The roster of marketing agencies just got bigger. Claiming it wants to tackle both traditional and alternative marketing, Los Angeles-based Mosaic Media Group brokered a joint venture in early February with Elevation Group. The result is a new firm, Elevation Entertainment. At the same time, Mosaic President Allen Shapiro announced the company has bought 50 percent of the Steven Rifkind Co. (SRC), a “street marketing” firm founded by Steven Rifkind.
“SRC and Elevation Entertainment will work individually and cooperatively in leveraging their strengths while offering their services to Mosaic’s clients and projects,” Shapiro said. “We can no longer take the relationship between consumer brands and our clients and properties for granted. Utilizing entertainment properties to effectively reach audiences is no longer an afterthought for brands.”
Elevation Group is led by Denny Young and Steve Lindecke, former executives at sports management/marketing firm IMG. Their new venture with Mosaic will focus on sports and entertainment-based marketing, sponsorship sales, corporate consulting and sponsor activation programs. Past clients have included Progressive Insurance, US Bank, AT&T Broadband, GE Capital, Pioneer Electronics, General Mills, ITT, UPS, Albertsons, Philips Lighting and Microsoft.
Rifkind specializes in infiltrating the youth market through Street Teams responsible for local grassroots promotions and guerrilla marketing tactics. His firm has consulted such corporate clients as Nike, Pepsi, Levi’s and the NFL, studios and production companies such as Paramount, Miramax and DreamWorks, dozens of record labels including Sony, MCA and BMG, and over 150 recording acts including TLC, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jennifer Lopez.
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