William Morris gets into Web "Gizmoz"
The talent and literary agency partners with Gizmoz to promote the Web start-up's multimedia technology to entertainment companies.
Through the agreement, the William Morris Agency, one of the largest talent and literary agencies worldwide, will promote Gizmoz's technology to entertainment companies working in the areas of music, movies, television, sports, celebrities and the Internet. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Gizmoz's technology offers a way for media companies to distribute their content online using rich media, including animations, photos, streaming video, audio and text. The small packets of media, also called Gizmoz, can be updated dynamically and collected to desktops, copied to sites, and sent from any Web page, email or desktop. The technology, operating on Java applets, tracks user activities and can deliver marketing feedback in real time.
"The alliances that will result from this relationship with WMA will provide entertainment companies with an open channel to communicate with their fans and track the word-of-mouth distribution of their messages," Eyal Gever, Gizmoz's founder and chief executive, said in a statement.
Formerly Zapa Digital, New York-based Gizmoz initially drew attention because of its illustrious chairman and backer, John Sculley, the former chief of Apple Computer. In March, the company received $14 million from a group of investors including Chase Equity Associates, Polaris Venture Capital, AOL Investments, Giza GE Venture Fund and 1-800-Flowers.com.
"With the power of viral marketing and the experience of real-time broadcasting, Gizmoz Networks provides a direct line to target audiences that is light years ahead of traditional forms of online advertising," Sculley said in a statement.
Clients of William Morris' Consulting and New Media Group include eBay, Anheuser-Busch, Hollywood Casino Corporation, Texas Instruments, Mandalay Bay Resort Group, The Mills Corporation, Nokia and Tommy Hilfiger.