Russ Gottwald

Director of Brand Strategy at PACO Collective (2025 – Present)

Associate Strategy Director/Copywriter at PACO Collective (2023 – 2025)

Senior Brand Strategist/Copywriter at PACO Collective (2019 – 2023)

Account Planner/Copywriter at PACO Collective (2017 – 2019)

Instructor at University of South Carolina (2020 – 2024)

Advertising, School of Journalism & Mass Communications

Teaching foci included integrated campaign development, brand identity, copywriting, creative concepting and execution, writing for mass communication majors, and the history of Super Bowl ads.
Created course on concept development and brand identity whose focus expanded to include using these elements to craft and refine AI prompts as well as assess AI output; this course was rated by students graduating in the 2023-2024 school year as the most important foundational course in the Advertising sequence.
Teaching method emphasized experiential learning, industry-facing competitions (Effie Collegiate, NSAC, YoungOnes, and D&AD), in-class presentation of all projects, and discussion of peer presentations.
Overloaded in Spring 2021 (13 Hours), Spring 2023 (18 Hours), and Spring 2024 (18 Hours).

Adjunct Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (2025 – Present)

Advertising, Robertson School of Communication

Teaching focus has included team building and management, presentation and storytelling skills, and effective management of account services.
Teaching method emphasizes experiential learning, in-class presentation of all projects, and discussion of peer presentations.

Freelance Copywriter at IBM (2026 – Present)

Freelance Copywriter at Lanmark360 (2025 – Present)

Freelance Copywriter at Reunion Healthcare (2020)

Freelance Brand Strategist at Frankel Media Group (2017)

Branding and Presentation Consultant at Klöckner Pentaplast (2016 – 2017)

Branding Consultant at Burger Bach (2014 – 2015)

Vice President, Marketing & Strategic Planning at Decadence Cheesecakes (2013 – 2014)

Experience