PRISM Worldwide: Distribution and Exhibition in Advertising
You may not have heard of PRISM, but you definitely know its work. PRISM is a pioneer in the sports marketing and activation business, specifically delivering in areas such as sponsorship, content creation, public relations, and activation (Prism, n.d.). PRISM defines its work as “Intelligent Activation” (Prism, 2016). It focuses on the brands they work with to think of innovative new products and projects. PRISM aims to deliver mass media coverage for blue-chip brands (A guide, 2014).
The History & Structure of PRISM
PRISM is a privately held company within WPP. PRISM was acquired by WPP in 1999 and was then aligned with sister advertising company JWT (Payne, 2007). To this day, PRISM is the biggest sponsorship agency and most rewarded activation agency in WPP (Sylt, 2012).
Steve Madincea founded the company in 1993. Madincea, who was previously the commercial director of the Benetton Formula One team, is the Group Managing Director alongside Cliff Peters, the Worldwide Managing Partner, and Giles Thomas, the COO (Prism, n.d.). PRISM has between 51 and 200 employees. Its headquarters are located in Knightsbridge in London, UK in the same office building as its sister advertising company JWT (LinkedIn, 2016). PRISM also has strategic office locations across five continents in cities such as Bangkok, Cologne, London, Melbourne, Santa Monica, Shanghai, and Amsterdam (Prism, n.d.).
PRISM has also received prestigious industry awards such as the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and has had “finalists for the Sport Industry Group’s Best International Sport Marketing Campaign for the past four years” (LinkedIn, 2016).
Distribution, Exhibition & Activation
Though PRISM is active in many parts of the advertising supply chain, it is mainly focused on the distribution and exhibition of advertising and projects. The company helps connect sponsors and brands to events or consumers.
PRISM has worked with many different sponsors and companies to deliver top of the line projects. One project the company worked on was with Allianz for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Allianz wanted to become an outstanding competitor but didn’t know where to start. PRISM created an internal campaign “Team Allianz.” The campaign launched in 2011 and showcased 11 past, present, and future Olympic and Paralympic athletes. PRISM released 40 short films presenting the athlete’s stories and their journey’s. It challenged the employees to engage with the athletes and even rewarded them with tickets to support Team Allianz (Prism, 2016).
Along with distribution, comes PRISM’s definitive mission, “Intelligent Activation” (Prism, 2016). Brand activation is defined as “the seamless integration of all available communication means in a creative platform in order to activate consumers. Activation means simulating: 1. Interest, 2. Trial, 3. Loyalty” (Fankhauser, 2013). PRISM uses brand activation in a calculated and intelligent way. The company takes campaigns to the next level by distributing them while integrating and incorporating audience and employee interaction. This is one factor that makes PRISM so unique.
Assets of PRISM
PRISM has many strong connections with other companies, brands, and events. It works with well-known brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, and Samsung. The company also has done campaigns for big events such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the World Cup, and Wimbledon. 
Though it does not own or control any companies, PRISM has close ties with Formula One, Red Bull, and UEFA Champions League. PRISM is the only agency involved in the UEFA Champions league since its inception (LinkedIn, 2016). Aside from Madincea’s previous connection with Formula One, PRISM’s association with Formula One was furthered when the company was acquired by WPP. WPP CEO, Sir Martin Sorrell, is a non-executive director of Formula One motor racing (Hall, 2015). PRISM also works closely with Red Bull in partnership with Formula One sponsoring and other car companies. The company furthered its car ties and connection with Red Bull by getting involved with consumer cars such as Infinity, Ford, and Renault (Sylt, 2014). PRISM also handles the PR for Formula One.
Business & Revenue Model
PRISM has a multi-divisional service technique. These services include Digital, Creative, Film Production, Design, and PR & Communications. Each service has subsidiary services incorporated within. With digital, PRISM works on campaign ideation, digital strategy, web design and development, and UX design. On the creative side, PRISM comes up with creative ideation and campaign strategy, intellectual property, and product planning. In the production side, it develops concepts, produces content, edits, and sources content. In design, PRISM creates brands, editorials, and advertising. With PR and communications, PRISM makes strategies, manages content, releases content, and distributes content.
PRISM also has a “5 D Engagement Process”, which shows the steps of engaging individuals or brands. The first D is Define, which involves research. The second D is Design, which involves creating a strategy for the companies. The third D is Develop, which is the production side of the process. Third is Deliver, which is PRISM’s way of delivering assets and publishing on identified websites from the agreed upon seeding, sharing, and placement. The final D is Deep-Dive. This is where PRISM reviews its performance and effectiveness (Prism, 2016).
PRISM’s revenue model is a fee-based model. This means PRISM creates campaigns based on a fee. Sponsors or companies pay PRISM a set amount of money that covers the entire job. This model is a good choice for PRISM because of their diverse campaigns, which allows them to create many types of media and activations and then determine a price based on what the job entails. In combination with its service technique and engagement process, PRISM succeeds in its field.
The Future of PRISM
PRISM has a bright future ahead. According to WPP, “PRISM is a trusted partner delivering big results at competitive events through high-profile, integrated campaigns for clients of all sizes” (Prism, n.d.). This company is going places.
References
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