The senior marketing executive responsible for Labatt Blue and Blue Light has departed Labatt Breweries of Canada to become partner and senior vice-president of a Toronto-based entertainment company.
Michael Rapino starts his new job at Core Audience on Sept. 1.
Rapino, who started with Labatt 10 years ago as a sales representative and rose to become marketing director on Blue and Blue Light, says he always loved the entertainment marketing part of his job and welcomed the opportunity to get back into it at Core Audience.
For eight years, Rapino managed Labatt’s entertainment and sports properties nationally but two years ago the brewer shed its entertainment properties and sold concert promotion company BCL Entertainment.
Some of the competition at Core will be familiar to Rapino. A major competitor is MCA Concerts Canada – a partnership between Molson Breweries and MCA Concerts Ltd. and the company which bought BCL Entertainment’s concert divisions, including certain assets of Concert Productions International (cpi).
Core Audience was founded this past February by its president, Steve Herman, a veteran of the music industry and former senior vice-president of Universal Concerts.
Core is currently promoting the Summersault festival tour for Our Lady Peace, certain dates for Lilith Fair, the Toronto appearance of Janet Jackson, and the national production of Lord of the Dance.
