The Story Lab
We have a formula for doing that and the clue is in our name.
We are The Story Lab.
The Story
We combine data and editorial talent to identify the right stories, storytellers and content formats for some of the most innovative brands in the world.
The Lab
We work with forward thinking production, media and entertainment companies to fund, produce and distribute premium content that travels.
Being part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, we combine our marketing and commercial expertise to innovate the supply chain of storytelling through four Story Lab products.
Dentsu Aegis Network’s specialist content business, The Story Lab, today announces that with Dentsu Inc., it will manage all European format sales and brand partnerships for TBS’s leading sports entertainment programme, Sasuke, also known as Ninja Warrior, following the agreement by its parent company, Dentsu Inc. and TBS, to enter into a format rights agreement for two years.
Under the terms of the agreement Dentsu Inc. will acquire rights to the format in Europe (excluding Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland) with The Story Lab building on the popularity and momentum the format currently enjoys around the world.
Sasuke / Ninja Warrior is a highly successful sports entertainment programme that was first broadcast in 1997. In the programme, contestants, including Olympians and athletes from all works of life, challenge the world’s toughest obstacle course. To date more than 3,000 contestants have challenged the course and only three have successfully conquered all four stages. The US version of Sasuke, known as American Ninja Warrior, is entering its seventh season on NBC this summer.
Sasuke has been broadcast in 157 countries and territories to date. Local versions of the programme have been produced in the US, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sweden; with production currently ongoing in Turkey and Vietnam. The format has most recently been sold to the UK commercial broadcaster ITV and went on air last weekend.
The Dentsu Aegis Network’s branded content agency, The Story Lab, has two new leaders. Lisa Eisenpresser, co-founder and head of development, and Shannon Pruitt, evp of strategy and brand partnership, have taken the reins from Angela Courtin, co-founder and president.
Eisenpresser and Pruitt will serve as co-leads; Courtin is stepping down to focus on her role as president of Dentsu Aegis in the U.S.
Eisenpresser co-founded The Story Lab with Courtin in January 2013. “This is my first agency gig; I’m not an agency person,” Eisenpresser told Adweek. “My talent is my ability to bring in writers, directors, producers, thought leaders, people from the creative community that can be plugged into branded entertainment projects.”
Pruitt worked as a consultant for the Santa Monica, Calif.-based agency before joining it in January. “I come from a background of brands, agency and content owners,” said Pruitt. “I have a fundamental understanding of how brands can strategically leverage content to drive business results. Together with Lisa, we’re able to put together the business package in a robust way.”
Eisenpresser and Pruitt will be responsible for working with brands to create content, using the agency’s data and insight, in innovative ways.
The shop also added seven new hires: John Bernardo, vp of brand partnerships and business; Michelle Rutkowski, vp of brand partnerships; Travis Freeman, director of social media; Jennifer Han, senior director of strategy and brand partnerships; Caitlin McGinty, development executive; Kerry Doyle, svp of global content for GM; and Susanne Bentley, vp of strategy and brand partnerships.
In the next three or four weeks the agency expects to add additional staffers to work on Microsoft, since the tech giant recently decided to split its business between Dentsu and IPG. The Story Lab currently has 25 employees.
The Story Lab has worked on content partnerships like Chivas and Esquire’s “Brotherhood” as well as Glenlivet’s “Single Stories.” This summer, Tru TV will air Motor City Masters, a 10-episode reality show from Chevrolet to find America’s next great car designer.