Mark Dowley is an entrepreneur and veteran marketer currently holding positions as the Chairman of DDCD & Partners, a strategic marketing consultancy, and the Chief Strategy Officer at MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, LLC, a multibillion dollar diversified corporate enterprise headed by Ronald O. Perelman.
Dowley has a unique understanding of consumer behavior which, throughout his career, has enabled him to connect established brands with new audiences. His creativity and ability to cultivate these relationships has led to his clients’ continued success and the elevation of their brands. From positioning Lady Gaga as the creative director of Polaroid and pairing Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Laird Hamilton and Shaun White with American Express to aligning Ellen DeGeneres with Vitamin Water and dozens of other novel branding partnerships, Dowley has consistently been able to leverage this ability and his vast experience within corporate America to the benefit of his clients.
In addition, Dowley advises American Express across several business categories specifically providing counsel for enhanced on and offline retail strategies for Cardmembers. He also has a proven track record in leveraging digital applications to scale events to reach even broader audiences. Most recently Dowley conceived a virtual sports stadium in support of Delete Blood Cancer, an initiative of DKMS. The M. Harf Stadium, named for Mechtild Harf, the beloved wife of DKMS Founder Peter Harf, was created online to extend what was a terrestrial event at Yankee Stadium into the digital space.
Dowley is perhaps best recognized for creating the concept of Artists in Residence as it applies to marketing and for bringing together talent and corporations in partnerships that are not only mutually beneficial but that also remain socially conscious – as he famously did in co-founding PRODUCT (RED), a global marketing initiative with American Express, Giorgio Armani, Motorola, Nike, and Apple to combat AIDS in Africa, with partners Bono, Bobby Shriver and John Hayes. Some of Dowley’s current and former clients include: American Express, Revlon, Hewlett Packard, Nutrisystem, Mattel, Electronic Arts, Time Warner, MSLO, Hanes and Bacardi-Martini.
As a former partner at William Morris Endeavor he was responsible for guiding the agency’s marketing efforts and creating new business opportunities for clients. Prior to that he was the chairman and chief executive officer of IPSEG, a division of The Interpublic Group of companies and vice chairman of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, where he was the youngest member ever to join McCann’s board of directors. Earlier in his career, Dowley ran Momentum Worldwide, the event and experiential marketing unit of McCann-Erickson that was IPG’s fastest-growing unit for four years running, and was named the top event marketing and sales promotion company in the world by Advertising Age. While at Momentum, he was instrumental in creating Olympic Centennial Park at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, bringing in corporate sponsors including AT&T and General Motors while overseeing construction of the venue, and in helping American Express sign Tiger Woods for all of its marketing activities.
Dowley’s work and his proficiency for developing partnerships have been recognized by several industry publications and through numerous accolades. He has appeared on Crain’s New York Business’ prestigious “Forty Under 40” list and was a three-time inductee to the same list in Sports Business Journal. Currently, Dowley is a member of the board of trustees of the United States Olympic Ski and Snowboard Association and sits on the board of directors of the New York Police Department’s Finest Foundation as well as the board of directors of the Child Mind Institute.
Mark Dowley 