• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 8, 2008

The privately held marketing group TBA Global today is expected to launch a standalone division dedicated to the development and distribution of branded programming online.

TBA DEEP stands for "Digital Entertainment Engagement Programming," and is already being used by top clients, including McDonald's, Ford, Chivas, and MTV.

"We're investing where the growth in the market is," says Brian Murphy, EVP/branded entertainment at TBA, and the man who's been tapped to lead DEEP. "We are creating the future of how brands will be optimally expressed in a converged, digital marketplace."

To deliver on that promise, Murphy has assembled a team of experts in content development, distribution, branded entertainment, creative, digital media, television and video production, design, consumer marketing and live events. In all, TBA DEEP is made up of six specialists and six sales people -- a small percentage of TBA's total workforce of about 225 employees. Still, Murphy is expecting the company's digital efforts to make up an increasingly larger share of its revenue.

TBA saw revenues of about $110 million last year, according to Murphy. TBA DEEP, he maintains, will likely represent 15% of the company's total revenue within its first year of operation, and 30-50% of company's revenue within the next several years.

To illustrate the type of work TBA DEEP is doing for clients, Murphy pointed to an ongoing campaign for Ford, which was designed to educate consumers on Sync -- an in-car system developed by Microsoft, which uses voice activation technology to operate cellphones and play digital music.

"Our role was to inform and educate young adults on the real benefits on how Sync can impact your life," Murphy says. With a "seven figure budget," TBA created an original web series featuring two young women traveling cross-country with the help of a Sync-supported Ford. The series has since been picked up by MySpace TV.

While with TBA Global, Murphy helped create some of the company's earliest large-scale branded entertainment programs, including Rockfest, Music In High Places, and MTV's Hard Rock Live music series. Since 1994, TBA--which itself stands for "Think Believe Act"--has been producing various corporate events like product launches, road shows, business meetings, award presentations, and sales conferences for clients like IBM, Nike, Motorola, and JP Morgan Chase.

One recent example was the McDonald's Live campaign, in which TBA Global worked with record labels and other McDonald's agency teams to create a series of 10 live concerts with up-and-coming artists. The promotion, aimed primarily at young adults, included live events, branded video, online, radio and public relations. The tour was credited with creating millions of brand impressions, as well as increases in brand relevance and in-store sales.

For Chivas, TBA Global filmed footage from a six-city tour and combined it with the distiller's other marketing assets, such as its Chivas Ambassadors, to create an online community. The company then struck a guaranteed distribution agreement with MSN that attracted millions in the target demographic.

The "Global" part of TBA came into play in 2005 when the company acquired strategic event agency PGI, expanding its operations into Canada and Europe. TBA Global has 19 offices throughout North America, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.