Black star Anthony Anderson is going into advertising…er, business. With his eight seasons as an advertising executive on the hit ABC comedy behind him, the actor and entrepreneur took his maiden voyage to THESE in Las Vegas to launch a brand new adventure, ADvolution.
“It’s life imitating art,” Anderson told an enthusiastic audience during an ADWEEK House panel where he and business partner Alex Chatfield unveiled the celebrity-focused adtech company. (Chatfield is the company’s co-founding chairman, alongside co-founder and CEO Marc Mordoh.) “I hope I don’t embarrass myself for the company we’ve created! »
It’s safe to say that ADvolution fared better with CES audiences than Kangaroo Jack did with film critics. Inspired in part by Anderson’s own experience as a Hollywood veteran with a loyal fan base and myriad brand partnerships, the company seeks to be the connection between a diverse roster of celebrities and the entertainment industry. digital advertising.
“ADvolution’s mission is to empower actors, musicians and athletes to galvanize their social media platform and use it in conjunction with partnerships in the advertising world,” Anderson emphasized. “The industry is at a turning point [point] Right now, things are very different than they were 10 years ago.
Media matters
Chief among these current inflections is the fact that social media platforms have recast celebrities in the role of – as Chatfield put it – “their own media networks.” And just like traditional media networks, from ABC to TLC, stars have access to often granular data about their subscribers and fans through these platforms that they can bring to interested brands.
“This allows brands to be very targeted and focus on a curated community of people,” Chatfield noted. “The idea of running an ad to your spokesperson’s fan base… [means] that people actually tune in and listen. You cut through the noise.
Anderson and Chatfield see ADvolution’s role in this brave new world as a curation engine, using its technology to target advertising opportunities that benefit brands, celebrities and fans alike. These opportunities will go beyond traditional partnership agreements towards more specific experiences. And for celebrities who already have brand partnerships in place, ADvolution would look to expand their involvement into new areas.
“Beyond the simple fact of being in advertising, [they are] we now help distribute advertising,” Chatfield said as an example, adding that the company is currently focused on recruiting “more established” celebrities. He also distinguished ADvolution’s services from those that creators could provide, citing Anderson’s brand partnerships as a preferred model.
“The brands I partner with give me the latitude and freedom to be a partner in creating our advertising and digital footprint,” Anderson explained. “We know who the audience is and what they respond to. »
Left to right: Rooney, Anderson and Chatfield at Adweek House Las VegasCourtesy of Motion Stills Multimedia LLC
Balancing act
Anderson’s new foray into the world of advertising builds on the relationships and successes he’s created as one of Hollywood’s most prominent black actors, with a list of credits that spans everything from the Barbershop film franchise to Buy It Now, Amazon’s recent dive into the competitive reality waters of Shark Tank.
Likewise, ADvolution seeks to build a multicultural customer roster that reflects modern American society, a move that comes at a time when companies like Meta And Walmart have controversially reduced their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“Our company was inspired by our years of experience in multicultural marketing and our desire to make ad technology more accessible to diverse talents,” Chatfield said, noting that much of the content on the Internet is “created in largely by a diverse audience.
Resolving the imbalance between these creators and big media companies is something ADvolution’s creators hope to be a part of. Chatfield said a portion of the profits generated by its DEI products are directed to nonprofit organizations that address these challenges.
At the same time, Chatfield emphasized that the company eventually wants to make its tools available to a wide range of celebrities.
“DEI is just one example that might be interesting to those who have been trying to solve this problem for a while now,” he said.
For Anderson, ADvolution’s business is also personal as he seeks to raise the digital profile of his Hollywood peers. “It’s about a community,” he told the CES audience. “Knock on wood – if I had any here – that it continues to grow the way we see it growing.” »
