MARKETING OF A SPECIAL OR DOCUMENTARY/DOCUMENTARY SERIES
WINNER:
DIY NETWORK FOR CELEBRITY
RIDES - BURT BUILDS A BANDIT
Burt Reynolds fans know the
Bandit delivered the goods in the 1977
hit movie Smokey and the Bandit. But
could DIY Network deliver the audience for the Reynolds-starring installment of its Hollywood-meets-DIY series
Celebrity Rides The episode showed
Reynolds leading the restoration of a
1977 black and gold Pontiac Trans Am,
a clone of his famous Smokey ride. The
installment was a perfect fit for DIY’s
core male-skewing 25-54 audience and
was primed to showcase the network
in general. Building on this opportunity,
DIY preceded the airing with a contest
through which a winner could drive
away in a classic Trans Am. A limited
budget and DIY’s digital-only universe
meant the marketing plan had to be
precisely focused. The network’s goals
were to build brand perception that DIY
is entertaining and informative, bring
an element of user-generated content
and use off-air forms of communication. It selected social networking site
Heavy.com as the vehicle through which
contestants could upload video explaining why they deserved to win the car. An
intricate campaign combining on-air and
online content launched a month before
the six-week contest period began. Once
the contest started, the marketing team
developed off-channel tune-in spots
that ran on other networks including
Discovery, ESPN and TV Land, and an
exclusive interview with Reynolds aired
on the syndicated series Extra. Additional marketing material was on-hand at
the YearOne Road Atlanta event, where
marketers handed out Celebrity Rides
postcards, air fresheners and T-shirts.
And DIY reached out the day of the premiere with a Comcast IPG feature that
reached more than 9 million homes and
enabled viewers to set tune-in and/or
series recording reminders. ♣
Honorable Mentions:
CNN for Planet in Peril Affiliate
Screenings—Turner Network Sales
generated multiplatform buzz by helping
affiliates in green-friendly markets create
advance screening events for an abridged
HD version of CNN’s Planet in Peril by
distributing invitations, providing talent
and offering Earth-friendly branded
premiums for guests.
Discovery Communications for
Planet Earth—With the help of a
partnership with Comcast’s HD On
Demand service, Discovery drove 65 million
viewers— 2.5 million of them VOD customers—to Planet Earth via a multiplatform
campaign that included parallel launches
on Discovery Channel and HD Theater.
Tennis Channel for Agassi: Between
the Lines Consumer Tune-in
Campaign—In an effort to build aw
are-ness around U.S. Open time, Tennis
Channel “resort”-ed to the assistance of
partners Talon Air and Westin Hotels and
Resorts, which screened the documentar y,
showcased promotional artwork and ran
15-second Tennis Channel spots.
The old Bandit himself, Burt Reynolds,
guest-starred in an episode of DIY’s
Celebrity Rides.
Fast Facts
\ Burt Builds a Bandit doubled
viewership among adults
25-54 vs. DIY’s identical
2007 time-slot performance.
\ The Oct. 19 airing of the
five-part series was the
highest rated, averaging
92,000 adults (25-54).
\ The contest generated
104 user-generated video
submissions on Heavy.com;
DIY’s partnership with Heavy.
com resulted in more than
14. 4 million impressions.
