Canadian company is image-maker to the stars

By: Jessica Hume
Special to Globe and Mail Update
Published Monday, Feb. 06, 2012 6:00AM EST

From a small office in Mississauga, Ont., entrepreneur Jesse DeCosta has done what many small Canadian business owners might only dream of. He’s cracked one of the toughest, most cut-throat and seemingly impenetrable markets: Hollywood.

He’s not just cracked it, but Mr. DeCosta and his global brand management and licensing company, DeCosta Marketing Inc., have cultivated a star-studded cast of clients and become indispensable to shaping the images of some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities – Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Kevin James, Lionel Ritchel, Donna Karan, Jordan Knight, and Robin Thicke, to name a few.

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That individual is 40-year-old Jesse DeCosta, who runs DeCosta Marketing Inc. A  significant aspect of DeCosta’s brand management and licensing company centres on some  of the big name celebrities he represents south of the border. They include the likes of  Michael Jackson’s family as well as actors and comedians Will Smith, Kevin James and Jamie Foxx. Also in DeCosta’s stable are: Donna Karan, Leah Remini, Jordan Knight, Wayne Brady and Kristoff St. John. The funny thing is, he lives in southern Ontario in virtual anonymity and yet he’s extremely well known in southern California by some of the premier celebrities in the world.

DeCosta, who has a staff of 15, works out of his beautiful home in Mississauga where he lives  with his wife Sandra and their two daughters, who are 11 and 9. Jesse met his wife at a family Jesse DeCosta, president of DeCosta Marketing, seen here brainstorming creative ideas from his office.

Christmas party in 1989. They were together for many years and married in 1996. He’s  only worked out of his home for the past two years after being convinced by others that he really did not need a downtown Toronto office when the vast majority of his clients are in Los Angeles, where he does maintain an office. Dropping the Toronto office also represented a savings of about $14,000 a month on rent.

As you’d expect, DeCosta has a very engaging, outgoing personality, which of course serves him well in his career. What makes his story that much more incredible is the fact he’s had  to earn everything the hard way, starting from extremely humble beginnings to a lifestyle  now that most people could only dream about.

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Published on Friday, January 13, 2012
Reported by: Emily Jackson, Staff Reporter

Jesse DeCosta never really talks about his career — no one believes him, anyway.

This Mississauga man quietly works behind the scenes managing the brand image of of Hollywood’s stars, including Michael Jackson’s family, Jamie Foxx and comedian Kevin James.

“It is ridiculous when you hear a Canadian in Mississauga is doing this,” Decosta said of DeCosta Marketing Inc., which has offices in the GTA and LA.

Serendipity, he believes, led him to his career rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. He advises his star studded clientele on a variety of things, such as which public engagements to accept, how to design a website or what a movie poster should look like. (Less glamorous clients include the Ontario Municipal Insurance Exchange.)

But it hasn’t always been jetting to LA to accompany Will Smith to appearances at the Grove.

The 40-year-old grew up in Edmonton, where his father struggled to find work as a draftsman during the recession. After five years of unemployment, his dad moved to Mississauga for a job, leaving his family behind. He died unexpectedly four months later. DeCosta’s mother had to sell everything and move her family to Toronto’s suburbs.

DeCosta, 15 at the time, started working right away. Creative, design-related projects appealed to him, as his father was also an artist. Around 1989, he started working for Sony Music in Canada, helping DJs and promoting artists any way he could.

His serendipitous moment came in 1999, when he met singer Deborah Cox through a lawyer. Cox hired him as a brand manager, and he’s worked with her ever since.

The tipping point came later that year when Cox’s manager started working for Will Smith. DeCosta says Smith became his client soon after — and his best sales person.

“Will is a pretty big calling card,” DeCosta said.

Over the past 12 years, DeCosta’s business has grown organically, he said. He has no sales people, and he doesn’t make cold calls.

“Hollywood is very tight knit — it’s all based on trust and word of mouth. If you work hard and do good for one individual, it spreads.”

Decosta’s most recent project is a website for the Jackson family. A fan of their music, he met them through his work with Tupac Shakur’s estate.

“You meet with a lot of people and you talk with a lot of people,” said Marlon Jackson, one of the Jackson 5 members, in a phone interview. “We liked what [DeCosta] was doing and decided we would move forward with it.”

The Jackson’s had never had a website before, making it hard for the people to know the “one true authentic side” of the family’s story, Jackson said. As entrepreneurs (Jackson has plans to launch a fashion line), he and DeCosta share a special understanding.

DeCosta spends 70 per cent of his time in Canada with his wife of 20 years and their two children, he said, although he travels frequently to New York and LA. A Mississauga native, his wife doesn’t want to move south but is “enjoying the ride” of DeCosta’s career, he said.

Working with superstars does have its perks. When his family goes to LA, DeCosta’s children, aged 9 and 11, can visit the sets of TV shows they like. “The kids love it,” DeCosta said. They’ve also been to celebrity birthday parties.

Considering DeCosta is a brand manager, it’s surprising few back home know about his career advising Hollywood icons.

“I don’t know why,” DeCosta said, joking that he’s more popular in California than he is in the GTA. “I guess we’ve never really promoted ourselves locally.”

As reported by TheStar.com

Photo by: Rick Eglington/ Toronto Star

Click here to hear the radio interview!

Canadian based entertainment brand management company, DECOSTA (www.decostainc.com) launches 2012 with the first-ever official Jacksons website, TheJacksons.com, supporting the company’s takeover of all licensing and marketing affairs for the legendary group.  

The new site will perform as an official source for fans around the world, providing access to authentic and rare information relating to the Jacksons, and brothers Jackie, Marlon, Tito, Randy, Jermaine and Michael Jackson. DECOSTA is also The Jacksons and The Jackson 5’s exclusive brand licensing representative.  TheJacksons.com will be home to exclusive content such as tour dates, philanthropic initiatives, photos, high definition video clips, concerts, never before seen Jackson family footage, memorabilia and much more.

TheJacksons.com has unique features including an historical timeline of how The Jacksons have impacted pop culture over the past 40 years. The timeline has an interactive archive of rare material including first time television appearances and concert pictures.

“We are thrilled to be working with DECOSTA on our first official website,” says Tito Jackson. “It’s a chance for fans, young and old, to learn about the Jacksons and more importantly, it’s the first time our fans can have a one-on-one connection to our family. Everything you see on here will be directly from us, the Jackson family.”

“Working with The Jacksons is a great honor, and truly something special,” says Jesse DeCosta, President and Founder of DECOSTA. “We believe that TheJacksons.com will serve as a source of authentic, factual and exciting information, dispelling the many myths about the family.  We’re thrilled to bring this to fans around world. The site showcases the many exciting events that the Jacksons have brought to pop culture and gives potential licensees a place to learn the deep value of the brand.”

Established in Toronto, Canada with offices in Los Angeles, DECOSTA brings over 15 years of official brand management and licensing experience with a roster of notable clientele including Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Robin Thicke, Willow Smith, Deborah Cox, Kevin James, Jordan Knight and more.

For DECOSTA, keeping fans engaged with compelling content, and respecting the artist, is the key to the company’s quiet success in Hollywood.  The agency’s vast resources include creative experience in film, television, music, video games, corporate marketing, and new media. DECOSTA helps extend the marketability of artists, entertainment brands, and lifestyle properties, developing new creative and business opportunities with a global network of licensing partners.

“The web is an ‘always on’ channel, with real-time access to anything you want,” says Jesse DeCosta, “With avenues of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, DECOSTA utilizes the web to connect audiences with clients brands, and build relationships.  All brands are a click away, and brand owners need to manage the interactions and communication online, or face irrelevance.  The experience you provide through your web content is what creates loyalty. Our team’s focus is on that experience, which leads to the growth of a very valuable, desired brand.”

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Available for Interviews:
Jesse DeCosta, President
The Jackson Brothers
(Jackie, Marlon & Tito Jackson)

For more information, please visit: www.decostainc.com

For more information on the Jacksons, please visit:
www.thejacksons.com

Follow DECOSTA on Twitter: @decostainc

Become a Fan of DECOSTA on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/D-E-C-O-S-T-A-Marketing

Become a Fan of the Jacksons on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jack5ons

For media inquiries please contact:
Pennant Media Group
Kevin Pennant  kp@pennantmediagroup.com   
Toronto 416.596.2978  
Los Angeles 855.596.2978

Client Response
I…just…keep…staring…at…our…
gorgeous….website…

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Staci Lawrence, Co-Founder

About Flash Mob America

Conroe Brooks and Staci Lawrence founded Flash Mob America with the sole purpose of creating joy through surprise. Some of Flash Mob America’s clients include “Modern Family,” “Rachael Ray,” “The Bachelorette,” Dell, Oscar Mayer, Suave, Oreo, American Red Cross, GLAAD and Heal the Bay.

In July 2009, Staci and Conroe – moved by Michael Jackson’s emotional memorial – produced the first American tribute to the late King of Pop by recreating Sweden’s “Beat It” flash mob. The following month they again honored Jackson with a flash mob on what would have been his 51st birthday. And then the unexpected: Universal Music Group hired the team to produce a flash mob to surprise the late pop icon’s sister, Janet Jackson. The national attention spread like wild fire and Flash Mob America was born. With Staci masterfully tackling the organizational details and Conroe managing the broad, creative strokes, the team truly and quickly became a force to be reckoned with.

Forging forward, Flash Mob America worked nonstop, teaming up with such billion-dollar brands as Oscar Mayer, to feed the hungry, and Charmin, to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, all the while growing its community base and holding true to the very nature of flash mobbing – giving back.

Now regarded as the industry’s flash-mob experts, Conroe and Staci have grown Flash Mob America into a full-service, national production company with an incredibly talented staff capable of handling all aspects of flash-mob production, including casting, choreography, music clearance and original composition, photography, filming, editing and extensive social networking.

For more information on Flash Mob America, please visit: http://www.flashmobamerica.com.

See for yourself at www.2pac.com

Read all the juicy details in our case-study.