Davie Brown Entertainment was founded in 1980 by Jim Davie, who had created the "

Pepsi Challenge The Pepsi Challenge is an ongoing marketing promotion run by PepsiCo since 1975. It is also the name of a cross country ski race at Giant's Ridge Ski Area in Biwabik, Minnesota, an event sponsored by Pepsi. Method The challenge originally took th ...

" marketing program, and Brad Brown, as the entertainment marketing agency of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

, which was concerned about how much exposure its primary competitor,

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

, 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. At the time it was founded, the agency was one of the first

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

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. 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 Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City. Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer re ...

(NYSE: OMS) acquired Davie Brown in September 2001 and added it to

The Marketing Arm The Marketing Arm, also known as TMA, is a marketing and creative agency owned by Omnicom Group. With offices in New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; Dallas; Wilton, Connecticut; Irvine, California; London; Manchester; São Paulo; and Shanghai. The ...

, a network of

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

services agencies specializing in non-traditional marketing. Tom Meyer, a former director of marketing at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, currently serves as president of Davie Brown. Jim Davie remains as chairman and CEO.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Advertising agencies of the United States Marketing companies established in 1980 Companies based in Los Angeles