Meet Marissa of Inglewood and Viewpark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa.

Hi Marissa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My parents used to say to me, “Marissa, you are so full of sh!t, your eyes have tuned Brown!” I took it as a compliment! I knew that I was always filled with creative stories and interesting ways to see life. So, when it came time for me to make a career for myself, advertising felt like a natural path forward. I could make a living, from being full of “it”!

Before I share my professional journey, I want to give some personal background on who I am. I went from Cleveland to Howard University, to spending well over a decade in New York City; before finding my true loves in Los Angeles – my Husband, my Home and our spoiled Hound. My husband and I settled down in a very special MCM home, with a great history and an amazing pedigree. We were fortunate to make our family into three when we experience a “failed foster” that led to 10 years with the world’s most special Boxer. I am eternally grateful for the personal life I’ve been given.

Professionally, I’ve achieved a long string of unique accomplishments. Most, I did not set out to do, but the feeling of satisfaction and pride they all bring is certainly welcomed. I started my career at BBDO Media and ended up working within the Omnicom system for thirty years. While at Omnicom, I was a part of the small but mighty Content team that was responsible for helping to launch now iconic programming like, “Survivor”, “The Biggest Loser” and “Top Chef”. We worked on one of the most successful films of all time, “Castaway” with Tom Hanks, integrating the FedEx seen on screen. On behalf of our clients we co-created some of the era’s most well-known “TV” content platform, including “Rock n’ Jock”, “The Last Chance Kitchen” and “Shark Week”.

I’ve been recognized for my work with Cannes Lions, Ad Age Woman of the Year, Reggie Awards, Forbes “50 over 50” Notice, Creative Media Awards, CUP Catalyst Award, MediaWeek Awards, ANA Multicultural Awards, Campaign Female Frontier Award, Cynopsis It List Award, Clio Awards and a Telly Award. I’ve been a Board Member of The Harlem YMCA, The Apollo Theater, She Run’s It, The Alzheimer’s Association and GLAAD. I’m a published author in “International Sponsorships”, “What I Know Is Me”, “Digital Marketing Tactics”, and “The Art of Branded Entertainment”. The first and only book written by a Cannes jury.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve always said, the name of my memoir will be, “The Only Chip in the Cookie”. I’ve been in marketing and advertising for decades, and sadly, I STILL find myself to be one of (or maybe two of) people in the room who look and sound like me. It makes no sense when you think about the goal of advertising, which is to craft messages that attract audience spending for products or services. When you are the “only” voice in a room, I have found you are challenged more, you are contradicted more, you are canceled more. In order for your voice to be meaningful, you sometimes find yourself being the loudest, which then attracts stereotypes and tropes about who you are as a person. I can tell you firsthand, it’s not a fun place to be. You feel diminished and frustrated. It takes significant strength and resolve to stay the course and make a difference. Not just for yourself, but for your community and for those who follow behind.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Advertising/Marketing/Creative Agency

I pride myself in being one of the globe’s leading experts in building and monetizing brands using custom/original content and IP. I launched Native Tongue Communications to capitalize on that expertise, Here at NTC we understands the basic A, B, C’s of marketing. Audience – Brand – Commerce. We aren’t afraid of tomorrow’s algorithm, because we’ve future-proofed our role today. We keep it SIMPLE. We keep it STRAIGHTFORWARD. We keep it SANE.

We’ve repeatedly proven to be the leader in Finding, Understanding, Engaging, and Retaining the audiences our clients need for revenue growth. At NTC we have; achieved over $10,000,000 in cost savings for our clients, worked with over a Dozen Fortune 300 corporations, won over 20 of the advertising industry’s top awards, successfully launched over 10 new brands and consistently beat our target benchmarks by over 100%.

• We develop proprietary MICROcultural™ audiences – We know the Riches are in the Niches
• We inject our proprietary 0P/1P data with the inherent MICROcultural™ insights we’ve created – We know what pushes someone from a Follower to a Fan
• We generate immediately impactful audience messaging and content – We know how to create campaign content that inspires Action vs Apathy
• We plan and buy media campaigns, with our proprietary programmatic solution – We know what organic and authentic reach looks like, because we are OF and FROM those same communities.
• We don’t talk about what we’ve accomplished, we celebrate what we’ve achieved – We know satisfaction isn’t completing the Common Task, it’s exceeding the Measurable Goal.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
LOVE/My neighborhood – DIS-LIKE Traffic

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nativetonguecommunications.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nativetonguecommunications/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NativeTongueCommunications
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissanance/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@speakingintongues3664