Donesh Olyaie

Donesh Olyaie

Head of Strategy at MullenLowe West
El Segundo, United States

About me

Donesh Olyaie is a former Coldstone Creamery manager who somehow fell into advertising. As a digitally-certified planner, Donesh leads the planning discipline at MullenLowe and has previously lead teams at David&Goliath, Deutsch Los Angeles, and Keurig Dr Pepper. He has experience across categories including QSR, Retail, Hospitality, CPG, Electronics, Software, Healthcare, Automobile, and more. Professional highlights include Kia’s national and global rebrands, PetSmart’s national campaign launch, and the US Forest Service’s “Descrubre El Bosque” project.

As a leader Donesh builds strategy departments that meet evolving marketing landscapes. As a strategist Donesh is drawn to niche audiences as bellwethers for bigger trends. As a person Donesh tries (and fails) to learn the Bassoon.

Prior to marketing Donesh worked as a strategist in the political world which is similar to marketing but the hours are way worse. A southern California native, Donesh earned a BA from the University of Southern California and an MFA from Yale. Donesh loves to travel and his best travel memory was having a Buddhist monk in Bhutan read his fortune which included a warning to never drive a green car.

Sector Experience

Positions

Head of Strategy, West
Los Angeles, United States
August 2024 - Present (6 months)
Director of Strategy, Marketing
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc
United States
2021 - 2024 (3 years)
I lead strategy for Liquid Sunshine, KDP's internal creative marketing unit. We work with brand teams and partners across the organization to create bold, audience-driven campaigns for our wide portfolio of brands.

EVP, Group Strategy Director
Los Angeles, United States
2020 - 2021 (1 year)
Headed up the planning teams for PetSmart, California Milk Advisory Board, Nintendo, Lotrimin and A+D (Bayer), and AngelSoft (Georgia Pacific) at DLA.
Group Strategy Director
El Segundo, United States
2017 - 2020 (3 years)
Oversaw all facets of business and creative strategy including cultural and digital insights, creative development, research, executive client relations, long term planning, and larger brand architecture type stuff.

Develop and facilitate marketing seminars and workshops for clients and new business prospects.

Manage planning teams (including hiring/supervision) to meet client and agency needs.

Develop optimal Spotify playlists to drown out background conversation.

Other professional activities

PHNX 2025

Awards Jury Member

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