Nets go unconventional to push Fall shows

from the wall street journal

Networks Get Gimmicky To Hype New Shows
By BROOKS BARNES

To generate buzz for its new medical sitcom "Out of Practice," CBS is
plastering ads on drugstore prescription bags aand water coolers. NBC
is pushing the reality series "Three Wishes" by slapping yellow
stickers on 100,000 dollar bills (real ones). Head-shaving parties are
part of Fox's marketing blitz for its new drama "Prison Break."

So much for the supremacy of the on-air promo.

For decades, the big television networks advertised new shows
primarily through ads on their own air. Radio, billboard and magazine
ads were thrown in for key launches or vanity projects. That worked
fine when the major broadcast networks commanded 90% of the TV
audience. But the growth of cable channels has eroded that share to
less than 50%. More recently, growth of on-demand cable, videogames
and the Internet is adding to competition for people's leisure time.
As a result, the networks need a wider array of marketing ploys.

For the comedy "Everybody Hates Chris" alone, UPN is running promos on
1,500 movie screens, hiring helicopters to pull aerial banners,
distributing one million bumper stickers, and screening the first
episode on American Airlines flights for a month, among a dozen other
come-ons.

Marketing of new shows is crucial. Over the next three weeks, the
broadcast networks alone will start the new seasons of 77 returning
shows and introduce 31 new series. Just one new hit can transform a
network, but making a show stick isn't easy: Of the 31 shows the
networks rolled out last season, only 10 remain -- and some of those
are on life support.

But as TV executives turn more to unconventional marketing methods to
tout their programs, some marketing experts see the move as an
unspoken admission from broadcasters that their commercials are
weakening as sales tools.

"This is dangerous because the networks are calling into question
their own medium," says Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners, an
Old Greenwich, Conn., marketing-strategy firm.

True, there is still plenty of on-air self-promotion at the networks,
and TV executives still defend the power of the 60-second spot.
"On-air promotion remains our most effective tool, bar none," says
George Schweitzer, who oversees marketing for Viacom Inc.'s CBS and
UPN.

But it's the viral and guerrilla marketing campaigns getting all the
attention this fall, with some networks spending 30% more on
off-network marketing this year compared with last. A healthy
off-network marketing budget for a high-profile network series ranges
between $5 million and $10 million, says Vince Manze, president of
General Electric Co.'s NBC Agency. All six networks have extensive
off-network campaigns for multiple shows. "Everybody has upped the
ante," says Mr. Manze.

The industry has evidence that the new approach works. Walt Disney
Co.'s ABC helped spark this nontraditional marketing frenzy with its
successful campaigns last year for "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost."
To seed a new crop of hits, the then-struggling network opted for
gimmicky tactics to command attention. In one stunt for "Lost," ABC
scattered 10,000 plastic bottles on beaches with a flier inside
reading, "I'm 'Lost.' Find me on ABC."

Stephen McPherson, ABC's president of entertainment, also decided to
spend 80% of his fall marketing budget on the two shows, a notable
break with tradition. Movie studios have long reserved their full
marketing muscle for a limited portion of their output, but TV
networks typically back their full slates relatively evenly.

Both shows became megahits, with the May finales of "Desperate
Housewives" and "Lost" respectively drawing 30 million and 20 million
viewers. "In a world where broadcast networks have been under attack,
I think it's great that we're all getting really aggressive," says Mr.
McPherson.

Even so, some TV-marketing executives are wondering if the industry is
overdoing it. "People are going to be re-examining what they're
spending on marketing after this season," predicts Bob Bibb,
co-president of marketing for Time Warner Inc.'s WB network. "At a
certain point, everyone is just doing more to keep up with what
everyone else is doing." Among WB's efforts: Covering tables in mall
food courts with stickers advertising the new drama "Related."

ABC is drawing attention for its initiatives tied to two new programs
-- "Invasion," with a science-fiction theme, and "Commander in Chief"
starring Geena Davis as president of the U.S. -- but it's what the
network is doing for established hits that has Hollywood talking.

Mr. McPherson has decided to "relaunch" several hit shows. With a
limited pool of resources, networks typically shift most of their
marketing attention to new series. But ABC is heavily promoting both
"Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." Issues of TV Guide this week come
with a preview DVD for "Lost" attached to the front cover. ABC is
slapping "Desperate Housewives" logos on dry-cleaner bags with the
tagline "New dirty laundry."

"We can't take anything for granted anymore," says Mr. McPherson.
"Coca-Cola never stops selling Coke."

ABC says it is also extending the length of some on-air promos from 60
seconds to 90 seconds pitches and, occasionally, even longer. One
3½-minute promo for the hit series "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
has all the earmarks of a movie trailer.

TV executives note that marketing is starting to work its way deeper
into the process for developing new shows. Instead of making a program
and then figuring out how to market it, the marketing is increasingly
built into the show's DNA.

That's one reason viewers will find so many shows with genre-bending
premises on the air this fall. For example, "Reunion," from News
Corp.'s Fox, follows a group of friends over 20 years with every
episode representing a new year -- a concept virtually guaranteed a
certain amount of hype because of its novelty.

Networks struggling in the ratings are among those working the oddity
angle the hardest. NBC, which suffered a 17% drop in viewers in key
age groups last year, says its 2-inch stickers on 100,000 dollar bills
to promote a new reality show called "Three Wishes" required
permission from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. (A Treasury
spokeswoman says the stickers are fine because they can be removed.)

For the new comedy "My Name is Earl," NBC has hired a team of
"attractive young women" to screen previews in big-city bars the
weekend before the premiere, says John Miller, chief marketing
officer. The women will have flat-screen TVs strapped to their torsos.
"Our circulation just isn't what it used to be," says Mr. Miller.
"We're trying to be as creative and breakthrough and invasive as
possible."
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