CHRISTOPHER DEMERS

Executive production consultant, brand innovator, and creative strategist Christopher Demers is the founder and principal of Christopher Demers IDEA Brokerage (CDIB), a multi-discipline entertainment and brand management group based in New York, NY.   Renowned for his proven ability to transform businesses, brands, and creative blueprints from seedlings to definitive successes, Demers’ wealth of practical experience and creative acumen are the foundation of CDIB’s focus.   CDIB represents and consults for select major music, brand, fashion, conservancy, artist, and entertainment property clients, providing professional services ranging from image management and event executive production to brand and business expansion strategies.

Boston-born Demers’ career trajectory began when he relocated to New York City during his early university years, transferring from Massachusetts’s Westfield State College to notable creative incubators The School of Visual Arts and Fashion Institute of Technology.  Studying a range of subjects – from business management and advertising to film production and fashion – built a formal foundation for the most influential sources of Demers’ educational experiences:  his work with iconic creative and business minds.

As a student, Demers’ passion for the music-fashion-art-innovation blend that was the club kid movement in the late 80’s/90’s led to working stints at club culture pillars The Tunnel, The World, and Limelight.  It was through club circles that he met New York nightlife icon and creator/muse of the legendary Love Ball, Susanne Bartsch.  In 1991, Demers accepted Bartsch’s offer of a position as Artistic Director/Production Manager at her international production company, Susanne Bartsch Productions.  He spent the next several years traveling the world with Bartsch, honing his skills at event management, marketing and promotion, fashion styling, concept development from creation and implementation, and the art of powerful imaging.  

During his tenure with Bartsch, Demers’ untiring dedication to learning and new experiences resulted in the addition of two professional accomplishments to his repertoire.  He helped launch boutique edge culture magazine DV8 with a mere $10,000 in capital, acting as Art Director and creating distinctive fashion editorials that defined the DV8 image.  But more influential and pivotal to his career was joining iconic artist Prince’s Paisley Park Enterprises as Marketing & Image Consultant.  Demers’ perseverance over eight months landed him the position in 1993, and for the next two years he was the exclusive agent between Prince and American and European designers.  He expanded the Paisley Park wardrobe department into a full-fledged, 25-person creative imaging group, working with powerhouse designers from Gaultier to Lacroix to Versace to create, market, and manage the vanguard visuals and styling of Prince and other Paisley Park artists.

In 1995, Demers left Paisley Park to join then-fledgling fitness company David Barton Gym.   Recommended by longtime mentor Bartsch (who later wed Barton), he accepted the position of Executive Vice President and crafted an innovative business and marketing model that blended precise, boutique image curation, exceptional service, and the fitness-seekers dream of achievable perfection.  The result was a fitness brand phenomenon:  David Barton Gym grew from a single facility with $1.5 million in revenue to a four facility, $15 million, 300 employee enterprise that included the highest-gross-per-square-foot fitness facility in the country. Demers’ business model, and unique, uncompromising vision, are still in use and clearly evident in the David Barton Gym brand, which continues to grow and expand upon the foundation he built, and is now nationwide with facilities in New York, Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.   

After seven years at David Barton, Demers’ exemplary work and straightforward, highly effective management style came to the attention of two entertainment world heavy-hitters:  Steve Stoute and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.  He was offered executive positions by both and chose to join Stoute at Interscope Geffen A&M Records, a choice Demers calls “the best decision I ever made in my life”.   There he performed A&R and management duties for high profile artists including Nas and Jay-Z, and later transitioned with Stoute to Stiggedy Entertainment, Arnell Group, and Pass, a joint venture boutique  marketing and branding agency founded and owned by Stoute and Arnell.   As Brand Strategist and Project Manager for Arnell Group clients including Reebok, McDonalds, HP, Mercedes Benz, M&M Mars, Verizon, Jeep, and Bank of America, Demers utilized his finely honed understanding of leveraging brand power to create dynamic marketing campaigns and singular brand strategies.   Groundbreaking talent/brand joint ventures inked during his tenure include Justin Timberlake/McDonalds, Allen Iverson/Jadakiss/Reebok, Jay-Z/Belvedere Vodka and Reebok, Beyonce/Tommy Hilfiger and Estee Lauder, Cheryl Crow& Enrique Iglesias/Jeep.  He also produced and managed major launch parties, special events, and live shows, among them the Reebok RBK launches in NYC, Miami, and Philadelphia (2002-2003); the Jay-Z/Baron Davis NBA All Star Party in Los Angeles (2003); and the Justin Timberlake/McDonalds “Justified” Promo Tour for the North American, European, and Asian markets (2004), Jay Z’s European Reebok promotional tour(2003); and the record breaking “Roc the Mic” Tour(2004), with Jay-Z and Fifty Cent headlining a star studded concert with a roster of other A-list talent performing as well.

In 2005, Demers made the decision to parlay his years of experience, market knowledge, creative expertise, and track record of successes into his own venture, and the Christopher Demers IDEA Brokerage was born.  His handpicked roster of clients is as diverse and intriguing as his professional history, ranging from Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” tour, Red Bull, Zaldy Goco (former head designer for Gwen Stefani’s $60 MM/year LAMB collection) and the Brooklyn Bridge Park, to fitness brand City Gym Boys, Pepsi Smash Live featuring Mary J.Blige/Pharrell Wiliams/The Clipse, and four time MTV Video and twice nominated and Emmy Award winning choreographer, producer, director, Travis Payne. Recently Demers also added to his impressive credentials the title of Chief Operating Officer of “Travis Payne Presents”, a full service/360 degree entertainment production company, which he founded and co-owns with his longtime friend and management client Travis Payne.  Demers’ focused, clear desire to create visionary concepts that make a lasting impact on popular culture drives his dedication to his work and his clients, and orients the continuing evolution of CDIB’s history of success.