MSA_Pure_Spirits_2019_Q2 - 12

AGENCIES
After two years of hard work, 7 Stone moved into
its first office and today they're based at the Riker
Building in Pontiac. The company has more than 100
active clients and 350 models. 7 Stone supplies talent
for trade shows, corporate events, TV ads, fundraisers, golf outings, festivals, fashion shows and music
videos, but more than half their models work in the
spirits industry. They represent Tito's Vodka, Deep
Eddy Vodka, Proximo Spirits, Virtue Cider and other
beverage companies.
Stone attributes her success to, among other things,
impeccable communication. "Another key," she says, "is
the recruitment of our team, their enthusiastic personalities, their dependability and their sales skills." They
won't take just any old job, however. One of their most
unusual requests was from a man who wanted to hire a
model to "come hang out with him." Stone considers herself the "Momma Bear" whose primary job is to keep her
models safe and comfortable-the client was not booked.

(Republic National, Southern Wine & Spirits, Eastown)
as well as leading brands such as Beam Suntory, Pernod
and Sazerac. In 2008, Widby welcomed a new partner to
the business, his cousin Rocco Pollifrone. DBC is based
in Lincoln Park with another office in Grand Rapids and
satellites in Cleveland, Pittsburg and Philadelphia.
Business is thriving with more than 240 models or
"brand ambassadors," and Widby is proud of their work:
"They love what they do and who they do it for. Search
us on social media and you will find our team members
tagging their event or location, taking pride in themselves, their displays, and more than anything getting
to know the brand they're representing."
The agency periodically fields a peculiar request.
Potential customers have asked for acrobats and models "who can walk on their hands for long periods of
time." Other clients are looking for someone to wash
their cars, do their shopping, or even watch their children! Make no mistake, though. DBC models are knowledgeable, well-trained professionals whose job is to
represent the brand-they don't wash cars.

GD PRODUCT IONS

(Above)
Matt Widby was
a locomotive
engineer before
entering the
promotion
industry.

(Right)
Genevieve
Deittrick has
been in the
talent business
since 2000.

12 PURE SPIRITS

DBC AMERICA
Matt Widby also had an intriguing career before starting his company, DBC America. He worked full-time as
a locomotive engineer and part-time as a nightclub manager. After his twin daughters were born, he quit the engineering job and began working for a beer distributor.
"This enabled me to learn a lot more about the industry and what my current and future customers were
looking for," he says. One night at the club, where he was
still working part-time, Widby was asked by a distributor rep if a few waitresses could work at a promotional
event. There was an opportunity here, so that night he
went home and filed the paperwork to incorporate.
According to Widby, 95 percent of their work is
within the spirits industry. They represent distributors

GD Productions, in Bloomfield Hills, was founded
in 2000 by Genevieve Deittrick. Initially, the company supplied talent for sporting events, runways, auto
shows, guerilla marketing and other sectors, but for
the past decade they've concentrated on spirits. Before
opening her business, Deittrick worked for a number of
talent agencies on both local and nationwide tours-
with brands such as Hawaiian Tropic and Jeep-so she
brings a wealth of first-hand experience to the job. Today, approximately 95 percent of GD's business if spirits-related.
When they're out on a job, models are typically the
only brand representatives that consumers meet and
interact with. Because of this, Deittrick says, their work

MSA_Pure_Spirits_2019_Q2

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