Screenvision Media Upfront
Screenvision Media, a national leader in cinema advertising, pitched the real impact of cinema’s reach to CMOs, planners, buyers, and brands at the company’s upfront event at the PlayStation Theater in New York City. The upfront demonstrated how Screenvision Media connects brands to every part of the moviegoer’s journey, driven by data and technology, interactivity, and integration.
To bring the “Real Impact” theme to life, Empire developed a design and concept, working closely with Screenvision Media, to transform New York City’s PlayStation Theater into a fully-immersive theater and afterparty experience for its high-level attendees. The event would include an arrival experience, a main stage presentation, and an experiential afterparty featuring activations based on forthcoming major motion picture releases.
During the main presentation, Screenvision Media executives, including CEO John Partilla, CRO Katy Loria, and EVP of National Ad Sales, Christine Martino, provided proof of the strength of their storytelling platform and established why cinema is an essential element in a brand’s media mix in an age of increasing media fragmentation. The presentation also highlighted the growing strength of cinema as evidenced by recent record-breaking box office successes of “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity Wars”, as well as providing a preview of the strong outlook for 2018 and 2019.
The carefully scripted stage presentation, delivered in front of a cinema-sized screen, featured substantial motion graphics as well as three humorous videos inspired by iconic scenes from “Forrest Gump”, “It”, and “When Harry Met Sally”. The videos were created by Screenvision Media’s in-house branded content agency, 40 Foot Solutions.
At the conclusion of the presentation came a dramatic reveal to the afterparty. Guests were welcomed to a large, inviting space featuring a central bar, innovative catering stations by Creative Edge, AR and VR activations, interactive photo booths, arcade games, and immersive, experiential activations featuring five of the largest motion picture blockbusters scheduled to be released in the coming year.
On the existing concert stage was an animated cityscape environment representing SONY’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” . SONY’s “Venom”, starring Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams, was represented with a vignette that enabled guests to climb aboard the actual motorcycle featured in the film and share an animated photo of themselves. Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel” had its own super hero lounge, while Warner Brothers’ “Aquaman”, starring Jason Momoa, had its own Aquaman-themed bar and tattoo station. Finally, Fox Studio’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” featured a lip sync booth where guests could don ’80s wigs and sing the operatic portion of Bohemian Rhapsody. Vignettes also included custom guest activities, signature cocktails, and custom t-shirt and bag screen printing.
Empire is proud to have worked closely with Screenvision Media’s team to reach their advertisers with a creative, experiential upfront that provided a memorable experience for the media influencers in attendance.
Empire was responsible for all event details including concept, venue acquisition, layout and scenic design, catering, staging, sound, lighting, video projection, graphics, furnishings, staffing and partner/studio coordination.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
