Former MTV jockey Kennedy worked the audience during the Game Show Network’s presentation at the L.A. Office RoadShow. The charismatic host quizzed audience members on the eight-year-old network and plugged its new show that she’s hosting, Friend or Foe?
Kennedy shared the stage with new musical artists as record labels, TV and film studios (the press was barred from movie presentations) pitched their properties for tie-ins at the entertainment marketing conference, held at the Hollywood Highland Complex in September.
The Game Show Network showcased its new promotion-friendly stance. After nearly a year without new programming, the Santa Monica-based network launched four new shows — Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck, Russian Roulette, and Friend or Foe? On Dec. 9, WinTuition and Lingo (which debuted in August but will now get a new set and look) premiere. Four to eight new shows in 2003 are planned, including a revamped Scrabble.
“We are focusing on content and pushing the boundaries of interactive TV,” says Joel Chiodi, director of marketing and promotions. (The Game Show Network — which is co-owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media — is currently playing in more than 44 million homes.)
WinTuition asks three contestants questions that cover first through 12th-grade curriculum. Players “graduate” to each level and vie for the chance to win $50,000 for college tuition. A WinTuition tour kicks off during first-quarter 2003 and will visit 12 cities, and one winner in each city will walk away with up to $10,000.
The network is also catering to at-home players. At gameshownetwork.com, gamers can log on and play along “sync to broadcast” with shows by downloading a player or using a set-top box. An ongoing Connect & Collect sweeps gives players an entry into a drawing for more than 60 prizes weekly, including Sony electronics merchandise. Sponsors of the sweeps (which have included AT&T) let gamers earn bonus points by correctly answering questions about the sponsor’s ads during commercials.
More Games, Less Grease
Philadelphia-based Comcast figured the time was right for a network targeting Gen X and Y gamers (ages 12 to 34), given that videogames is the fastest growing segment in the entertainment industry. In 2001, Hollywood grossed $8.5 billion at the box office; videogames brought in $9.5 billion. G4, a network devoted to videogames, launched in March and reaches six million homes via digital cable.
A natural partner was Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble’s Pringles brand, which has proven that Pringles snacks make less of a mess on game consoles. “Pringles’ target audience fits exactly with our demographic, and they did their own research and discovered that there is less grease on game consoles [compared to other potato chips],” explains Dale Hopkins, G4’s senior vp-sales and distribution.
The Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide show gives viewers the 411 on games, including tips on getting to the next level. Other shows include Players, a peek at the gaming lives of celebrities (à la MTV’s Cribs). Each episode takes place in the actor, musician, or sports player’s home, trailer, or tour bus. A special episode starred Vin Diesel playing against himself in a XXX game — and aired a week before the movie premiered.
“Movies and games go together. If a movie isn’t based on a game, then a game will be based on a movie,” says Lauren de la Fuenta, vp-media alliances/integrated programming at G4.
The network is working with Redwood City, CA-based EA Sports on a 10-city Madden Challenge (based on the popular football game). The tour launched in August and in each city, up to 500 interested players can visit madden.com or G4tv.com to sign up for a day of Madden playing. Ten regional winners will face off at finals in Jamaica, and the winner scores a trip to the Super Bowl in San Diego to play in the Madden Bowl with NFL players.
Elsewhere, G4 announced a multi-year marketing and advertising partnership with Westchester, PA-based Electronics Boutique (soon to be EB Games). The alliance includes show sponsorship and an “EB Games Sneak Peek” featuring titles available for pre-order at EB Games.
Living Fine
For those more interested in swilling wine than playing games, there’s the Fine Living network from the E.W. Scripps Co., creators of the Food Network, HGTV, and DIY.
The lifestyle network (now in 10 million homes) features 16 original series (all shot on location) and 20 one-hour specials (still in production). Shows include Radical Sabbatical, which chronicles people who give up on their careers for adventures.
Fine Living’s first sweepstakes, Winemaker for a Day, offered one winner and guest a trip to a Sonoma Valley winery and inn. Winners watched the winemaking process, and helped blend their own brand (complete with the guest’s name on packaging), followed by spa treatments at the inn. Big Fish Marketing, Los Angeles, handled.
An African Safari sweeps is next up in May. The sweeps will be promoted May 12 through June 22 on Fine Living and at DIY, in conjunction with safari-related programming, says Robyn Miller, senior vp-marketing at Los Angeles-based Fine Living.
Marketing execs from the major labels — EMI, Warner, Sony, Buena Vista, Universal — presented their new and old properties, and brought in 11 live performances, including pop star Michelle Branch (Warner Bros. Records), new country quartet Little Big Town (Sony’s Monument Records), and R&B group 3LW (Sony’s Epic Records).
Santa Monica, CA-based Warner Music Group showed that artists today change their lyrics to conform to the marketing plan. Uncle Kracker (Warner’s Lava Records) adapted his lyrics for a $10 million Miller Brewing Co. ad campaign via Ogilvy & Mather. The change meant inserting the word “beer,” says Lee Trink, senior vp-marketing at Lava. “It wasn’t a stretch and was something he could have written himself had he been in the right mood.”
And songs featured in commercials are becoming more advanced. In order to promote his album (releasing on Nov. 12), Phil Collins stars in a $20 million Toyota ad campaign that flashed the name of his album from Warner’s Atlantic label across the screen.
Meanwhile, reality TV is going online. Warner Records announced FaithHillTV, a weekly online show exclusively for fans who own or buy Faith Hill’s CDs.
A film crew is gathering footage for 12 episodes that feature the pop/country star recording in the studio, selecting her album cover, and hanging out backstage at TV talk shows. FaithHillTV will be co-developed by AOL/Time Warner.
To access the show, consumers insert her newly released CD Cry in their CD-ROM to retrieve the URL. Once Warner has a presenting partner on board, fans who play one of Hill’s previous CDs (which collectively have sold 20 million copies) on their computers will be tracked by Warner and notified of the Web site. Internet postcards will be sent weekly, says Tami Levi, vp-strategic marketing at Warner Records.
Burbank-based Buena Vista Records’ Hollywood label, meanwhile, is plugging Simon and Milo, a new animated music duo like the group Gorillaz. “In the office, we think of them as modern-day Chipmunks with a techno-dance feel that appeals to kids and tweens,” says Rob Sourrial, director of national promotions at Hollywood Records.
Hollywood teamed the duo with Minneapolis-based General Mills’ Pillsbury for a concert called Strudelpalooza. From January to April, 20 million packages of frozen waffles, pancakes, and Strudel toast contained codes that could be entered at strudelpalooza.com for the chance to win CD samplers from Simon and Milo or tickets to the Strudelpalooza concert (headlined by the band) at Sea World in San Antonio, TX, in August. Momentum Marketing, Washington, DC, assisted with concert logistics.
Simon and Milo have an animated TV show in production, for which Hollywood is in discussions with Disney and Nickelodeon.
Perhaps, one day there will be a network devoted to animated musical acts.
