V&A EAST BRAND
BRAND STRATEGY
CREATIVE STRATEGY
COPYWRITING & T.O.V.
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT & FACILITATION
THE CHALLENGE
Can a museum ever move like a youth culture brand?
Tasked with leading the brand development of V&A East, two new sites opening in 2026 in the Olympic Park we needed to create an ownable brand space for V&A East that spoke to a radically different audience.
V&A East seeks to super serve hyper-local audiences, Gen Z and those who wouldn’t usually visit a museum and gallery. We needed a brand that would connect to this new audience, whilst respecting the heritage of the V&A.
THE ACTIVITY
Working with a core V&A team, Wasted Talent, and most importantly, three Youth Collective alumni as paid consultants, Robyn challenged the V&A to think and move like a youth culture brand.
But it was the process as much as the outcome that made this project special.
As the V&A East lead Robyn worked with Youth Collective consultants, V&A Head of Design, Head of Audience and Head of Digital, from pitch through to delivery.
Creative work sessions were at the heart of the process, with Wasted Talent bringing their Future Academy alumni (creative young Londoners from backgrounds underrepresented in the creative industries).
The brand behaviours came from the Youth Collective Manifesto and by the time the creative came, we knew it would land with our audience, because they had been with us the whole time.
The process was wrapped up with tone of voice and activation concepting. The social content pillars flowed from here and you only need to take a look at V&A East socials to see the success…
V&A East opens 2025/2026 in the Olympic Park, London.
THE TEAM*
*a good project is more than the sum of its parts but they do matter
Robyn - Project Lead Brand & Campaigns, V&A East
Leo Robins - Head of Strategy, Wasted Talent/The Face
Alfie Allen - Lead Designer, Wasted Talent
Sophie Rouse - Head of Marketing, V&A
Evonne Mckenzie - Head of Design, V&A
Kati Price - Head of Digital and Experience, V&A
Maia Ardalla - Young People Producer, V&A East
Amy Davy - Interpretation Producer, V&A East