Founder, TBG Entertainment Marketing
A native of Detroit, MI, Marilyn Ann Batchelor graduated from one of the city’s premier college-prep high schools, Cass Technical High. She later earned a bachelor of science in magazine journalism and a bachelor of art in English Literature from Syracuse University. She began her career as a newspaper reporter for the Syracuse newspapers, The Detroit News and ultimately The Orange County Register. After transitioning from journalism to the entertainment industry, Marilyn joined the Universal Music Group working her way from director of marketing for Urban music to head of strategic marketing for Interscope/Geffen/A&M. At UMG, she marketed and oversaw strategic marketing for multiple Grammy, Oscar and Emmy Award-winning artists and projects from Patti LaBelle, Mary J. Blige, Ashlee Simpson, Keyshia Cole, Blink 182 to Gladys Knight, Avant, Gwen Stefani, a host of soundtracks and corporate projects. She also brokered numerous commercial endorsement deals such as Mary J. Blige and Chevrolet; Dr. Dre’ and the Beats headphones; the Pussycat Dolls and Ballys, Patti LaBelle and AARP to name a few. In 2000, she earned an executive MBA from Harvard University. After departing Universal in 2006, she launched TBG Entertainment Marketing, a music and film marketing and branding company which provides supplemental support for clients who do not have the manpower to sustain their workload. The most recent and successful project has been the reunion launch for inspirational greats BeBe & CeCe Winans, STILL, which debuted #1 on the Gospel and Inspirational charts and #2 on the Billboard R&B chart. They were just selected as a recipient of a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011 and the licensing of the CD’s song, “I Found Love” for this year’s “Today Throws a Wedding” theme.