We had the good fortune of connecting with Devery Holmes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Devery, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I had thought about starting my own business for years. When my Boss was thinking of selling the company I’d been President of for 11 years, it was a great opportunity to follow my dream of owning my own business. And the landscape of how consumers engage with entertainment content had changed dramatically. I wanted to pivot the direction of my own agency to be more in touch with the changing needs of the consumer.

What should our readers know about your business?
My agency, Spark Alliance Marketing, is an entertainment marketing agency. We believe there is a perfect intersection where brand objective and content meet to engage consumer and spark powerful results. Spark specializes in Brand Strategy, Branded Entertainment, Product Placement, Partnership Marketing, Licensing, Traditional and Social Media campaigns on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube and execution. Award winning campaigns I have managed include American Airlines and Home Alone, Talladega Nights and Wonder Bread, The Matrix and Samsung, Baskin Robbins and Shrek, and at Spark Alliance Marketing, Despicable Me 2 and The Minions for Hostess Brands, Angry Birds and Hostess, Ellen and Zipcar, IHOP and The Lorax, Justice League and TCL, Ghostbusters and Hostess, and Marvel Heroes and Alienware.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In Southern California, there are so many fabulous places to explore. We typically start in Hollywood to see the TCL Theatre and all the celebrity footprints, The Wax Museum, Hollywood and Highlands, the tour of the celebrity homes and walk up to the Hollywood Sign. At night we would go to dinner at Off Vine, see a show at The Bourbon Room or the Pantages Theatre and then go for drinks at the Roosevelt Hotel. Day two, we would go to Beverly hills to see at the luxury shops on Rodeo Drive and go for tea at the Peninsula Hotel. Then on to Explore the Beverly Wilshire or the Beverly Hills Hotel. Celebrity sightings are always what friends like best. The Polo lounge is a great place for that.

Day three, we’d be at the beach. Starting the day with the incredible Getty Villa in Malibu, we’d then have lunch there or head to Mastro’s Ocean Club. After that, we’d either head to the beach, or back to Santa Monica and the Third Street Prominade or the world famous Santa Monica Pier. We love all the shops, street artists and fabulous places to eat. We also love all the theatre, music and sporting events in LA. Favorites include The Hollywood Bowl, The Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center, the new SoFi Stadium Kodak Theatre, The Staples Center, The Forum, So Fi Stadium and Dodger Stadium. For museums, The Ghetty, the L.A.County Museum Of Art, The Broad, The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, The Norton Simon Museum. And often we’d head off to the Santa Barbara Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Descanso Gardens, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm. Taking a walk down Abbot Kinney Blvd., Sunset Blvd and Melrose Place are also highly recommended. There is something for everyone in L.A., and this just barely touches the surface.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many folks that I have to thank. The first was a family friend, Dave Morris, who let me interview him about his job at ABC in Unit Managers when I was 15 years old, and then, when I was 18, he helped we get a job as a Page at ABC-TV. I went on, with his help, to work in the Unit Managers Department at ABC. He taught me so much and guided me during my ten years there. The second was Vicki Robles, a friend who worked at American Airlines and recommended me to the company, NMA Entertainment and Marketing, that American had hired to head up their entertainment placement and promotion program. I got the job and ended up working there for 20 years where I started as the project lead on the American Airlines business. Vicki was a mentor and coach to me throughout the years, and her help and guidance meant the world. Norm Marshall, the owner of NMA and Donna Schmidt who ran the office and many of the top accounts at NMA, taught me so much for twenty years. We started out with a very small team and 20 years later we had offices in the U.S. and Asia. I am so thankful to everyone there, and they were family to me.

Over the years, I had many clients. There were three that are very special. Ladd Biro was my client at American Airlines when I first came on board as their agency lead. We built the Home Alone campaign for American Airlines where Kevin McCallister at 10 years of age, chose American Airlines to find his parents in France. American had just launched their international service and was no longer a strictly domestic carrier. The cover of USA TODAY showed Kevin choosing American Airlines to go to France. We also had tremendous placement in the film and developed a promotion where families could win a trip to an international destinations that American Airlines now serviced.

Joe Adney was my client at Baskin Robbins and IHOP. At Baskin Robbins our first campaign together was with the Dreamworks film, SHREK. This magical film was lighting in a bottle as Baskin created the SHREK IT OUT program for Baskin Robbins with new menu items, The Shrek Swamp Fiz and brought color changing spoons adding to the magic. At IHOP we developed THE LORAX program where we had themed menus dishes and developed a 3 million tree planting challenge where families received a Lorax themed bookmark with an oak tree seed to plant a tree. And, also Kevin Kaul and David Leavitt from Hostess who taught me as we developed the entertainment partnership program together for Hostess. There were many years of programs. The first partnership with Kevin Kaul was with the feature film, Shrek. Hostess developed Ogre Green Twinkies to excite kids of all ages. And coming out of Bankruptcy, David Leavitt and I worked on the Despicable Me 2 program and developed the Twinkie Minion Makeover campaign. With an ap, you could turn your Twinkie into a Minion. This was Hostess’ first partnership program coming out of bankruptcy. It won every award as they had a 10% lift at Walmart with the DM2 program making it clear Hostess was back.

Because of their mentorship, guidance, advice and friendship, I had the confidence to go out on my own and start Spark Alliance Marketing. I am forever grateful.

Website: https://www.sparkam.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/554157/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparkam

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.