Spamalot

Spamalot

Background

In April 2005 the Standard went on a fact finding mission to New York to seek out forthcoming Broadway musicals destined to make a splash at the West End. Spamalot was an obvious choice and talks were already under way for its transfer. When Dewynters were appointed as its agency we met with them to discuss creative ideas to offer high impact and stand-out. Having worked together on the successful campaign for the Producers we knew that an effective campaign could be delivered.

The Brief

The producers of Spamalot wanted to create a launch event which would grab national headlines and ensure that people would turn up in person at the box office on the day. There was to be no ‘rent-a-crowd’! Not since Sunset Boulevard in 1993 had any West End show ever achieved a queue at the box office on the first day of sale and got press coverage.

The Big Idea

We suggested a 4 page wrap around Standard Lite and Dewynters seized upon this idea. With the talents of Eric Idle on tap it was decided to create an Evening Standard Spamdard with fake stories, ads and classifieds. The collaboration involved editorial, advertising, circulation and marketing to attract the necessary London based ABC1 demographic.






The final campaign ran as follows:

• Standard Lite 4 page wrap
• Launch trailed in the Evening Standard on Monday 20th February - readers were given priority booking for a week
• E-shots sent to thisislondon.com email database the night before
• Information emailed to approx 20
• 000 theatre-goers through See Tickets
• Python and theatre fan websites seeded with information
• Copies of Standard and Spamwich press release were sent out the morning of 21 February to key London radio stations to maximise awareness
• On sale trailed on billboards and front page of Standard
• Eric Idle was present at the theatre along with giant inflatable foot
• Dark Age peasants
• monks
• knights and witches
• The first 100 Standard readers in the queue received a special Spamalot limited edition bag of ‘tat’.

The Result

The Evening Standard was chosen as the sole media. At 8am on the morning of Tuesday 21 February for the first time in 13 years, a queue formed outside a theatre in the West End. What is more the queue grew and grew and continued to do so until 8pm that evening when the box office closed for the day. Sales for the show exceeded £1m by the end of the priority-booking week and it was calculated that on the day itself two tickets were sold every minute at box office. The popularity of the Idle-designed wraps was overwhelming; within days they were being traded on ebay for £8 per copy.

Quotes

“Although we fully expected the support and commitment from the Evening Standard, the dedication, enthusiasm and can-do attitude from Nick and the rest of the Standard was above and beyond the call of duty. We know that what was achieved on 21 February 2006 should go down in advertising history.
Trudy Lister, Dewynters.

"The American producers of Monty Python’s Spamalot said they wanted a queue at the launch of box office in London. They were told they would never get one in this age of internet bookings. Without the support of the Standard and their willingness to bend their rules, it simply wouldn’t have been possible to achieve what everyone considered to be impossible and at the same time give Londoners something to laugh about on a cold February morning."
Crispin Ollington, Client (Spamalot)

"The Evening Standard was brave, innovative and rather foolish to allow me anywhere near their paper." Eric Idle.