Innovator — Joseph Anthony
Innovator — Joseph Anthony
As one of the nation’s foremost experts on culture, Gen z, and Millennials, Joseph “Joe” Anthony, CEO and founder of both Hero Collective and Hero Media, is here to throw out the textbook on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Having never stepped foot in an advertising agency or graduated college, this public school kid from Queens, son of a Puerto Rican Vietnam war veteran and immigrant mother from Jamaica, Joe’s whole career has been about overcoming adversity and defying the odds. Evidenced by an entrepreneurial career that started at the age of 23, when most people his age were just entering the workplace, Joe was already consulting for big brands like Hush Puppies, Coca Cola and Tommy Hilfiger. At 27, Joe Anthony started a full service events agency, after being awarded a piece of the US Army recruiting contract, making him the youngest CEO to ever be awarded part of a military contract. At 30 years old, Joe was running a multi-million-dollar, 80-person agency, representing brands like Allstate Insurance, Nintendo, Boost Mobile and countless others
You may ask, how a Black, public-school kid from Queens, NY in his early 20’s, with little to no experience generated so much success at an early age. Aside from an unmatched work ethic, Anthony leveraged his unique understanding of America’s youth, consumer lifestyle trends and culture to carve out a niche for himself, positioning him as a subject matter expert amongst demographics most marketers ignored. To this day, Anthony is considered one of the nation’s foremost experts on culture driven marketing.
After closing his events agency in 2014, Anthony launched Hero Collective (www.herocollective.co) in 2015, a full service creative agency focused on leveraging the power of culture and creativity to help brands build their share of a future that is becoming more inherently diverse. Under his leadership, in 8 short years, Hero Collective boasts over 100 employees and is already one of the fastest growing minority owned marketing firms in the country, with a client roster that includes Johnson and Johnson, Lenovo, HP, Nike, Jordan Brand and Shell Gasoline. Most recently, Anthony has launched Hero Media (https://www.heromediainc.com/), a digital-first media and advertising technology company that is focused on helping advertisers make qualified investments in diverse owned media brands and more efficiently build share with diverse consumers globally. Hero Media, recently announced the launch of Hero One, the first Black owned DSP in the world, optimized to reach diverse audiences through machine learning and advanced data science.
Anthony is also known for his activism and his willingness to be vocal when it comes to racial and social injustice as well as economic empowerment. In an effort to drive greater attention to the growing economic divide in America, Anthony has recently co-founded Blackweek, the first Economic Forum in the world dedicated to diversity. However, Anthony’s greatest source of pride is his commitment to his family and community. Anthony is a devout husband and a loving father to both Naima and Jaden and an active member of his community in Brooklyn in which he has lived in for 25 years