Shannon Jones

She Assembled a Diverse Team to Create Unforgettable Brand Experiences

When Airbnb transformed a Malibu mansion into Barbie’s iconic DreamHouse — timed to coincide with the premiere of the Barbie movie in 2023 — it quickly became the most popular listing on the site, generating twice the number of press hits as Airbnb’s 2020 IPO. The viral promotion was the brainchild of Shannon Jones and Yadira Harrison, co-founders of VERB, the experiential marketing agency they co-founded in 2018 with just enough funds to last 100 days. (Within three days, they signed Nielsen, Amazon, and Lyft.) Airbnb tapped the two again in 2024 to launch nine more jaw-dropping experiences, including the chance to stay in Prince’s Purple Rain House. In the last year alone, Jones led VERB through exponential revenue growth, bringing in $53 million, while expanding the team by 300%. Now, their “vibes-first” agency, which was named Ad Age’s A-List Experiential Agency of the Year in 2024, employs 85 people, with 64% coming from underrepresented backgrounds. Because Jones knows that, when people feel seen, valued, connected, they create work that does the same.

By Audrey Goodson Kingo