Drew Salamone

Founder and President,
MEDICI + MAESTRO

Entrepreneur|Brand Strategist

Work with Drew

Drew Salamone is an American entrepreneur, brand strategist, and creative professional best known as the founder and president of MEDICI + MAESTRO (Mx2), a Philadelphia-based branding, marketing, and advertising agency serving clients throughout the United States.

With a career spanning more than three decades, Salamone has worked at the intersection of technology, media, music, and creative entrepreneurship. From developing websites during the earliest days of the commercial internet to leading digital media initiatives at NBCUniversal, founding multiple businesses, and establishing his own creative agencies, his career reflects a longstanding interest in the relationship between technology, communication, and human connection.

Throughout those pursuits, his personal and professional identity has remained closely tied to his upbringing in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and the Italian-American heritage that continues to influence his work.

Roots

Early Life and Italian-American Heritage

“That kind of work ethic can’t be taught. For some of us, it’s just in our bones.”

Salamone was raised in a large Italian-American family in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he attended Holy Saviour School and Bishop Kenrick High School. Growing up in a community shaped by generations of Italian immigrants, he developed an early appreciation for family, tradition, entrepreneurship, and the value of hard work.

His grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides immigrated from Italy, as did the parents and grandparents of many of his childhood friends. Witnessing their determination to establish new lives in America, often while navigating language barriers and working multiple jobs, left a lasting impression.

Reflecting on those experiences, Salamone has said, “That kind of work ethic can’t be taught. For some of us, it’s just in our bones.”

His entrepreneurial instincts emerged early. At fourteen, he operated a neighborhood paper route, and by sixteen, he was performing as a DJ for Doctors of Music, an entertainment company founded by his father. Those early experiences introduced him to the business of entertainment while nurturing a lifelong appreciation for music, creativity, and the ability to connect with an audience.

Salamone’s interest in his Italian ancestry also extends to his family’s historical roots. Through his paternal grandmother, Rosina Orsini of San Lupo, Italy, he traces his lineage to Cosimo de’ Medici, the Florentine banker, statesman, and patron of the arts whose influence helped shape the Italian Renaissance. According to his family’s genealogy, Salamone is a nineteenth great-grandson of Cosimo de’ Medici, a connection that would later help inspire the name and philosophy of his agency.

Career

Early Career and NBCUniversal

After briefly attending La Salle University, Salamone chose to pursue entrepreneurship, entering the emerging digital industry at a time when the internet was beginning to transform business and communication.

In 1997, he founded Global Color Design, later renamed Global Media Solutions, a company specializing in website design and development. At a time when many businesses had little or no online presence, he recognized the internet’s potential to fundamentally change how organizations communicated with their audiences.

That experience led him to NBC in 1999, when the network was owned by General Electric. Working at NBC’s Philadelphia television station, he developed NBC10.com, the station’s first website, helping establish its presence in the rapidly expanding world of digital news.

Under his direction, NBC10.com grew into Philadelphia’s largest local online news destination and became the leading website among NBC’s owned-and-operated television stations.

During his tenure, Salamone advanced to Director of Digital Media and Social Strategy, helping guide the station through a period of significant change in how audiences consumed news and entertainment. His work earned him a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award nomination in 2005.

He also conceived and developed DigPhilly, an unconventional digital entertainment and lifestyle brand designed to engage audiences beyond traditional television news. Launched in 2007 as DigPhilly.com, a hyper-local city guide and social network, it won the Web Marketing Association’s 2007 WebAward for Best Regional Website. The concept was subsequently expanded across NBC’s station group under the NBC Local brand.

As part of his professional development at NBC, Salamone attended General Electric’s renowned Crotonville leadership development center, where he had the opportunity to meet former GE chairman and CEO Jack Welch.

Agencies

Entrepreneurship and Agency Development

i76 Solutions

Following Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal, Salamone returned to entrepreneurship, co-founding i76 Solutions in 2013.

Initially focused on digital advertising and search engine marketing, the company became an early participant in the Google Partners program and evolved into a full-service media and marketing agency.

Under his leadership, the agency developed relationships with regional and national organizations, including AAA Mid-Atlantic, the YMCA, and Lundy Law. Through a partnership with branding agency 160over90, i76 served as its digital marketing arm in 160over90’s early days, supporting clients such as the University of Florida.

MEDICI + MAESTRO

While his experience in digital media and advertising continued to grow, Salamone remained particularly drawn to the creative side of the business: developing brands, shaping their identities, and finding meaningful ways to connect them with people.

In 2024, he founded MEDICI + MAESTRO (Mx2), bringing that creative philosophy to the forefront of a new agency.

The name reflects two complementary ideas. MEDICI draws inspiration from the Renaissance family’s patronage of artists, architects, and thinkers whose work helped transform culture. MAESTRO represents the discipline, experience, and creative leadership required to bring different talents together in pursuit of a shared vision.

Together, those principles form the foundation of an agency that integrates brand strategy, creative development, advertising, media, technology, and analytics.

The agency’s capabilities also include Mx2 Live, an experiential marketing division, and MaestroX Studio, a technology platform developed to support marketing operations, collaboration, and workflow management.

Selected Agency Clients

eBay
Scrub Daddy
AAA Mid-Atlantic
Starr Restaurants
YMCA
Philly Pretzel Factory
The Forbes Company (The Mall at Millenia, The Gardens Mall)
Bayer Properties
Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau
Pennsylvania Wines
Lundy Law
Les Richards (LR2)
WXPN
WCUR
Patriot Home Care
Legacy Advisors
Clusters
Well Crafted
Milanj Diamonds

Industries Served

Restaurants and Hospitality
Retail, Fashion, and Jewelry
E-commerce
Shopping Centers and Malls
Travel and Tourism
Wine and Beverage
Franchise
Legal
Financial Services
Healthcare and Home Care
Media and Broadcast
Higher Education
Nonprofit and Community
Consumer Products

Ventures

Additional Ventures and Creative Pursuits

Beyond his agency work, Salamone has maintained a lifelong connection to music, education, and the creative arts.

Together with his brother, he founded the Creamery School of Music in Skippack, Pennsylvania, with the goal of fostering musical education and helping students develop their skills, creativity, and appreciation for playing musical instruments.

Music has remained a consistent part of his life. Beginning as a teenager, Salamone spent approximately twenty years working professionally as a DJ, performing at private events and prominent Philadelphia venues, including the National Constitution Center and locations along Boathouse Row.

His experience across media, advertising, and entrepreneurship has also led to speaking engagements and industry panel discussions for organizations including the Philadelphia Ad Club and the Mobile Marketing Association.

His agencies have earned numerous industry accolades and recognition for their work in branding, advertising, and digital marketing, including recognition from Clutch, a leading business-to-business ratings and reviews platform.

Community

Community, Family, and Personal Life

Despite building businesses and working with organizations across the country, Salamone has maintained close ties to the Norristown community where he was raised and where he still lives today. He is the father of two children, a daughter, Gianna, and a son, Santino.

Outside of work, he takes on remodeling projects at his more than 100-year-old home and tends a vegetable garden, a tradition passed down from watching his grandparents when he was young that he took up later in life, having come to appreciate, and miss, the past. A lifelong music lover, he collects music memorabilia, and his home includes Emilia Rose, a private speakeasy-style bar named for his grandmothers, where he hosts family and friends.

A member of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), he remains actively connected to his Italian-American heritage and the cultural traditions passed down through his family.

He is also a member of the Maria SS. del Soccorso di Sciacca Society of Norristown, an organization established in 1904 to preserve devotion to the Madonna del Soccorso and the religious and cultural traditions of immigrants from Sciacca, Sicily.

For Salamone, preserving those traditions is about more than honoring the past. It is also about ensuring that future generations understand the sacrifices, values, and cultural identity that shaped their families and communities.

That perspective has remained a consistent influence throughout his life, connecting his early experiences in Norristown with his work as an entrepreneur, creative professional, and business leader.

Across his ventures, a common thread has been the belief that meaningful work comes from combining creativity with discipline, embracing new ideas without losing sight of the people and traditions that make them possible.

Press

Press and Recognition