Danny Wimmer Presents Opens Standalone BrandMark Agency, Led By EVP Maureen Valker-Barlow (Exclusive)

Valker-Barlow joined DWP in 2019 after years of branding partnership experience at agencies, labels and promoters, highly regarded for her ability to create original experiential marketing activations that resonate with fans and create lasting brand loyalty. 

“Since joining us 18 months ago, Maureen has turned an in-house department into a fully functioning business entity,” says DWP CEO Danny Hayes. “Giving her the freedom to plot BrandMark’s course in conjunction with our festival needs was a natural extension of her leadership and business skills. Her ability to generate business and create opportunity for our partners during COVID-19 encouraged Danny Wimmer and me to invest in this next logical step of Maureen’s career.”

The agency’s website is at thebrandmarkagency.com/

Since joining DWP, Valker-Barlow has continued to build the company’s full-service sponsorship and marketing agency, with current sponsorship and branding partners including Anheuser-Busch, BMG, Bushmills Irish Whiskey®, Cantu Beauty, Jack Daniel’s, KAMP (K-Pop Festival), Kona Brewing Co., Manic Panic, Proof Media Mix, Rockstar Energy Drink, Shelter Music Group and Zenni Optics, among others.

While Valker-Barlow remains heavily involved in DWP’s core festivals such as Aftershock, Louder Than Life, Sonic Temple, Welcome To Rockville and others, BrandMark will work with separate talent agencies, management companies and even non-affiliated festivals and events. 

“At BrandMark we’re doing a lot of talent representation,” Valker-Barlow tells Pollstar. “The first thing we do is talk to the talent and find out what’s important to them. What are they passionate and where do they want to be in the brand partnership space? My favorite question is if you could be a spokesperson for any company, who would it be? Let’s go try to have a meaningful conversation with that brand, because those are the partnerships brands want.”

The announcement comes with high praise from notable artist managers including Carl Stubner, brand music managers from Kona Brewing Co., Rockstar and others.

Maureen’s music industry experience began almost 20 years ago when in 2002 she was a chef on the Vans Warped Tour, finding her calling in the music business and now finding a fit with DWP, which she says has always understood and made a priority of branding.

“The trend for brands is more and more about finding authenticity and being able to break through the noise,” she adds. “You can buy your way into followers and engagement these days, being able to use technology and paying attention to that technology, and having that be true and endemic to find partnerships that make sense.”

She says 2020 was a rough year for a company known mostly for staging large-scale outdoor concerts, but gave DWP leadership a chance to branch out digitally with livestreams, drive-in tours and find out what will stick as the world opens back up.

“We always wanted to be in this digital pay per view space, taking everything we’re doing offsite and being able to produce that globally for fans everywhere,” she says. “When you’re running a million miles an hour producing seven major festivals a year, you don’t have time to think about that.

“But in the pandemic we were forced to stop, rethink the business and figure out a new way. Now that we’ve had that opportunity to literally go to school and figure out what works and what doesn’t, learn the platform and processes and technologies, this is something we can take back into real life and use for many, many years to come.”