Cablefax The Magazine - May 2010 - 17

May We Help You?
Cable networks are becoming more savy advertising partners and are preparing
in-depth research to make their case.
By Cathy Applefeld Olson
While it's true that interactive advertising has a
bright future, there's a brave new world of noteworthy
lower-tech deals, too. " Planning and integration
have become much more collaborative, " says ESPN's
SVP of Research and Analytics Artie Bulgrin. " It's less of a
buyer-seller relationship and more of a partnership relationship, "
he adds.
Witness ESPN's evolving collaborative relationship with Nike.
Or the partnership between Lifetime Television and Outback
Steakhouse, where the network created mini-movies based on
the restaurant chain's " Live Adventurous " slogan.
This type of heavy integration requires a resetting of the
clock. " Timing is always key in that the more lead time you
have, the better, " says Debbie Richman, formerly Lifetime's EVP,
Ad Sales. " It allows you to dig down deep together. " Perhaps
most telling, Karen Soots, Outback's director of media services,
says her company plans to meet only with networks that have
submitted ideas Outback knows it can work with.
IFC TV and Sundance were early advocates of busting open
the ways advertisers connect with audiences. Now fi ve years
into unique integrations and sponsorships, " There's no such
thing as a traditional break for us any more, " says IFC TV/Sundance
Channel President Evan Shapiro (pictured below).
Instead, the IFC/Sundance team is crafting custom
marketing solutions for clients
like Honda, which created " trailers "
that ran before select movie screenings
at this year's Sundance Festival.
IFC and Sundance also are building
programming around sponsors'
messages, as was the case with Palm
Pre and IFC's Bollywood event or the
Tastemaker series sponsored by the
Chase Sapphire card.
" We build these customized pieces
of content with them and we allow
them to co-own it with us, which is
unusual, " Shapiro says. " Many clients
come in who've already made some
branded content and are looking for a place to put it. That was
the case with Porsche. They had done these really cool short
fi lms, and we built a night around them. "
Today advertisers increasingly are demanding more feedback.
" They know they have to be on multiple platforms to
reach critical mass, " Bulgrin says. " But the problem has been
CableFAX: The Magazine
May 2010
we lack the precise measure to understand what a given
marketing communication or touch point does for a crossmedia
campaign. "
To that end, in late March ESPN unveiled its XP cross-media
research initiative. Beginning with World Cup coverage in June,
ESPN will be gathering information about consumer behavior
around sporting events. By next year, Bulgrin says, " We want
to...provide advertisers with a certain level of metrics on a
regular basis. "
Of course interactivity is a key-and promising-puzzle
piece. Since '08, Turner's been using its TVinCONTEXT platform,
which places ads in the commercial pod immediately after
contextually relevant program content. It began with movies on
TBS and TNT.
" When viewers see a TViC ad an emotional connection
is made and there is a greater likelihood that person will
consider buying the brand, " says Linda Yaccarino, EVP/COO
of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales. Turner has sold more than
200 placements in TViC, she says, including On Star service
by General Motors, Applebee's, Best Buy and Chili's.
ITV software developer Ensequence has had a hand in
upping the ante on interactive programming, including NBC's
Olympics coverage and select AETN shows. Where interactive
elements were available, History Channel's
Battles BC drew 20% of viewers into the interactive
area, says Peter Low, Ensequence President/CEO.
And the interactive version of Battles had a 20%
higher rating than when it was not interactive, he
adds. The average viewer spent 33 minutes interacting
with the content. That should turn heads.
Veteran journalist Cathy Applefeld Olson writes Eye
on Advertising for CableFAX Daily.
Who, What, Where, When
Who: IFC TV/Sundance Channel President Evan Shapiro
What: CTAM Research Conference, Keynote Address
Where: J.W. Marriott, Platinum Ballroom
When: May 14, 8:30am; (Full conference begins May
12; other speakers of note include Oxygen GM Jason
Klarman and comScore Co-founder Gian Fulgoni, May
12, 1:30pm; and new-media academic Henry Jenkins,
May 13, 8:30am)
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