With a world-wide reputation for creating deep consumer connections while driving explosive revenue growth, Omar Johnson was voted one of the most innovative CMOs in America by Business Insider and a “Brand Genius” by Adweek. Johnson is best-known for his ground-breaking work as Beats’ first CMO and employee #3, where he leveraged the power of B2H (Business to Human) marketing to drive sales from $20 million to $2 billion becoming the #1 headphones brand in the world before being acquired by Apple for $3 billion.
A strong proponent of majority-female teams, Omar brings an empowering take on diversity, seeing it not as Black and white, but about one color: green. “The best brands start with the best people,” he says. “The larger the pool of ideas and experiences, the more money you’ll make.” A popular speaker with Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Salesforce, and ServiceNow, Omar shares a playbook for success that any organization can leverage.
More About Omar Johnson
A former pre-med student and self-professed science nerd who discovered a talent and passion for marketing, Omar Johnson began his career amplifying international brands at Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta. His experience led to stints at Kraft Foods (Chips Ahoy) and Campbell’s Soup (Pace Salsa) before being recruited to work at Nike. There, he rose from a junior role to producing some of Nike’s most memorable TV commercials, including “Rise,” starring LeBron James; “All Together Now,” featuring Kobe Bryant; and “The Most Valuable Puppets.”
In 2010, Johnson became employee #3 at Beats by Dr. Dre, taking the helm as CMO. He played a pivotal role in transforming Beats from a company struggling to make a name for itself into a cultural icon and a market leader in the headphones industry. Leveraging the power of B2H (Business to Human) marketing he drove sales from $20 million to $2 billion, becoming the #1 headphones brand in the world before being acquired by Apple for $3 billion.
Highlights of his tenure include an athlete hangout at the London Olympics in which each attendee left with a parting gift of Beats customized with their country’s flag. The Olympics experience went viral around the world, increasing international sales by 600%. Johnson was also tapped to promote Dr. Dre’s 2015 biopic, Straight Outta Compton, resulting in the “Straight Outta Somewhere” meme generator that allowed people to customize with their hometown. Within 24 hours, “Straight Outta Somewhere” became the #1 trending topic on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, something that no other brand has achieved. It remains one of the most successful social media phenomena of all time.
After Beats was acquired, Johnson moved to Apple as Vice President of Marketing before founding his own Beverly Hills-based brand management firm, ØPUS United. At ØPUS, Johnson, one of the top 100 Black Thought Leaders (Blacklist 100), leads a multi-disciplined collective of award-winning executives, athletes, strategists, data scientists, and musicians who understand how to power world-class brands and generate world-class revenue. The company is built on a time-tested methodology called “Culture-Centric Design,” which gleans insights from those who drive consumer behavior in popular culture. These big ideas only get bigger when the ØPUS team adds their diverse backgrounds, languages, lifestyles, and POVs.
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Through his work with ØPUS United, Johnson has helped develop initiatives, such as “We the People” and “We Got Next,” encouraging conversations around racial equity and the empowerment of younger generations to take action. Johnson also serves on the boards of Qualtrics and Theragun.
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Johnson received a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Georgia State University and an MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.