Vlad Sitnikov

Creative director and academician of Russian advertising. Partner at the creative agency GRAPE, founder of beztendera.rf and the Club of Creative Directors, publisher and editor-in-chief of hot-digital.ru.

Vlad (Vladilen) Sitnikov is a Russian creative director and entrepreneur in advertising and media. He founded the creative agency Hungry Boys in 2012, has been a partner at GRAPE since 2004, launched the orbital display startup StartRocket in 2018, and in 2023 started beztendera.rf. Projects for which he was creative director or author of the idea have collected hundreds of awards, including Cannes Lions, Webby Awards, Clio, Red Dot, Epica, Awwwards, FWA, The One Show, Golden Hammer, Cristal, Globes, PIAF and Golden Drum.

Career

1999 Starts as a designer at Cyber Grocery, the first online supermarket in Russia.
2002 Begins working with the agency GRAPE; becomes a partner in 2004. Leads new services and promotes interactive media in communication between consumers and brands.
2012 Founds the creative agency Hungry Boys (ex Wunderman Russia, WPP), later part of the Possible group.
2018 Launches the startup StartRocket (startrocket.me) with the task of putting an orbital display into Earth orbit.
2021–2023 Brand director of Skillbox: the #1 brand among online education platforms in Russia.
2023 Launches beztendera.rf, a revolution in the market of creative services.
2026 beztendera.rf grows into ideibeztendera.rf, the first marketplace of creators' ideas.

Ventures and projects

since 2023 beztendera.rf — founder and managing partner. A platform for buying creative ideas without tenders; in 2026 it grew into ideibeztendera.rf, the first marketplace of creators' ideas.
since 2026 ideibeztendera.rf — founder. The first marketplace of creators' ideas.
since 2004 GRAPE — partner. Strategic campaigns, digital products, brand growth.
since 2015 Club of Creative Directors — founder. A professional community of leaders of the creative industry.
since 2010 hot-digital — co-founder, publisher and editor-in-chief. A media outlet about digital communications and the industry.
since 2018 StartRocket — co-founder. Orbital display, a new medium in space, and a low-cost space debris catcher (Foam Debris Catcher).
since 2025 unmute — co-founder. Telegram strategies, content systems and media ecosystems.
Big Picture Festival — co-founder. A festival of production companies: exchange of experience and partnerships.
Disrupt Marketing School — author of the programme. Strategic marketing and effective advertising campaigns.
since 2026 NextSpeedReader — author. A speed-reading app (350 pages in 3 hours): PDF, EPUB, FB2; iPhone, iPad, Mac.

Awards and juries

Selected work with independently confirmed awards. The full list by case, year and festival is on the Russian page.

2022 ЖизньПосле (Grape): Grand Prix, Perspectum 2023; 33 awards and shortlists in total
2019 Our Sea (Possible): Best of the Best, Red Dot 2019; 20 awards and shortlists in total
2020 Monument to delivery workers (Hungry Boys / Possible): Gold, Итоги года (Sostav) 2020; 5 awards and shortlists in total
2019 Beware of Bots (Possible): Gold, MIXX Russia 2019; 37 awards and shortlists in total
2016 #HatePiano (Hungry Boys): Gold, Идея! 2016; 5 awards and shortlists in total
2016 Coffee is not a Drug (Кофе не наркотик) (Possible / Hungry Boys): Gold, ADCR 2017; 42 awards and shortlists in total
2016 Get Lost. Get Natural (Hungry Boys): Gold, Tagline 2016; 12 awards and shortlists in total
2016 Sound of Change (Hungry Boys): Gold, Tagline 2016; 30 awards and shortlists in total
2014 Animal Not Found (Hungry Boys): Gold, Kyiv International Advertising Festival 2014; 24 awards and shortlists in total
2013 Crush the speed (Hungry Boys): Gold, Kyiv International Advertising Festival 2014; 8 awards and shortlists in total
2018 Goodbye to the Middle Ages! (Possible): Silver, Tagline 2018; 21 awards and shortlists in total
2016 KFC in online game (Hungry Boys): Silver, ADCR 2016; 11 awards and shortlists in total
2015 Words can save (Hungry Boys): Silver, ADCR 2015; 16 awards and shortlists in total
2014 KFC Bucket (Hungry Boys): Silver, Серебряный Меркурий 2014; 5 awards and shortlists in total

Jury and academies

Chair of the C.CREATIVITY jury block at the Silver Mercury festival (last two years).
Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (Webby Awards); academician of the Russian Academy of Advertising (RACA) since January 2018; co-chair of the digital committee of RACA.
Juror at The One Show, ADC Europe, Epica Awards, New York Festivals, Kyiv International Advertising Festival, WINA, Red Apple, Effie Russia, ADC Russia, AD STARS, White Square and Red Jolbors.

Talks and teaching

Speaker at more than 100 conferences; organiser of Digital Transformation in Russia and the Disrupt Marketing Conference. Has taught at HSE, Skolkovo, IKRA and U-University. Author of the programme of the Disrupt Marketing School. Lecture topics include AI and the future of creativity, Telegram as a brand ecosystem, how to generate ideas, building an advertising campaign, brand and branding, and why advertising is the best profession on earth.

How Vlad can help

Brands: business growth, brand building, communications strategy, Telegram 360 (channels, bots, CRM integration, funnels), agency relations and briefing, creative sprints, building a marketing or creative department.
Agencies: operations upgrade, growth and capitalisation, new business strategy, creative methods, ratings, entries for Cannes and other festivals.
Personally: personal sessions on creativity and communication; team facilitation.

FAQ

Who is Vlad Sitnikov?

Vlad (Vladilen) Sitnikov is a Russian creative director and entrepreneur in advertising and media: academician of the Russian Academy of Advertising, partner at the creative agency GRAPE, founder of beztendera.rf and the Club of Creative Directors, and publisher and editor-in-chief of hot-digital.ru. He began his career in 1999 as a designer at Cyber Grocery, the first online supermarket in Russia.

What companies and projects did Vlad Sitnikov found?

The creative agency Hungry Boys (2012), StartRocket (2018, orbital display), the Club of Creative Directors (2015), hot-digital.ru (2010), beztendera.rf (2023) and ideibeztendera.rf (2026), unmute (2025), and Big Picture Festival. He is also the author of the Disrupt Marketing School programme and the speed-reading app NextSpeedReader.

What is beztendera.rf?

A project launched by Vlad Sitnikov in October 2023 as a new way to buy creative services without tenders. In 2026 it grew into ideibeztendera.rf, the first marketplace of creators' ideas.

Which awards have Vlad Sitnikov's cases won?

Work with Vlad as creative director or idea author has collected hundreds of awards and shortlists, among them Cannes Lions, One Show, Epica, Red Dot, Webby, Clio, Awwwards, FWA, Golden Drum, Silver Mercury, Effie Russia, Red Apple, ADCR and White Square. He has also served on festival juries and chairs the C.CREATIVITY jury block at Silver Mercury.

Is Vlad Sitnikov the same person as other people with this name?

No. This site is about Vlad (Vladilen) Sitnikov, the creative director, founder of Hungry Boys and partner at GRAPE, creator of StartRocket and beztendera.rf. Other spellings in print are Vladilen Sitnikov and Vladlen Sitnikov.