All The Way - Tony Wins - (2014) :15 (USA)

AKA Broadcast Director Jamaal Parham and Executive Creative Director Bashan Aquart flew to Los Angeles in early December to shoot Cranston performing key moments from the play. Those became a carefully calibrated series of ads, the first of which broke on AMC just after Christmas during marathon screenings of Breaking Bad.
While trading on Cranston’s star power, the television spots also sought to draw viewers into the political intrigue at the heart of the play. “It has to be engaging,” says Parham. “You want people to want to be part of the story…you want to invite them to come along for the ride.”

“We made it a point to show people that this play was not a history lesson,” he adds. “Our references were House of Cards and West Wing. It’s politics as entertainment.”
At the same time, AKA began to roll out a flurry of print, outdoor and web ads. A direct marketing campaign, aimed at established theater audiences, produced impressive results, generating a 300-percent return on investment. Analytical retargeting efforts through Google and Ticketmaster were even more successful, producing a ratio of ticket sales to dollars spent in excess of 10 to 1.

AKA’s social media campaign also produced ample dividends. Facebook and Twitter outreach ranged from historical information about the Johnson Administration to short interviews with Cranston and other members of the cast. One backstage encounter, where Cranston used Instagram to help a young fan arrange a prom date, went viral and generated press worldwide. “We’re top to tail,” notes Marano. “It’s marketing, it’s promotion, it’s analysis, it’s creative, it's social, we encompass every facet of the marketing campaign.”

All of these efforts helped make ALL THE WAY one of the biggest success stories in recent Broadway memory. “It’s very difficult to acquire new patrons for a serious play, but we did that here,” concludes Marano. “It was accomplished through smart storytelling and the star power of Bryan Cranston. It was the right show with the right actor at the right time, which is to the credit of Producer Jeffrey Richards…and our collaboration with him to deliver the advertising campaign.”

Agency: AKA NYC
Director: Jamaal + Bashan
AKA Creative Director: Bashan Aquart
AKA Broadcast Director: Jamaal Parham
Executive Producer: Adam Coffia
Copywriter: Lauren Hunter
Editor: Jamaal Parham
Motion Graphics: Roman Micevic
Designer Rob Schnabel
Cinematographer: Michael Townley
Line Producer: Casey Levine
Color Correction: The Mill
Sound Mixing: Plush NYC
Shot at Siren Studios in Los Angeles, CA