Butter Music and Sound has launched a multicultural division, tapping Grammy-nominated musician and recording artist James Zavaleta as executive producer. The department will focus on music and audio solutions for the multicultural market, working closely with agencies and brands on campaigns crafted towards U.S. Latinx consumers. Zavaleta has partnered with agencies and brands as a consulting music producer on a range of branded projects, overseeing the entire audio process, from start to finish with an eye towards the authentic cultural representation of Latinx music. He is also an experienced and versatile singer, songwriter and producer, with credits ranging from singing on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, recording over 30 national jingles, and contributing voiceover musical work on Disney/Pixar’s Academy Award-winning film Coco. In the early days of stay-at-home measures, Zavaleta and Butter West Coast EP Annick Mayer developed the division, bringing his versatile experience as a musician to the commercial music space to offer original music, sync, and sound design services for multicultural campaigns. Born and raised in Southern California, Zavaleta developed singer/songwriter recognition as early as nine, and began playing gigs as far-flung as Las Vegas when he was just 14. As a sought-after performer in Los Angeles, he also performed as a back-up artist to legendary Salsa artists including Oscar De Leon, Tito Nieves, Victor Manuelle and more. His performances earned him television and film roles, performing on Eddie Murphy’s Meet Dave and an episode of FOX television series Prison Break, and earning a spot as a recurring vocalist on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Drawn to percussion at the young age of 3, he also taught himself to play the piano and, with this instrument as his medium, Zavaleta honed his personal “Latin Pop” style and released his debut self-titled EP in 2012. He first connected with Butter Music and Sound in 2012 while recording for a variety of commercials with the music and sound shop….
Obele Brown-West Becomes President of Colle McVoy
Obele Brown-West has been named president of agency Colle McVoy.
The 20-plus year industry vet has supervised integrated communications, media and technology teams. Her expertise spans retail, commerce, CPG, travel, automotive, entertainment, agribusiness, education, healthcare and petcare categories. A sampling of brands she’s stewarded include Chips Ahoy!, Mars Inc. ALDI, MilkPEP, Headspace, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sanofi, Cars.com, PacSun, TracFone Wireless, Dove Chocolate, United Airlines, the NFL, Unilever, Etsy and Mattel brands.
“A rare being, Obele is a born connector,” said Colle McVoy CEO Jessica Henrichs. “Her foresight for opportunity and command of end-to-end marketing is unrivaled—the partnerships she’s brokered, revenue and operating model evolutions she’s architected and how she’s championed brand authenticity are case studies for cutting through chaos.”
Brown-West stated, “At this point in my career, workplace culture is at the top of my decisioning chart. What Colle McVoy is doing for clients is exceptional, but the team orientation and culture powering the creative agency’s success is what resonated with me.” She added, “The whole interview process was very different. I was never being sold. Instead, it was free-flowing conversations about the love and shared respect people have collaborating, pride in the award-winning work and real talk about the challenges that come with rapid growth. Getting to connect with people who’ve been at Colle McVoy less than a year all the way to a person celebrating their 25th anniversary spoke volumes.”
Brown-West’s career highlights include:
--Most recently leading AI-powered Tracer to the forefront of data intelligence conversations as president... Read More