Louise Withers & Associates launches new spot for return of Mamma Mia! The Musical via AKA

Theatre producer Louise Withers & Associates, responsible for bringing smash-hit productions such as, Matilda The Musical and Billy Elliot to this part of the world has launched a new campaign via AKA, for its next production for Australia, the return of Mamma Mia! The Musical.

The challenge – find a way to communicate the joy of experiencing a great piece of musical theatre in a way that is relevant to an ever-changing market place. For over 30 years (since the days of Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables) musicals have been selling themselves with snappy production footage shot on a theatre stage.  It was the ‘what you see is what you get’ approach.  For the third Australian tour of Mamma Mia! this traditional approach needed to be reimagined.

VIEW THE SPOT

In a collaboration between AKA (the agency), Louise Withers (the client) and Paper Moose (the video production company), a solution had to be found that created a TV commercial for a new production of Mamma Mia!, more than 6 months before the show actually existed.

Says Louise Withers: “From a strategic point of view we really wanted the ad to reflect the fun of the show and the love of ABBA music. To remind viewers of just how fabulous the music makes you feel and the excitement of going out to the theatre. Over 60 million people world-wide have seen the musical before – we don’t necessarily need to show them what Mamma Mia! is, we just need to remind them how good it makes you feel.  As an industry, we can’t just keep doing the same things over and over again.”

Riding on the current ‘Carpool Karaoke’ phenomenon and the feeling of  anticipation you get when travelling to the theatre to see a show that you’re really excited about, the partnership of these three companies executed a TVC significantly different to anything used to sell musical theatre in Australia in the past 30 years and has become the foundation  of a campaign already receiving significant social media attention and participation.

Client:  Louise Withers & Associates for Mamma Mia!

Vas Katos – Managing Director, AKA Asia Pacific