Professional
Beginning his career in account management at SSC&B:LINTAS, Mr. Robinson quickly rose through the ranks to become the agency’s first African American Vice President before moving on to Grey Advertising, where he was also their first African American vice president. Over the years, Mark has worked for Clairol, Lipton Tea, Pillsbury, Coors Light, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, HBO, Harrah’s Entertainment, Diageo, the U.S. Army and others. Mark also served as a member of the Multicultural Marketing Leadership Council of the American Advertising Federation, and as a national touring lecturer for the Advertising Education Foundation and is an ongoing mentor for MAIP (Minority Advertising Internship Program) for the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
In just the first 12 years of his career, Mark has helped to develop and launch seven new product brands, going from concept brainstorm to store shelf. Every one has been successful, most are leaders in their categories. This invaluable experience has taught Mark the secrets of how to build “something from nothing” and fueled his highly successful entrepreneurial career.
During his tenure at The UniWorld Group (1990 – 96) Mark began more than 25 years in multicultural consumer marketing. In 1997, Robinson was chosen for his considerable expertise in this field by creative icon, Spike Lee to launch and manage a new agency, Spike/DDB. Mark was co-founder and Managing Director, building the agency from virtual start-up to a $35 million dollar phenomenon in one year. Mr. Robinson has been featured in Fortune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Advertising Age.
In 1998, Mark left the ad business for a few years to start his own company, Heritage Apparel, an internet-based clothing company that celebrated African American history and heroes. For its authenticity and craftsmanship, the Heritage Apparel Tuskegee Airmen leather aviator jacket was acquired by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. In 1999, Heritage Apparel was recognized by Black Enterprise as one of the “Top 10 Minority Companies in eCommerce.”
"I am an entrepreneur. Since I was 10 years old and had the largest lawn mowing service in the neighborhood, I have been a lifelong entrepreneur. I love starting things and building things. I started a successful business in college and employed 20 other students. In my professional career, I have launched two companies of my own and launched companies for other people.”
In 2001, Mark Robinson brought the holding company concept to multicultural marketing and was recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year for the successful launch of his next company, S/R Communications Alliance; the industry’s very first 100% minority-owned network of 10 multicultural advertising companies, with combined business of $225 million.
In 2007, Mark was asked to step in as Chief Operating Officer for the Consumer Group at CommonHealth (now Ogilvy CommonHealth), one of the nation’s largest healthcare advertising agencies. He was brought onboard to rebuild the agency’s staff and raise the standard of strategic and tactical delivery for their clients at a time when the agency was in desperate need of turn-around.
Beginning in 2016, Mark served as the Senior Vice President of Carol H. Williams Advertising, the nation’s only major advertising and marketing firm that is 100% black-owned and woman- owned, and was responsible for building and maintaining relationships with senior management across all of the agency’s clients.
For the past 20 years, Mark has had an enviable portfolio of private consulting clients, including The Centers for Disease Control, GE Capital, IBM, Lockheed Martin and the New Haven Housing Authority. For the Department of Homeland Security, Mark led/conducted management training and leadership training skills workshops for senior level department staff in the context of high stress/urgent deliverables. Mark was a strategic advisor to AOL’s Marketing division during the ISP’s dynamic transformation from a subscription to an advertising-based business.
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Past member of the AAF (American Advertising Federation) Multicultural Marketing Leadership Council.
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National multicultural marketing touring lecturer for the AEF (Advertising Education Foundation).
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Recipient of the 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from New Ventures magazine.
Mark’s professional career spans over 40 years that include an amazing record of experience at some of advertising’s leading agencies, including LINTAS, Grey Advertising, The UniWorld Group and Spike-DDB.