Davie Brown Entertainment

Davie Brown Entertainment
Company typePrivate
IndustryMarketing
Founded1980; 44 years ago (1980) in Los Angeles, California
FounderJim Davie
Headquarters
Marina del Rey
,
California
Area served
Los Angeles
Key people
Tom Meyer, President
Jim Davie, Chairman and CEO
ProductsProps & wardrobe/Product placement[1]
ParentOmnicom Group
Websitewww.themarketingarm.com/capabilities/entertainment/

Davie Brown Entertainment was founded in 1980 by Jim Davie, who had created the "Pepsi Challenge" marketing program, and Brad Brown, as the entertainment marketing agency of PepsiCo, which was concerned about how much exposure its primary competitor, The Coca-Cola Company, had in the entertainment space. At the time it was founded, it was known as the "Pepsi-Cola Entertainment Group," according to the book Madison & Vine by Scott Donaton.[2] At the time it was founded, the agency was one of the first product placement and entertainment promotion agencies in the U.S. For the first five years it was in business, the agency worked exclusively for PepsiCo.

Over the next decade, the Los Angeles–based agency expanded its client roster and moved into "brand integration," the planned, pay-for-play arrangement that is guarantees a brand's appearance in particular properties such as TV or film.[3] The agency is credited with the first brand rebate on home video (E.T.), the first commercial on home video (Top Gun), the first animated product placement (Antz), and the first internet promotion (E-Trade/You’ve Got Mail).

Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMS) acquired Davie Brown in September 2001 and added it to The Marketing Arm, a network of marketing services agencies specializing in non-traditional marketing.[4]

Tom Meyer, a former director of marketing at Paramount Pictures, currently serves as president of Davie Brown. Jim Davie remains as chairman and CEO.

References

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  1. ^ "Davie-Brown Entertainment". LA 411. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  2. ^ Donaton., Scott (2004). Madison & Vine, Why the Entertainment and Advertising Industries must Converge to Survive. New York: McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-143684-7.
  3. ^ Inside Branded Entertainment Tom Meyer interview, Archived February 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Boards Online, September 20, 2001". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
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