Chief Executive Officer and Founder? ???
135th Street Agency
New York City
Age: 35
Marketing maven Shante Bacon is the founder and CEO of 135th Street Agency, a strategic communications and experiential marketing firm that specializes in campaigns reaching the youth consumer and business professional. Prior to starting the company, Bacon was the senior director of marketing at Island Def Jam Music Group. ?I?m proud of the fact that 135th Street Agency was an idea and now, seven years later, it?s a real company that wins awards and has a great staff that is growing into the PR experts of tomorrow,? says Bacon, who received a 2010 Mosaic Award from the American Advertising Federation for a City of Miami social media marketing campaign. The agency recently launched a highly successful campaign for the Screen Gems film Think Like a Man, which spent two weeks at No.1 at the box office, knocking The Hunger Games out of its top spot with a $33 million opening.
Think Like a Man was followed by Marvel?s The Avengers, which had the highest-grossing opening of all time when it debuted at $200 million. The combination of these projects resulted in 135th celebrating four consecutive weeks of No.1-box-office films.While Bacon has learned from many of the powerhouse professionals she has encountered over the years, she reserves special mention for longtime mentors and record industry executives Kevin Liles and Julie Greenwald, who groomed her in the entertainment business. ?I draw inspiration from people who live outside of their comfort zone and aren?t afraid of insanely hard work,? says Bacon, who graduated from Hampton University with a bachelor?s degree in marketing. What?s next for Bacon and 135th? The company was just named agency of record for WE TV?s digital marketing and PR. It is also spearheading PR campaigns for the highly anticipated films Sparkle and Spike Lee?s Red Hook Summer.
Fun Facts
Favorite comedian: Bill Maher
Favorite charity: NBA Cares
Favorite book: The Power of Nice
