Translating Urban Celebrity Appeal For The Fortune 500

At Sony, Stoute became interested in the blending of music and consumer products, after the success of Will Smith’s tie-in with Ray-Ban sunglasses for the film “Men in Black” in 1997. Stoute eventually teamed with Peter Arnell, the head of AG Brand Consulting, in 2001 to form the advertising agency PASS. The duo spearheaded Reebok’s 2002 “Sounds and Rhythm of Sport” campaign, which debuted the company’s latest kicks in music stores, along with a run of ads featuring Jadakiss and Allen Iverson. Arnell and Stoute sold PASS to Omnicom Group Inc., leading Stoute to strike out on his own.

“When I first started, using my entertainment credentials was key,” he said. “Because I was in the record business, it gave me a chance to bring a unique perspective to the table.”

Stoute’s background may have gotten him a seat at the table, but he’s been able to stay there because of his concepts. The CEO has written general market strategy for such companies as State Farm and was instrumental in engineering McDonald’s recent multi-year partnership with Lebron James.

Datri of the AAF bristled at the idea of Stoute being pigeonholed as a minority marketer or entertainment advertiser. “Steve’s work,” he said, “reaches into many communities because he’s a true innovator.”

Rounding out his credits as an all-around mogul, Stoute has invested his time and money into growing one of the most successful black-owned beauty businesses, Carol’s Daughter. Once a mom-and-pop operation out of Brooklyn, NY, Carol’s Daughter now has nine stores across the country and can be found in Macy’s and Sephora.

“Steve was one of the first people to look at Carol’s Daughter as a beauty brand,” said Lisa Price, the founder of Carol’s Daughter. “He had respect for what I had built and understood the hard work that it took to get there. And he basically said ‘you could be so much more and I know how to get you there.’ ”

Price and Stoute met through a mutual friend in 2003, after Stoute said he recognized true growth potential in Price’s company. “There was just no way for her to get a platform to sell the products that she made with so much love and attention on a larger scale,” he said. “She didn’t have the capital or access.”

But Stoute certainly did. A little over a year after meeting Price, he brought on Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith as investors. “Lisa had the passion, but just needed somebody to build the vision; that’s what I’m gifted at,” he said.

Meanwhile, Stoute has grand visions for his own passion. A year after he sold Translations LLC to Interpublic Group, one of the largest advertising and marketing firms in the world, he started Translation Advertising with Jay-Z in 2008. Focused on multicultural accounts, Stoute has been able to utilize his experience to hone in on the lucrative niche market.

“The fact that the young-adult consumer is now a desired target for a lot of companies, and the fact that we were fully invested in that consumer years ago, has given us tremendous opportunity and leverage to grow the company.”