Two businesses founded by former music-industry exec Steve Stoute — marketing technology agency Translation Enterprises and artist services firm UnitedMasters — are joining forces to produce new culture-based marketing insights under the leadership of former Nielsen exec Damian Garbaccio.
Garbaccio, who has joined Translation Enterprises as president, is tasked with unifying Translation and UnitedMasters’s creative, data and music offerings into a “brand-to-culture” platform. The unified business will help brands get a bead on cultural trends before they hit the mainstream to engage audiences based on shared affinities, according to Garbaccio.
“We’re getting into the audience and data business,” Garbaccio said. “It’s actionable data that a brand can choose to use in media buying or planning. We’re in the sweet spot to capture cultural sentiment and cultural currency.”
Translation’s creative business comprises about 140 employees and UnitedMasters’ staff is about 40. Garbaccio’s leadership, the unified company plans to make additional hires in data analytics and data sciences areas. The company’s headquarters is in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood.
At Nielsen, Garbaccio most recently was EVP, advertiser direct and marketing cloud, leading the company’s brand-direct and marketing technology businesses. Before joining Nielsen, Garbaccio held several positions in marketing technology, digital advertising and media, including global chief revenue officer of eXelate, which was acquired by Nielsen, and was head of business development at AOL’s Advertising.com.
“Damian has a strong history of developing data and advertising tech-driven products that deliver value for brands,” Stoute said in announcing Garbaccio’s hire. “He has a unique understanding of how to apply data and cultural insights to help brands realize growth and connect with next-generation audiences.”
In 2017, Stoute’s UnitedMasters raised received $70 million from investors including Alphabet Inc. and Andreessen Horowitz.
In the near term, Garbaccio will work to enhance UnitedMasters’ artist solutions to broker opportunities for collaboration among independent artists and brands. Recently, UnitedMasters announced a partnership with Take-Two Interactive”NBA 2K” to have UnitedMasters artists featured on the game’s 2K20 soundtrack. UnitedMasters also has inked deals for emerging artists with brands including Bose and AT&T.