Influential Live Entertainment Advertising Agencies Join Forces Cross-Atlantic Strategic Collaboration Will Take Advantage of Booming International Market for Theatrical Productions
NEW YORK, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Think of it as the iconic "Phantom" mask
meets the deliciously demented puppets promoting "Avenue Q". First Artist
Corporation plc, parent company of the venerable British advertising agency
Dewynters, has entered into an agreement to acquire the U.S.'s
modern-edged SpotCo. The two agencies, known as innovators on both sides of
the Atlantic, are joining forces to create a global super shop that can reach
rapidly expanding audiences for live entertainment through high-impact, high-
concept, highly clever marketing, design, digital media, advertising,
merchandising and promotions.
No longer confined to just New York and London, mega-hit shows that can go
on forever are gracing stages from Baltimore to Beijing. With ticket prices
edging past the century mark in sold-out venues worldwide and ancillary
merchandise moving way beyond tee-shirts, the business model has been turned
on its head as screen to stage adaptations are eclipsing the movies they were
based on in profitability.
Over the past decade, Dewynters and SpotCo have collaborated on various
worldwide campaigns, like that for "Chicago", with incredible results. The Bob
Fosse musical has now been seen in 28 countries, nine languages and has raked
in more than $850 million. And, as more hit films with immediate name
recognition and built-in audiences become Broadway shows with national tours
and international incarnations, reaching the ticket-buying public -- wherever
it resides -- has increased in scope and complexity.
2008 has already proved SpotCo's best year ever. The white-hot agency,
which only celebrated its 10th anniversary last year yet represents nearly
half the shows running on Broadway, continually breaks with convention, taking
marketing and advertising to the edge with inventive, often irreverent
campaigns that capture the magic and awe of live events. The company has
represented 62 Tony nominations this year alone, which resulted in 14 Tony
wins including Best Play and Best Musical. Over the past decade SpotCo's shows
have won an impressive 6 Pulitzer Prizes, including one this year.
Getting their start with creative that helped catapult "Rent" into one of
the most influential musicals of all time and made the revival of "Chicago" a
worldwide brand, SpotCo has a well-earned reputation for conceiving ideas that
people talk about and remember. SpotCo's cutting-edge web savvy has produced
viral campaigns with astonishing impact, chief among them is the inspired and
outrageously funny Cubby Bernstein serial videos. This internet Tony-campaign
for the musical "Xanadu" got more than 750,000 hits on YouTube and drew vast
numbers of key younger viewers not traditionally associated with theater.
The theatrical juggernaut shows no signs of abating and SpotCo represents
the most highly anticipated movie to musical shows on Broadway. After winning
this year's Tony Award for Best Musical for "In The Heights", the agency is
collaborating with the newly formed DreamWorks Theatrical on their first
musical "Shrek" and Universal's Working Title on the smash hit "Billy Elliot",
already doing boffo box-office in Britain and Australia. Their theatrical
coups continue with a musical version of "Dirty Dancing", which is selling out
in Toronto, a stage adaptation of the film "Priscilla Queen of the Desert", a
certified hit from Down Under, as well as "9 to 5" featuring new music and
lyrics by the inimitable Dolly Parton and a gritty, bilingual revival of "West
Side Story".
"Broadway's gone international," says SpotCo's Founder, President and
Director of Creative Services Drew Hodges. "Theater and live events have
become giant universal brands, often dwarfing the success of Hollywood films
that go from movie theatre to DVD in an instant. There's now a huge worldwide
demand for live productions. By working with Dewynters, we're uniquely
positioned to tap into international markets with coordinated ground-breaking
campaigns that are sophisticated, engaging, and most importantly, can cut
through an environment saturated with entertainment options."
Moving beyond Broadway, SpotCo has ventured into other arenas and locales
with campaigns seen from Melbourne to Moscow. The agency has worked with
Cirque du Soleil's "Zumanity" and "Avenue Q" in Las Vegas, and landed Radio
City Music Hall and the New York Botanical Garden among other clients.
Dewynters is the UK's leading arts and entertainment advertising agency.
The agency has created some of theaters' most memorable imagery past and
present, and is a highly respected firm known for its artistic flair with a
wealth of work for London's West End, Broadway and worldwide. Past classics
include "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera", "Les Miserables", and "Miss Saigon",
and amongst present classics is the groundbreaking horse cum torso image for
"Equus" starring Daniel Radcliffe of 'Harry Potter' fame.
In addition to its prominence in the West End and associations with such
British theater luminaries as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh,
Dewynters has developed well-regarded campaigns for the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, and numerous other UK cultural and tourist institutions.
Anthony Pye-Jeary, Managing Director of Dewynters, said: "This is a
thrilling opportunity for us all and I am delighted that we are joining forces
with such a creative and strategically forward-thinking team. Our clients will
now benefit from a whole new direction in global thinking for both their
existing and future productions."
Contact: NYC - Diane Blackman 212-989-3646
dblackman@brpublicrelations.com
LA - Cindy Rakowitz 818-783-3307
cindy@brpublicrelations.com
SOURCE SpotCo
