Most children, or even adults for that matter, could care less about commercials, or advertisements whether they’re watching television or reading a magazine.

With the advent of the DVR, or Tivo, television commercials can easily be fast forwarded into oblivion and the show continued.

Good thing Melissa Johnson didn’t have a DVR when she grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

“I was always fascinated by commercials,’’ Johnson, now the CEO and President of Atlanta-based Velvet Suite Marketing Consulting Group and Brand Me International.

“I don’t know what it was, but even as a child I was really into advertising and marketing.’’

Her Velvet Suite Marketing Group authentically brands people, corporations, organizations and destinations with a patent-pending methodology called ID3 innovation. Johnson’s formula for authentic branding has proven to be a success essential for anyone.

Johnson first acted on her passion as undergrad at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio as a public relations major and then at Northwestern University where she earned her Master of Science Degree in the Integrated Marketing Communications Program.

Her first job landed her in the marketing department of Victoria’s Secret where she helped get their now famous fashion show off the ground. From there she went to Proctor and Gamble, where marketing is king and helped start the Swifter and in the development of the Mr. Clean products.

“It was great,’’ Johnson said. “Marketing is everything at Proctor and Gamble and there I was doing what I enjoyed.’’

Tragedy struck for Johnson, when the man she was dating at the time died playing pick-up basketball with his friends.

Still in her 20’s, she left her job at P&G and branched out of her own. Her first title, Brand Me: Make Your Mark: Turn Passion into Profit offered a seven-step Brand Blueprint and eventually led to her Brand Me Live and Velvet Suite Marketing.

Now her client list includes some of the biggest companies in the country such as Pepsi, Time Inc and Kraft, as well as some of the biggest names in sports and music such as Shania Twain, Jessica Simpson, Mary J. Blige, basketball star Carmelo Anthony and soccer star Oguchi Onyewu. She’s also done work with both the National Football League and the National Basketball Association.

“I guess I’ve always been around people who have influence,’’ Johnson said. “And the people with the higher risk, like music and sports celebrities, are the ones who need their brand protected.’’       

Johnson started working with the NFL in 2008 and had 19 of the 32 teams and over 350 rookies hear what she had to say.

“We got so much positive feedback,’’ she said. “The mission was to explain to the players what do they do after, when they are finished playing, how do they still protect their brand. We gave them the steps to take to set their life after the game.

“It’s difficult sometimes, because people, especially star athletes are so focused on the now. They’re worried about their next play, the next game, staying healthy. And all of that is certainly important. That’s why we help them focus on what’s next. They have so many options and that’s what we try to point out to them.’’

Johnson uses former NFL head coach Tony Dungy, who won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts, as an example.

“He’s no longer coaching, yet his brand is still valuable,’’ Johnson said. “He’s an author. He’s on television. He’s a great speaker. He’s done so much for different communities.

 “That’s the message we’re trying to get across to our clients.’’