘the stock you dream of owning’ so swiftly…”
— Forbes on Apple’s comeback

“The iMac saved Apple.”
— Walter Isaacson

“Tiger Woods and Nike became synonymous … one of the most iconic and influential brand/ambassador partnerships in the history of sports.”
— Golf Digest

“The tablet era began in 2010, but one of the biggest winners isn’t Apple, Amazon, Samsung or Google. It’s Fuhu.”
— Fast Company

“In Opinionated, we found a group of people who have done work for big iconic American brands and built platforms.”
— Luke DeRouen, Shake Shack

“This campaign is the heart of what DSG stands for.”
— Aimee Watters, Dicks Sporting Goods

Opinionated helped shape Adidas work focused on “the love of the game and the joy.”
— Chris Murphy, adidas