I'm Lea.
Profile
I'm a 29 years old, who grew up in the south of Germany. It seems I survived multiple generations and lived through several target groups from being a girly teenager, a poem-loving student, a vintage buyer, a local-market-shopper, to a creative director with a passion for colours living in Berlin now. While working in advertising for years, I realised that the same approach, the same ideas were thrown at clients by most agencies, creatives, or marketing experts. I wouldn't consider myself radical but critical - does something that once convinced people, have to work forever?
Does a new generation of consumers respond like the ones before? When it comes to brand campaigns, my approach is to follow my gut feeling for trends, some actual numbers, and some colourful ideas in a pot and mix it all up.
Experience
Let's face it - now i'm going to sum up, everything I did staring from the day I first spoke up with an idea. Well, maybe not quite that early but when it comes to my personal career, every step is not just something I did to put on a resume - i won, i failed, i learned, i laughed at myself, and most importantly: i got to know what I am good at.
2021 was a ride! Finding myself in a freelance world was hell and heaven. Welcome to tax world and being your own boss. But I managed to get some awesome project requests and was able to realize several big and small things. I shot with Tom Felton (did not see that coming) for Montblanc, produced for Dr. Hauschka, did Creative Direction for gitti or designed over 1500 templates for Canva. Working mainly as a producer and concept creative, I am proud of the variety my clients represent and their innovative approach for a new generation.
2019 / 2020 - as Creative Directress at one of the most fast-paced and disruptive creative companies - goalgirls, I realised several awesome projects. I developed in various creative fields such as graphic design, disruptive storytelling, building microsites, or developing full branding and strategy guidelines for brands.
My biggest strength is my ability to link creative thinking and conceptual approach to project management and organisation talent. During my time at goalgirls I was able to lead larger creative teams and transform my visions into visual realities. My love for culture and music was a big benefit when creating event concepts and collaborations for Soundboks or other lifestyle brands. After a year of growing, I decided to work as a freelance Creative Directress in Berlin to once again focus on concepts and ideas - online and offline.
2019 - What a year! I decided to quit my job at 0711 (still missing the team) and to work as a freelance creative in Berlin. What appeared to be a spontaneous (and very risky) idea turned out to be the best so far. Within several months I realised some awesome projects with great teams for Medela, the Berlin Mural Fest, or Bumble. I worked in the co-creagency with a bunch of creative and disruptive girls called goalgirls and fell in love right away. Turns out, they're as cool as I thought and hired me to join their core team as creative directress.
2015 - 2019 | I started my career at 0711 because I knew, this agency would be different than everything, I had experienced before. One must know, Stuttgart has a strange but very specific vibe. It can be niche and familiar but also over-consumptive and empty. 0711 was the best, not only in terms of colleagues but also for finding friends and mentors. I started with creating various concepts and ideas for clients like Under Armour or Oettinger with my team. Soon, we started creating brand strategies, workshops, and approaches for modern influencer marketing. After two years of additional account management and client communication, I focused on being a digital creative director on the side and realised some great projects with my team like the #drivenbytomorrow campaign for Mercedes-Benz. During this time I had the best boss(es) one could hope for and didn't just learn how to build a team, but also how to keep them together and make them fall in love with your work. Thanks again Oliver Rebner for giving me all this space to grow!
2015 was the year I decided to move from cold Berlin to potentially-sunny Stuttgart. I started at DFROST, a Stuttgart-based agency for retail identity working in social media and marketing. We hunted down retail trends to write about, placed our architecture projects in magazines, and curated several interviews with our founders. I learned a lot about classic PR strategies and decided for myself, that I wanted to focus on a more radical and digital approach to marketing.
Before 2015 I did several internships in various marketing fields - I learned how to manage a creative community, worked with a small music company, and created my first social media posts for brands. The most interesting and important one was my time at TEATOX. At the time this high-quality tea startup was my first encounter with the real deal- influencer & content marketing. I talked to several influencers, curated numerous posts for tea, and learned how to manage a blog with wordpress, work with photoshop, and write articles. Basically, my colleague Britta taught me the foundation of being creative rather than just thinking creative. I found a way to express myself with writing, taking pictures, making graphics and videos - it was the groundwork for a lot of things I did later.
Skills
My most important skill might be that I think in colours - I try to see different shades in all ideas I have, and animate people in my team to think outside their own colour palette aka comfort zone. I think campaigns and brands can really make a difference in the way people feel and consume, and actually create happiness. Through all my approaches I try hard to embed a core message and a value rather than just selling something.
Tools
Through several jobs, I have acquired a lot of skills. From all the adobe programs to wordpress, wix, slack, or project management tools - if i don't know them already, I'll adapt fast. One day, I taught myself the basics of adobe premiere to do a pitch. At University I learned Photoshop through reading instructions in Spanish and once again afterward in german. I built several websites with wix, including this one. I like to learn.
Contact
Email - hei@leabaintner.com
Imprint
Lea Baintner
Bänschstraße 25
10247 Berlin