By Jane L. Levere

Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, who has taken the Broadway musical to new heights of popularity, is breaking ground in the advertising business as well.

The United States subsidiary of the composer’s entertainment empire, the Really Useful Group, based in London, has signed up Trans World Airlines and Mastercard International to sponsor the United States tour of its musical “Sunset Boulevard”. T.W.A. is also sponsoring the New York production of the show.

In addition, the group, which posted a profit of $48 million on revenue of $144 million in the 1995 fiscal year, is seriously considering seeking global sponsors for its far-flung enterprises, which stretch from Europe to Australia and range from production and theater ownership to merchandising and a board game company.

“We’re in the business of putting people into seats,” Edgar Dobie, president of the American unit, the Really Useful Company, said. “If there’s a more effective way to do that than mass advertising, we’d like to find those opportunities.”

According to Jim Erlick, a marketing consultant who brokered the sponsorships on behalf of the Really Useful Company, T.W.A. and Mastercard are each paying the company “six figure” amounts for an exclusive agreement; T.W.A.’s is for slightly more than one year and Mastercard’s is for two and a half years.

Besides the cash infusion, T.W.A. is promoting “Sunset Boulevard” in its in-flight magazine and videos, World Wide Web site and frequent-flier program newsletter; it also purchased two full-page ads in The Denver Post in early July when the national tour of the musical opened in that city. The airline is itself listed as a sponsor of “Sunset Boulevard” in the Really Useful Company’s advertising for both the Broadway and national productions.

Beyond its investment, Mastercard will underwrite print, radio and direct mail advertising for the play in 10 markets, encouraging theater-goers to purchase tickets using their credit cards, Mr. Erlick said. Mastercard also will offer early buyers of tickets a compact disk with songs from the musical, and publicize it on its World Wide Web site and in mailings from Ticketmaster, which recently names Mastercard its “preferred” credit card. T.W.A., which has climbed out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy-law protection twice since 1992 and is now courting business travelers, views its sponsorship as a way to burnish its corporate image, said Beth Mack, vice president of advertising and consumer marketing. “Sometimes it’s easier to do this in conjunction with someone else,” she said.

Mastercard’s sponsorship should help the credit card company establish itself as a “serious player in the entertainment industry,” Mr. Erlick said. “It’s image enhancement and reinforcement.”

According to Dobie, the sponsorships enable his company to effectively reach new audiences and to raise money. Noting that the Really Useful Company spends between $75,000 and $100,000 each week to advertise a show on Broadway, and $50,000 to $75,000 to advertise a touring production, he estimated the T.W.A. and Mastercard sponsorships would give “Sunset Boulevard” sponsorships, the Really Useful Company, which is based in New York, is seeking other sponsors for “Whistle Down the Wind,” a musical be Sir Andrew set to open in Washington in December, Mr. Dobie said. He also said the group was “seriously” looking at global partnership arrangements and noted that sponsorships by companies in industries other than tobacco or alcohol were possible, since the group focuses on family entertainment.

Nor will the hunt for sponsors be restricted to individual production companies. Jed Bernstein, executive director of the League of American Theaters and Producers, the national trade association of producers of Broadway shows both in and out of New York City, said his organization wanted to sign up national sponsors similar to those obtained by the Society of London Theaters, which has been sponsored by Radisson Edwardian Hotels, Seagram’s and Grolsch (U.K.) for the last two years.

According to Mr. Bernstein, a former advertising executive, the league’s goal is to “identify five or six cornerstone sponsors, in the Olympic marketing model, that would make Broadway a major marketing platform.” He expects to sign up one or two within the next year. George Wachtel, a veteran observer of Broadway who heads up Audience Research and Analysis, a New York market research firm, believes the time is right for these kinds of sponsorships.

“I think it will happen more,” he said. “Broadway is in and growing, and corporations are seeking alternative marketing plans, besides sponsoring sports events and concerts.”