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Brand Experience: Ignition International and Harvey Goldsmith Productions join forces
ignition announces Goldsmith's arrival
ignition International and Harvey Goldsmith CBE , have joined forces to further strengthen ignition's belief in the power of the human touch to build brand relationships with their customers.
Harvey Goldsmith CBE, currently Chairman of Harvey Goldsmith Productions, will become Chairman of ignition International in EMEA. Mark ‘Dill' Driscoll remains Global Chairman of ignition Inc.
Harvey Goldsmith said, "I've been in the entertainment business for about forty years and over that time I've seen an ever increasing number of brands wishing to get involved in the music industry. ignition has been at the forefront of developing experiential marketing campaigns that have enabled blue chip companies to become involved in sports and entertainment events all over the world.
"As such, it became obvious to me that we should discuss how we could complement my organisation's experience and expertise with the undoubted creativity, talent and international resource that ignition offers to its mightily impressive client list. This relationship is an exciting step that will enable us to offer a real one-stop shop for global companies that want to use the entertainment business with the human touch as a marketing tool to build their brands."
Fred Porro, Managing Director of ignition UK, said: "Harvey's remarkable track record in the production of top class entertainment experiences throughout the past forty years makes him the perfect partner for ignition. We pride ourselves in offering our international clients experiential marketing solutions that allow them to reach their target audiences in a personal and interactive fashion.
"Music and entertainment is increasingly a route down which these companies wish to go and Harvey's unrivalled contacts across the industry will allow us to deliver them groundbreaking opportunities. For the first time, we will be able to offer clients real money-can't-buy opportunities for their brands to interact with audiences at the biggest events in the world."
"We are confident that the addition of Harvey Goldsmith will allow us to further develop the ignition brand on a global basis. We are delighted that Harvey himself has committed to chair the new partnership as his profile in the music and entertainment business will enable us to do this swiftly and effectively".
The merger will officially mark the launch of ignition International's Music & Entertainment division. ignition has previously worked closely with Harvey Goldsmith Production on events including the Formula1 Regent Street Event and Live8, on which Harvey Goldsmith acted as worldwide promoter and Kevin Wall, Executive Chairman of ignition, was worldwide executive producer. ignition International was the worldwide sponsorship activation agency.
As well as providing both parties with considerable economies of scale, the merger will give ignition International access to a comprehensive and diverse client base of multinational companies as well as providing access to international resource of expertise and creativity across ignition's network of offices in Europe and the United States. Harvey Goldsmith Productions' traditional strength in the music industry will be augmented by ignition's connections with major global companies including The Coca Cola Company, Vodafone, AOL, Nike, Disneyland Resort Paris and Delta Air Lines.
In January of this year Harvey Goldsmith was awarded Chevalier des Artes et Lettres from the French Minister of Culture. In November, Harvey Goldsmith was the recipient of the Music Industry Trusts Award, the most prestigious award in the music business. He received the honour at a glittering awards ceremony attended by over 1100 people at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 30th October that raised £250,000 for Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and the Brit Trust.
ignition was recognised as Brand Experience Agency of the Year at the FM&BE (Field Marketing & Brand Experience) Awards in November. The award is presented to the agency that has demonstrated exceptional work in the brand experience sector and recognises ignition's continual innovation in face to face communications. ignition was also awarded a Silver award for Most Effective Impact at a Single Event for AOL's sponsorship of Live 8 and a Bronze award for its work on the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour at the same ceremony. In the same week ignition also won the Silver Award for the Best Outdoor/Public event at the Event Awards 2006 for Live 8.
24 November 2006