AKA NYC's MATILDA THE MUSICAL Campaign Honored at 2015 Davey Awards

AKA NYC's exuberant television campaign for Matilda the Musical translated into a big night at the 2015 International Davey Awards.

The entertainment marketing and advertising agency captured Silver Daveys for Art Direction, Editing and Music for its spot "When I Grow Up." The annual International Davey Awards is the premier awards competition honoring the creative achievements of smaller advertising agencies. The spot was directed by AKA NYC's in-house team Jamaal+Bashan.

"Our content team has been creating extraordinary work and we are pleased to see their efforts recognized by their industry peers," said AKA NYC Managing Partner Elizabeth Furze. "It inspires our whole team to continue to innovate and produce spectacular results for fantastic shows like MATILDA."

In "When I Grow Up" people of all ages take part in an electric performance of one of the show's best-loved songs while shopping, strolling city streets and doing their homework. "We're very proud of this spot. It's a benchmark for what we believe Broadway advertising can be," says AKA NYC Content Director Jamaal Parham.

Watch the spot below!

The commercial's unusual concept was part of an effort to broaden the audience for one of Broadway's most critically acclaimed musicals. "We wanted to keep the show top of mind during a very crowded spring season," Parham explains. "The spot kept people talking about the show." In addition to running the spot on television, AKA NYC partnered with New York Magazine's Vulture to push it out through social media channels, triggering vigorous engagement.

Although the spot exudes spontaneous energy, its presentation was the result of a finely honed strategy. Data gleaned by AKA NYC's insights department helped in casting the actors who appeared in the spot, their background environments and other details. "We put together a 50-page treatment that included everything from costumes choices to back stories of the characters," Parham explains. "All of it came from the research."

AKA's strong performance at the Davey Awards follows its earlier success at the 36th Annual Telly Awards. The agency picked up five Silver Awards -Telly's highest honor-and seven Bronze Awards for broadcast campaigns for Matilda the Musical, HAND TO GOD, IT'S ONLY A PLAY, ONCE THE MUSICAL and WOLF HALL. Those honors came in Entertainment, Direction, Humor, Cinematography, Animation, Editing and Graphics.

All these honors underscore AKA NYC's effort to elevate Broadway advertising and reach a broader spectrum of consumers. "It's not enough to tell people about the show," says Parham. "You have to make them feel the emotion that the show delivers."

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 and culture industries worldwide.

The New York office, led by Elizabeth Furze and Scott Moore, delivers innovative solutions across media, marketing, partnerships, interactive, creative, broadcast content, insights, 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: MATILDA THE MUSICAL, LES MISERABLES, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, DAMES AT SEA, SPRING AWAKENING, AMERICAN PSYCHO, HAND TO GOD, SYLVIA, WOLF HALL PARTS ONE & TWO, and THE AUDIENCE.

For more information, visit aka.nyc.