Wherever there’s a person, there will be advertising. So ex-Wunderman Thompson partner, Vlad Sitnikov, has launched StartRocket, the world’s first agency dedicated to marketing brands in space.
At the moment, various sporadic marketing efforts exist, be they from TikToker and ISS astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, or Chilean meat company, Super Pollo, that just sent a chicken nugget into space. However, we have not seen a fully integrated, strategic approach to communication where space is at its core.
StartRocket will connect brands with the worldwide space industry, linking national space agency partners, private space companies and the scientific community with creative, communications, PR, media and advertising.
Vlad Sitnikov, founder and chief creative officer, StartRocket, stated, “StartRocket has been conceived to drive space closer to brands and their fans. In Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, several brands appear throughout the film. Given the recent advances in space technology pioneered by SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, now’s the time to make these stellar opportunities a reality.”
StartRocket was founded after creating two successful space related campaigns, Orbital Display and Securing Space, that caused a global media frenzy.
Orbital Display involves placing billboards in near-Earth orbit. Pepsi conducted an exploratory test which branded the night sky with its logo via a series of micro satellites. This caused outrage among certain members of the public who threatened to boycott the purchase of goods from the multinational food, snack and beverage corporation.
As a direct response, Securing Space, was developed. Working in conjunction with cybersecurity provider, Kaspersky Lab, Sitnikov and his team began to investigate how to clean up the low Earth orbit as part of an environmental, social and governance campaign. This consisted of creating a ‘spiderweb’ of polymeric foam that would catch debris then de-orbit it safely, causing the space junk to burn-up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Olga Loginova, chief executive officer, StartRocket, noted, “Working on the Orbital Display and the debris catcher, we became familiar with a global network of space scientists delivering innovations. With decades of experience in the agency world between us, we cannot underestimate the need for new ideas in advertising. StartRocket will strive to serve space exploration by benefiting all parties involved and will ensure that its campaigns are both feasible and flabbergasting in their scale, quality, and uniqueness.”
Yulia Kholodova, chief operating officer, StartRocket, concluded, “Space has become a lot closer. Now space has its own agency. There’s nothing else like us on earth.”
StartRocket is operating in San Francisco, London, Milan, Tel Aviv and Dubai.
