Entertainment marketing and advertising agency deploys selfies in an innovative Broadway industry media-first opportunity in Times Square to promote the Terrence McNally comedy.
New York, NY— AKA NYC came up with a unique strategy for capitalizing on the star power of the cast of Terrence McNally’s backstage comedy It’s Only A Play, which opened recently at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway. It developed a multi-platform advertising and marketing campaign based on that most ubiquitous of current cultural icons: the selfie.
At least on Broadway, It’s Only A Play owns the selfie. Recalling the most memorable moment from this year’s Academy Awards broadcast, AKA NYC had the show’s stars, who including F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Rupert Grint, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally and newcomer Micah Stock, pose for a self-referential photo. The snapshot broke nationally on EW and has since gone viral.
A life-size print of the photo now stands outside the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre so that passersby can get in on the act and snap their very own selfie with the cast using the hashtag #itsonlyaselfie.
In its biggest splash, AKA NYC celebrated the show’s opening night with an epic selfie event in Times Square. Attendees at the red carpet ceremony—stars and fans alike—were encouraged to take selfies and have them live-streamed onto Branded Cities’ stunning digital billboard on the Thomson-Reuters building.
AKA NYC Strategic Innovations Director Joshua Poole said selfies are a natural for the show. “It was a strategic way to showcase the celebrity status of this incredible cast,” he explains. “And the selfie, like the show, is very current and of the moment – as is the entire advertising campaign. At AKA, we’re always pushing for new media innovations, and the Times Square opportunity proved to be a perfect synthesis of innovation, timing and creativity.”
The campaign seems to have struck the right chord. Although the show only officially opened on October 9th, it broke the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre’s box office record for weekly gross.
AKA NYC’s full campaign includes television, local and national print, front-of-house, online media, direct marketing and promotions/partnerships, all tied to the selfie theme. The latter included a promotional partnership with Dom Pérignon, which, among other things, sponsored a lavish preview-night cocktail party at Skylark for the bubbly comedy.
About “It’s Only A Play”
The star-studded Broadway production of the backstage comedy It's Only A Play, by 4-time Tony® Award winner Terrence McNally, is now in performances at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street). Academy Award® winner F. Murray Abraham, Tony® Award winner Matthew Broderick, Emmy® and Tony® Award winner Stockard Channing, international film sensation Rupert Grint, Tony® Award winner Nathan Lane, Emmy® Award winner Megan Mullally, and newcomer Micah Stock star in It’s Only A Play. 3-time Tony® Award winner Jack O’Brien directs. For more information, please visit www.ItsOnlyAPlay.com.
It’s Only A Play is produced on Broadway by Tom Kirdahy, Roy Furman, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Morris Berchard and Susan Dietz, Caiola Productions, Carl Daikeler, Jim Fantaci, Wendy Federman, Barbara Freitag and Loraine Alterman Boyle, Hugh Hayes, Jim Herbert, Ricardo F. Hornos, Stephanie Kramer, LAMS Productions, Scott Landis, Mark Lee and Ed Filipowski, Harold Newman, Roy Putrino, Sanford Robertson, Tom Smedes and Peter Stern, and Brian Cromwell Smith.
About AKA
AKA is a global, full-service advertising agency with offices in the US, UK and Australia. The AKA Group, including Digital Media Services and the film advertising agency The Creative Partnership, delivers creative, strategic and insightful campaigns to the entertainment industry worldwide.
The New York office, led by Elizabeth Furze and Scott Moore, delivers innovative solutions across media, marketing, partnerships, interactive, creative, broadcast, box office and ticketing, and campaign management, with a proven record for producing sales-driven campaigns for premium, must-see productions, venues, exhibitions and events.
Current and recent NYC clients include: 2012 Tony Award® Best Musical winner Once, Matilda The Musical, Rock of Ages, 2010 Tony Award Best Musical winner Memphis, A Christmas Story The Musical, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, It’s Only A Play, The Audience, Queen of the Night, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Trip to Bountiful, The Glass Menagerie and 2014 Tony Award Best Play winner All the Way.
For more information, visit www.akanyc.net
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