Sheila Kelly, Entertainment Weekly's director of special events, rushed over to a stack of magazines. "There's just too many magazines on this table," she said as she quickly thinned out the pile. As she took another look, now satisfied, she joked, "There's medication for people like me." Just 30 minutes before the mag's annual Must List party started, Kelly was putting the final touches on the setup at Deep.
Hair color company Garnier was this year's main sponsor. "Garnier was a sponsor last year, and they wanted a bigger presence this year. So we pitched them the presenting sponsorship, which we started doing with our Emmy party last year," Kelly said a few days after the event. "It's only the third time we've shared a step-and-repeat; that's the biggest difference between a presenting sponsor and regular sponsor. We also give them the biggest presence inside."
Larry Abel/De-signs decorated Garnier's lounge with heads made of chocolate, with haircolors and styles represented by orange peels, strawberries, black licorice, lemon slices, and coffee beans, all meant to evoke ingredients in the brand’s hair care products. Trays of chocolates sat below the heads for guests to sample. Avi Adler's David Stark decorated the seating area with big ottomans printed with images of slices of lemon and lime, yellow and green-striped lampshades, pillows and coffee tables branded with the Garnier Fructis logo, and a large striped wall of lemons and limes filled in with yellow and green flowers. (Needless to say, it smelled delicious.)
EW and cosponsors Napster, Verizon, and Coca-Cola all had lounges with custom-branded coffee tables and pillows as well, and the magazine's area had plasma screens playing video of the celebs featured in the Must List issue. (And who'd expect the branded pillows would be such a hit with guests? Avi Adler project manager Michelle Mutter told us most of the pillows had disappeared by the end of the evening.)
The main bar area featured FeedTank's floor projection of the Must List logo, which moved and scattered as guests crossed it. But as the party filled, the effect was lost. "Our sales and marketing staff get to the event a half-hour early so they can take a look at the integration and branding. So [the projection] was really more for our senior management to get a sense of what we were trying to do with the brand this year," Kelly said. Later in the evening, Shay Vishawadia of Curry Boys produced Common and John Legend's performances; Mark Ronson spun music as well.
So what about the results of these all-out branding efforts? The ROI for sponsoring companies is "hard to quantify," Kelly said, "but what I do know is that we've had good success with people coming back, so on their end, it must have an impact." Kelly cited Revlon, which sponsored EW's 2004 Emmy party in Los Angeles, as an example. "They've already signed on for this year," she said.
—Suzanne Ito
Related Stories
EW Emmy Bash Is Branding Bonanza
EW Blowout Is All About Advertisers
Entertainment Weekly Waters Down the Roxy
EW Event Gets "It" Hot & Sticky
Celebs Watch Celebs at EW Oscar Party
Hair color company Garnier was this year's main sponsor. "Garnier was a sponsor last year, and they wanted a bigger presence this year. So we pitched them the presenting sponsorship, which we started doing with our Emmy party last year," Kelly said a few days after the event. "It's only the third time we've shared a step-and-repeat; that's the biggest difference between a presenting sponsor and regular sponsor. We also give them the biggest presence inside."
Larry Abel/De-signs decorated Garnier's lounge with heads made of chocolate, with haircolors and styles represented by orange peels, strawberries, black licorice, lemon slices, and coffee beans, all meant to evoke ingredients in the brand’s hair care products. Trays of chocolates sat below the heads for guests to sample. Avi Adler's David Stark decorated the seating area with big ottomans printed with images of slices of lemon and lime, yellow and green-striped lampshades, pillows and coffee tables branded with the Garnier Fructis logo, and a large striped wall of lemons and limes filled in with yellow and green flowers. (Needless to say, it smelled delicious.)
EW and cosponsors Napster, Verizon, and Coca-Cola all had lounges with custom-branded coffee tables and pillows as well, and the magazine's area had plasma screens playing video of the celebs featured in the Must List issue. (And who'd expect the branded pillows would be such a hit with guests? Avi Adler project manager Michelle Mutter told us most of the pillows had disappeared by the end of the evening.)
The main bar area featured FeedTank's floor projection of the Must List logo, which moved and scattered as guests crossed it. But as the party filled, the effect was lost. "Our sales and marketing staff get to the event a half-hour early so they can take a look at the integration and branding. So [the projection] was really more for our senior management to get a sense of what we were trying to do with the brand this year," Kelly said. Later in the evening, Shay Vishawadia of Curry Boys produced Common and John Legend's performances; Mark Ronson spun music as well.
So what about the results of these all-out branding efforts? The ROI for sponsoring companies is "hard to quantify," Kelly said, "but what I do know is that we've had good success with people coming back, so on their end, it must have an impact." Kelly cited Revlon, which sponsored EW's 2004 Emmy party in Los Angeles, as an example. "They've already signed on for this year," she said.
—Suzanne Ito
Related Stories
EW Emmy Bash Is Branding Bonanza
EW Blowout Is All About Advertisers
Entertainment Weekly Waters Down the Roxy
EW Event Gets "It" Hot & Sticky
Celebs Watch Celebs at EW Oscar Party
Larry Abel/De-signs decorated Garnier's lounge at Entertainment Weekly's Must List party with heads made of chocolate, with haircolors and styles represented by orange peels, strawberries, black licorice, lemon slices, and coffee beans. Avi Adler's David Stark created a large striped wall of lemons and limes filled in with yellow and green flowers as a background.
Guests could download music inside Napster's glowing lounge, outfitted with a large stand studded with small blue and green magnetic LED lights in the form of Napster's cat head logo. The room's mirrored walls maximized the glow.
David Stark outfitted EW's lounge with branded pillows and cocktail tables, and plasma screens displayed video of the celebs featured in the Must List issue.
Washed with red light and decorated with red and black-striped lampshades and branded pillows and coffee tables, Verizon's lounge on the balcony offered a bird's-eye view of the action on the main floor.
