Elevate Communications, a Boston-based strategic communications and digital and brand marketing agency, today announced the appointment of Sam Valentine as Head of Digital, Social and Creator Services. Valentine will lead the agency’s digital practice, connecting social strategies and creator partnerships with its strategic communications, public relations and marketing services to help clients tell credible stories, build stronger audience relationships, earn trust and drive revenue.
Valentine will oversee digital strategy, client relationships, team development, and lead new business development efforts for the practice. Working alongside Elevate’s earned media and brand marketing service teams, he will develop integrated digital and social strategies, build creator and influencer partnerships, execute paid media campaigns and measure performance against clients’ business objectives.
“The most successful brands today understand that earning attention and building trust requires more than simply reaching audiences. It requires creating authentic connections that inspire people to engage, believe and act,” said Elevate Chief Executive Officer Keith Gainsboro. “Sam brings an exceptional understanding of how digital platforms, creators and brands can work together to build those connections. His experience at TikTok, particularly with some of the world’s leading fashion and luxury brands, will be invaluable as we continue expanding our integrated capabilities and delivering meaningful business results for our clients.”
Valentine joins Elevate after nearly five years at TikTok, where he led Brand Partnerships and supported leading fashion and luxury brands. In that role, he leveraged data-driven insights to architect end-to-end media strategies, develop advertising, e-commerce, and platform strategies, and built media campaigns that helped clients optimize performance and maximize TikTok’s rapidly evolving creator-driven ecosystem. As practice area lead, he oversaw fashion industry accounts, managed annual advertising budgets, managed and mentored diverse teams of media professionals and partnered with cross-functional teams to build capabilities and drive efficiency.
Valentine’s appointment accelerates the expansion of Elevate’s integrated capabilities and marks a significant increase in its investment in digital and creator partnerships, bringing together the full spectrum of modern marketing communications services to help clients become more visible, trusted, influential and valuable, and transform that influence into enterprise business impact.
Working alongside Elevate’s account teams, Valentine will develop high-impact digital, social and creator initiatives for clients including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Globe Media, Football Enterprises, Harvard Athletics, the Lyons Group, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and LiveKillington by Great Gulf.
“The way brands connect with audiences has fundamentally changed, and authenticity and human connection are more important than ever,” said Valentine. “Digital strategy, social engagement, creator partnerships and earned media are most powerful when they work together to tell a consistent, compelling story. What attracted me to Elevate was its strong reputation, entrepreneurial culture and commitment to helping brands build meaningful relationships with their audiences. I’m excited to build on that foundation, expand our capabilities and help clients turn engagement into lasting brand value and measurable business results.”
Valentine’s appointment follows the recent additions of Scott Bernstein as Partner and Chief Strategy Officer and Eric Kraus as Senior Public Relations Strategist, underscoring Elevate’s continued investment in senior talent and expanded capabilities to help clients strengthen their brands, engage audiences and drive business growth.
Before joining TikTok, Valentine served as marketing manager for (Add)ventures, managing integrated digital campaigns, product launches and brand development and identity engineering services for Fortune 500 companies. His earlier experience spans strategic marketing, digital media, and business development, including roles at Phreesia.
