Shana Saunders, Senior Marketing Leader

Culture moves fans. I make it move the business.

15+ years owning marketing strategy, budgets, and teams across music, entertainment, and consumer brands. Building fan bases, landing sponsors, and turning launches into live moments is the same work in sports, media, and live entertainment. Currently Head of Marketing at Q Prime AF and finishing an MBA this December.

Selected work

Launches, partnerships, and the numbers behind them.

Q Prime AF · Tentpole launch & local market activation · 2026

A rock album launch, built as an event

Owned the marketing strategy for the album campaign end to end, leading a plan across paid, social, creator, data capture, partnerships, and experiential. Secured Spotify and Apple Music homepage placements, and release coverage on ABC News Live, Good Morning America, Vogue, Billboard, Rolling Stone (France and Germany), and the cover of Kerrang.

The Nashville Takeover

Conceived and led a 16-day citywide activation with 8 local partners across retail, food and beverage, and nightlife. A curated secondhand rack, a themed matcha, Detroit-style pizza, a pup adoption pop-up, bingo, karaoke, an in-store signing, and a guest bartending night, with every stop feeding a giveaway for tickets to the Basement East shows.

Partners: Cherry Picked, Forevermore, Wags & Walks, Dukos, Grimey's, Honey Tree Meadery, Lowbar, Vinyl Tap

Palace For The People Nashville Takeover flyer listing partner events from October 2 to 17 — Nashville Takeover partner lineup, October 2026

Billboard 200 debut, on 30.3K first-week units

3 #1s

Vinyl Albums, Hard Rock Albums, and Top Digital Album Sales

26.4K

First-week album sales, #2 on Top Album Sales

3.9M

First-week audio streams

$545K

Pre-order revenue from direct-to-fan ads

17.2X

Return on ad spend, at a $4.80 cost per purchase

24.8M

Album streams to date, 15.5M on Spotify

Spotify New Music Friday placements worldwide

78M

Social views across the campaign

41K

Fan email and SMS sign-ups collected

#11

Active Rock radio peak for "Play Your Games"

32.5K

Viewers for the Talk Shop Live signing livestream

Q Prime AF · Budget ownership & brand partnerships

Running marketing like a business

Own the marketing budget across the roster and the brand programs that extend it, including co-branded work with Martin Guitar, Gibson, and Victrola. Mentored an in-house digital manager to take over work previously sent to agencies.

~$1M

Annual marketing investment

$500K+

Single campaign budgets

$20K+

Agency costs saved by building in house

Music Corporation of America · Portfolio marketing & budget ownership

Label marketing for a top producer's roster

Led marketing for the roster, aligning brand and content strategy with label priorities and directing priority releases, including award-nominated projects.

$750K

Campaign investment owned

4 to 5

Priority releases a year

25 to 50%

Engagement lift through segmentation

LYI / RAYDAR · Sponsorship & team building

Marketing, sponsorship, and ops from the ground up

Built the marketing function and the team behind it across marketing, operations, creative, production, and live events, and closed six-figure sponsorships with BET, Live Nation, and One Music Fest, a festival that brings millions of dollars in revenue to the City of Atlanta.

~$1M

Budgets directed

Audience reach growth

Person team built and led

The Blueprint Group · Sponsorship revenue & audience growth

Connecting HBCU students to the industry

Secured national partnerships with Pepsi, Rockstar Energy, and HBCU organizations, and launched an interactive hub connecting college students with the music industry.

$250K+

Sponsorship revenue

3M+

Monthly Spotify listeners driven

50%+

Engagement lift through content

Music, sports, media, live entertainment: the same fundamentals win.

Leadership

Building teams and functions, developing talent, managing executive stakeholders, and aligning artists, brands, and labels on shared goals.

Fan & audience growth

Turning casual followers into loyal fans through segmentation, content, and community. Works for a roster, a team, or a network.

Sponsorship & partnerships

Selling, structuring, and activating brand deals that deliver for the partner, from national sponsors to local market activations.

Launches & live moments

Tentpole campaigns, premieres, tours, and experiential events, with budget ownership and ROI reporting leadership can act on.

15+ years building audiences, partnerships, and teams.

Head of Marketing
Q Prime AF

Mar 2026 to Present
Manager, Marketing Project Management
Music Corporation of America

Nov 2023 to Feb 2026
Director of Marketing & Operations
LYI / RAYDAR

Mar 2022 to Nov 2023
Senior Marketing Manager
The Blueprint Group

Oct 2020 to Mar 2022

Earlier: Artist Manager at D. Muñoz LLC / Triangle Offense Mgmt., Artist Services & Marketing at Machine Entertainment Group, Day-to-Day Manager for a multi-platinum hip-hop artist, Talent Booking Agent at Pink Lace Entertainment, Junior Sales Executive for the Nets during the team's move from New Jersey to Brooklyn, and A&R / Marketing Intern at Def Jam Records.

Education

MBA, Middle Tennessee State University
Graduating December 2026

BS, Business Management & Finance
CUNY Brooklyn College

Affiliations & recognition

GRAMMY U Mentor, 2025 to 2026
Professional Member, The Recording Academy
Alumni, CMA Women in Leadership Academy
Member, SOLID (Society of Leaders in Development)
Member, Women in Music Business Association