Some Assembly Required isn’t just a strategy firm. it’s a belief system. a creative force. an unconventional approach for how social impact and media drive culture. our core conviction? nothing great is built alone. everything worth doing requires (an) assembly. we partner with entrepreneurs, creators, cause-leaders, and cultural underdogs who are spinning plates and wheels, attempting big things and with all the pieces but needing more support and better strategy. you’ve got the spark. the talent. maybe even a tribe. but you can’t stop dreaming about what is possible. so, you don’t need another deck. you need structure. speed. and the people who knows how to turn your vision into velocity. you need those who share the aspirin and the champagne. lose together. win together. to do that we architect the moments that accelerate impact, the media that tells a different story, and the messages that lift eyes, turn heads, shift mindsets and quicken heartbeats. we design bold strategies to mobilize audiences, eventize stories, and monetize meaningful work with clarity, confidence, and cultural punch. this isn’t client work. it’s co-creation with purpose. we are: a credo for builders who want what’s possible, not what’s expected; a collective of creatives, campaigners, and cultural operators; a content studio making media that gets audiences to act, not just applaud; a consultancy with frameworks, playbooks, and insight from 25+ years inside entertainment, government, advocacy, and social change. this is where strategy meets storytelling. where impact meets execution. where social good gets the spotlight — and the structure. we exist to solve real problems with creative firepower and operational clarity. you might have attention, but no activation. a platform, but no participation. a creative dream, but no delivery mechanism. here’s what we promise. we don’t do fluff. we don’t tout metrics that don’t move people. and we definitely don’t do one-size-fits-all. we build from the bottom-up, outside-in. unconventional, in the most cluttered, fragmented, and stagnant moment in history. for change-makers who are ready to lead. for brands that want culture-shaping power. for visionaries ready to scale their impact and their income. you bring the vision. we bring the velocity. together, we assemble something that lasts, long after the credits roll, the song fades, the book closes, the last guest exits. Some Assembly Required isn’t a “nice to have.” it’s the difference between attention and action, buzz and breakthrough, noise and real narrative power. let’s build the future. together.

Erik Løkkesmoe

Erik Løkkesmoe has 25+ years of marketing experience within entertainment, government, advocacy, and media.

Currently, Erik advises the State of Tennessee on storytelling, mobilization, and communication strategies to support Every Child TN (foster care), the Volunteer Mentorship Initiative (reentry), and other challenges facing vulnerable Tennesseans.

Erik also leads Some Assembly Required — a strategy firm. From concept to campaign to capital, SAR helps creators, founders, and cultural underdogs move from blueprint to breakthrough — assembling what’s missing to make what matters.

Previously, Erik served as VP of Marketing at Outback Presents, the leading independent promoter of live entertainment producing more than 1,200 music and comedy shows, tours, and festivals annually. He built and led an in-house marketing team of more than 22 professionals — from traditional media buyers to social and digital teams.

Erik began his marketing career in Washington, D.C. after graduating from Westmont College, and earning a Master's Degree from American University. Between 1994-2006 he served as a congressional press secretary, a Senate campaign communications director, a communications advisor at the National Association of Broadcasters, an appointed cabinet-level speechwriter, and the political appointee as head of communications for the NEH.

In 2006 the Anschutz Film Group & Walden Media tapped him as project manager for movie, AMAZING GRACE, and then as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Outreach in Los Angeles — tasked with deploying unconventional strategies to “flip the model” on how to move audiences from awareness to action to attendance. Walden Media is the producer of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, PRINCE CASPIAN, VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, CHARLOTTE’S WEBB, HOLES, RAY, THE WATER HORSE, and many more.

Erik then co-founded Different Drummer, an agency that promoted more than 100 campaigns for major movie studios, television networks, publishers, and music labels. The company’s team worked on movies, shows, books, and music including: THE TREE OF LIFE, CALVARY, TANGLED, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, SECRETARIAT, THE JONAS BROTHERS, OWL CITY, THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN, TO THE WONDER, and many more.

Expanding into distribution and executive producing, Erik and a talented team built Aspiration Entertainment. The company’s team executive produced the Ewan McGregor New York Times Critic’s Pick LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT and THE THREE WISE MEN, distributed the award-winning Irish biopic NOBLE and other independent docs and features, and promoted the movies WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR, PEANUT BUTTER FALCON, THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM, FIRST MAN, FIRST REFORMED, DARK WATERS, DENIAL, FREE SOLO, and many others.

Erik and his wife, Monica, have three kids and live in Nashville, TN after years in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Erik enjoys international travel, his 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, and rooting for University of Tennessee and University of Arkansas teams.