Joseph Anthony acknowledged something basic early in his marketing career; “the generation that follows mine are consumers.” To Mr. Anthony it did not matter if they were thought of as narcissistic and lazy, or do-gooders, he drilled down to the essential truths upon which they made their buying decisions. Once these truths were uncovered, his genius has been in embracing them and making them his own. At first with VITAL inc. and now Hero, a full service creative agency that focused on marketing to millennials.
Anthony has the vision, passion, and courage to immerse himself in the bedrock motivational truths of the generation we call millennials and do amazing marketing work for so many companies. Anthony is someone bound to continue doing amazing work for clients – as he has for so many years.
Anthony, a graduate of Boston University, started as a marketing manager for the New York Times in 1995 and has not looked back since. Following his two year stint with The Times he spent a couple years as a consultant with JWT, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Coca Cola..
Then in 2000 he flexed his marketing muscles by founding VITAL Marketing where he nurtured his understanding of experiential marketing focusing on America’s youth. He served as CEO of this brand builder from 2000 to 2015 where in 2001, at the age of 29, he became the youngest agency owner to ever land the U.S Army as a client. His intimate knowledge of generation Y helped the Department of Defense rebrand the military and make soldiering a legitimate career option.
Earlier this year Anthony started Hero, where he is known as the CEO & the Chief Hero.
Hero grasps that the group from 15 to 33 does not see profit as a dirty word, that they are fueled by this new notion that making a profit and making a difference are two sides of the same coin. You won’t find Mad Men advertising hucksters or big-boob redhead sex objects at Hero, instead you will find a group centered on a mission; helping their clients find their “super power.”
Anthony has infused his new venture with the belief that “ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things,” and that “it only takes one great idea to change the world.” The millennial generation doesn’t want to know if your product is bigger or bolder, they want to know why you made the product in the first place! Hero is in the business of helping build brands that communicate their passion and core values. The marketers at Hero believe that their clients must build relationships rather than only attract customers.
As Joseph Anthony puts it, “our clients must think about going beyond the transactional to the transformational.”
Hero Group Inc. is the marketing agency committed to helping companies do amazing things.
