I came across comments made by my colleague and friend Hadji Williams in his blog where he says about the Stoute/Jay-Z Interpublic deal
And to think Interpublic won’t hire black people who are trained ad professionals, but they’ll hire Jay-Z and Steve Stoute–a former record label exec–as ad men?
Screw going to portfolio school, getting an MBA and learning the ad biz inside out. Aspiring Black ad professionals should just work on making hit records…. that’s clearly the best way to get hired in the ad biz.
Though I am one who has had issues with the love affair brands and largely disconnected and clueless executives have had with Stoute, I have real issues with Hadji’s comments. For me, my issues revolved around the countless times I went into a meeting and faced what I would call the “Stoute Halo.” It would usually take place in a pitch meeting with a brand where they would look at my background and celebrity relationships and ask, “Can you get X-Celebrity and/or Jay-Z on the phone or involved in our program?” Here I was a small business owner trying to prove my worth as a legimate brand strategist and once again I was dumbed down to the black guy who was being looked at to “wrangle a …
Posted on Feb 11.08 to Uncategorized Comments
It’s safe to assume the annual December “powerbroker” trip to St. Barths this year involved some time plotting career moves for Shawn Carter and Steve Stoute. (this picture looks like a shot from the airport) Stoute was riding high from a recent sale of his agency, Translation Marketing to interpublic for a conservative $10 Million. Jay-Z was getting ready to announce his exit from post at Def Jam, a gig that had lost its allure due to a record business that is in the toilet. For those speculating for the last few days in the blogosphere, the rumor has become reality. Today’s NYT reports that Jay-Z’s next move will be to create Translation Advertising with partner Steve Stoute and formalize something that has been happening anyway over the last few years. For those close to Translation it was not uncommon for Stoute to spend hours on the phone with Carter coming up with ideas and programs for brands. Now the two have a company umbrella to call home and I’m sure Interpublic will be bending over backwards to make the venture a success. Money seems to chase both Stoute and Carter and this will be a successful venture we are sure. No talk of a digital arm, nor interactive advertising component yet, but even in
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Posted on Feb 09.08 to Uncategorized Comments
