Campfire, the New York-based brand entertainment shop which has turned out notable campaigns for Sega, Levi’s, Audi, Pontiac, Verizon, HBO, and Discovery Channel since its launch in 2006, has acquired The Advance Guard, one of the first marketing consultancies to focus on the consumer conversation side of emerging technology and community platforms.
The Advance Guard co-founders Steve Coulson and C.C. Chapman will join Campfire’s executive team of partners, Steve Wax, Mike Monello, Greg Hale, and Jeremiah Rosen, as creative directors. Financial terms of the acquisition are undisclosed. The Guard’s 2008 billings approximate $1 million, while Campfire’s annual billings are estimated at $7 million. The merging of the two companies will bring Campfire to a total staff of 25.
Since its own inception in ’07, The Advance Guard has collaborated with Campfire on several campaigns including HBO’s “True Blood” viral fare; Verizon FIOS’s original TV makeover series, My Home 2.0; Discovery’s “Shark Week” adventure marketing; and Snapple’s latest digital ‘Real Facts’ initiative. These successful collaborations led to Campfire’s decision to buy The Advance Guard.
Coulson and Chapman founded The Advance Guard to fill a void in the realm of social media. Coulson comes from a rich alternative media background. As an agency director at both JWT and McCann Erickson, he has a portfolio that includes award winning brand work for the likes of DeBeers, Ford, Smirnoff and Unilever. He is also known for creating the successful pop culture blog www.yesbutnobutyes.com, which to-date feeds a community of up to 1 million readers per month.
Chapman, whose background is in social engagement, is a pioneer in podcasting and new media As the host of the famed weekly podcast, Managing the Gray, Chapman educates people on how to best leverage the social media landscape.
One of The Advance Guard’s earliest successes was a pioneering social media experiment for American Eagle Outfitters. This led to work for the likes of Coca-Cola, Warner Brothers, and St Martin’s Press.
Campfire’s Monello described Coulson and Chapman as being expert “navigators behind the social media scene who make transmedia storytelling possible. We think cross-platform, they execute cross-platform. We create addictive and entertaining content, and they disseminate it strategically based on research and analytics. It’s a perfect match that brings Campfire completely full circle and full service.”
Chapman related that “brands should be managing their own conversations–and the trend toward bringing on experts to help them do that will continue to grow. Both The Advance Guard and Campfire were built to assist brands in precisely this way.”
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More