Erika Bennett
Los Angeles, California
Overview
Erika is the Founder of Conscious Culture, her newly formed consultancy providing business, creative/marketing and social impact strategies to support the growth and equity of founders and brands. Erika brings 20 years of experience driving results for some of the world's most prestigious brands and has created meaningful and mutually beneficial brand/consumer relationships. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for M.A.D.D. where currently sits on the Finance Committee. She was recognized in 2018 as one of AdAge’s 40 under 40 and in 2016 as one of the Holmes Report’s Innovator
About
Erika is the Founder of Conscious Culture, her newly formed consultancy providing business, creative/marketing and social impact strategies to support the growth and equity of founders and brands. Erika brings 20 years of experience driving results for some of the world's most prestigious brands and has created meaningful and mutually beneficial brand/consumer relationships. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for M.A.D.D. where currently sits on the Finance Committee. She was recognized in 2018 as one of AdAge’s 40 under 40 and in 2016 as one of the Holmes Report’s Innovator 25. Erika served as Instagram’s Global Culture and Community Marketing lead where she helped drive the development and growth of a new department at Instagram designed to activate, enable and amplify emerging culture on the platform by supporting underrepresented communities who are often at the epicenter of culture but do not often get the credit for it. She was instrumental in developing Instagram’s community marketing strategy. Erika also served as Global Head of Entertainment, Education and Diversity Creator Marketing at YouTube where she oversaw YouTube's creator marketing programs in the entertainment, education and diversity and inclusion verticals. This includes working cross-functionally to drive business strategy, product innovation and developing diversity marketing programs that super-served these audiences against business and creator goals. Also while at YouTube, she was the Global Head of Social and Influencer Marketing, where she oversaw global digital marketing and influencer strategy for YouTube Originals (globally) and YouTube TV. In her tenure, she delivered YouTube Original’s first breakout scripted hit, Cobra Kai, while leading social and influencer efforts in support of YouTube TV’s tentpole sports marketing sponsorships of the NBA and MLB. Previously, she was senior vice president of multicultural marketing at Allied Global. Under her nearly five-year leadership, she shepherded the division to unprecedented year-over-year growth in new business and helped drive groundbreaking campaigns that delivered record-breaking results for such successes as ABC’s “black-ish”, NBC’s “The Wiz Live!” Netflix and Marvel’s “Luke Cage” and theatrical phenoms HIDDEN FIGURES, FENCES, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, RIDE ALONG and the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. The unparalleled evolution of the division was driven by innovation where Erika worked to expand the department’s capabilities including content creation, digital, influencer marketing and social strategy.