On July 1, VH1 viewers were given the chance to win a BMW Z3 roadster by tuning in to the cable network’s new “My VH1 Primetime” programming block, watching for an on-air clue, then logging onto vh1.com.

Before you shrug and say an on-air sweeps (with online entry) is hardly newsworthy, note that VH1 gave away another Z3 the following night. And the one after that. And the one after that, too. In all, BMW and VH1 last month awarded 31 cars, each with a trunkful of VH1’s “100 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

“We took the usual one-off sweepstakes idea and put it on acid,” says VH1 group vp-marketing partnership management Mark McIntire. “We wanted to make sure the excitement would last all month.”

Called Free Ride and supported with radio spots and print ads, the campaign was the largest promotion ever developed by New York City-based VH1. While the initiative touted “Primetime” as well as BMW’s summer top-down selling season, it also served as a statement: These days, VH1 is all about promotion.

With 95 of the network’s top 100 advertisers now demanding promotional components with their ad buys (and half of all national advertisers already utilizing a promo or sponsorship), VH1’s in-house marketing department is busier than ever attaching brands to existing events such as Divas Live and Fairway to Heaven, and custom-building campaigns for others.

VH1’s viewership is made up of 70 million active, music-loving cable subscribers aged 18 to 49 with affinities for mainstream pop music. And the network’s marketing initiatives range from regional to national and encompass everything from on-air to in-store, from on-pack to online.

“Whenever they call us with a promotional opportunity, we listen intently,” says Jim McDowell, vp-marketing at Woodcliff Lake, NJ-based BMW, which has leveraged a handful of other VH1 events and programs over the last few years. “VH1 has vitality among its target group. And there is a tremendous overlap between our customers and their viewers.”

A growing legion of long-standing (Sony, Toyota, Boston Beer Co.) and new (Domino’s Pizza, Zenith, Target Corp.) advertisers apparently agree. Diva’s Live sponsor Maybelline, New York City, rolled out a Diva Hits cosmetics line and created some 25,000 P-O-P displays to support it. White Plains, NY-based Heineken used 50,000 pieces of P-O-P and hosted bar events in conjunction with an on-air party hyping the 25th-anniversary DVD release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Torrance, CA-based Toyota used its My VH1 Awards sponsorship to introduce a redesigned Rav4 mini-SUV, hosting a sweeps on vh1.com giving consumers chances to win cars displayed inside the Shrine Auditorium, the show’s venue. “We take a TV entity and build a larger package around it to increase the focus for the advertiser,” says McIntire. Promotion partners must be national advertisers, he notes.

Eden Prairie, MN-based Best Buy, a national advertiser since 1996, tested its first promotional partnership with VH1 last fall as part of its sponsorship of a Sting concert in New York City’s Central Park. VH1 ran tune-in spots and broadcast the show. Last winter, the chain sunk its teeth into the net’s “100 Greatest Albums of All Time” countdown by adding tune-in copy to circulars, positioning P-O-P in stores, and giving all 100 chosen CDs prominent shelf space.

The program “had an impressive amount of advertising and promotional support behind it, and it was appealing because we knew we had the music selection to support it,” says Stacy Verstraete, Best Buy’s assistant manager of promotions and events. “It was one of the most successful promotions tied to music that we’ve ever put together.”

Best Buy returns next month with a similarly activated campaign as sponsor of special “90s Week” programming.

Washing Both Hands

Getting results for advertisers while attracting more viewers is a tall order. But VH1 is shooting to kill both objectives with a promotional schedule that has quantity and quality. Including Free Ride, the network this summer will host nine promotions taking advertisers beyond the small screen.

Boston Beer’s Sam Adams continues its long relationship with a Summer Jam sweeps dangling chances to win admission to the Beantown-based brewer’s annual invitation-only rock concert on Aug. 25. (Last year’s show starred Stone Temple Pilots.) On-premise events with supporting radio spots in 35 markets will build excitement and collect entries.

The company in the past also tied to Backyard Barbecue, an annual contest that picks up winners in a private jet and delivers them to the backyard of a famous band for an intimate show. Past bands that have participated include Bon Jovi and The Goo-Goo Dolls. The sweeps is tagged on packaging, P-O-P, and online. “VH1 has an age-relevant brand,” says Boston Beers director-brand development Tim Jermain. “We’re both chasing relatively the same demographic. These promotions make sense.”

Brands including Sony and Toyota are tying into Rock Across America, which broadcasts from eight cities through Labor Day. Several advertisers are piggybacking VH1’s sponsorship of the Aerosmith, U2, Matchbox 20, and Bon Jovi concert tours with on-site events and ticket promotions — the winner of VH1’s Just Push Play campaign (sponsored by Lexus) personally kicked off a show at one of Aerosmith’s gigs in June.

Elsewhere, VH1 is running efforts for a pair of made-for-TV movies and continues its support of Save the Music, its proprietary nonprofit initiative benefiting public school music programs. And vh1.com, which has figured prominently in all of the network’s marketing over the past year, continues its momentum by adding features and exclusive content — such as an offer for free song downloads to visitors who pre-order new releases from such artists as Melissa Etheridge and Stevie Nicks orchestrated via sister MTV Networks’ Sonicnet.com portal.

“We’re not busy just for the sake of being busy,” says VH1 senior vp-marketing Reggie Fils-Aime. “Our overall intent is to be out in the marketplace touching consumers. Promotions help us do that and, in turn, help our advertisers reach their target.”

But you don’t get advertisers without an audience: VH1 has been developing new programming initiatives such as original movies, awards shows, and special concerts. The aforementioned “My VH1 Primetime” week-night block (from 9 p.m. to midnight) lets viewers visit vh1.com to select which Behind the Music episode airs that night; another evening showcases consumers talking about music during a “What’s My 20?” show.

Fils-Aime is counting on the new projects to mix with successful staples such as Behind the Music, Storytellers, and Divas that already offer advertisers choices. “We will continue to broaden our message and make ourselves more relevant,” says Fils-Aime. “We’re working on a number of things for 2002.” Those plans reportedly include a massive year-long alliance with Minneapolis-based Target Corp.

That’s nothing to shrug about.

On July 1, VH1 viewers were given the chance to win a BMW Z3 roadster by tuning in to the cable network’s new My VH1 Primetime programming block, watching for an on-air clue, then logging onto vh1.com.

Before you shrug and say an on-air sweeps (with online entry) is hardly newsworthy, note that VH1 gave away another Z3 the following night. And the one after that. And the one after that, too. In all, BMW and VH1 last month awarded 31 cars, each with a trunkful of VH1’s 100 Greatest Albums of All Time.

We took the usual one-off sweepstakes idea and put it on acid, says VH1 group vp-marketing partnership management Mark McIntire. We wanted to make sure the excitement would last all month.

Called Free Ride and supported with radio spots and print ads, the campaign was the largest promotion ever developed by New York City-based VH1. While the initiative touted Primetime as well as BMW’s summer top-down selling season, it also served as a statement: These days, VH1 is all about promotion.

With 95 of the network’s top 100 advertisers now demanding promotional components with their ad buys (and half of all national advertisers already utilizing a promo or sponsorship), VH1’s in-house marketing department is busier than ever attaching brands to existing events such as Divas Live and Fairway to Heaven, and custom-building campaigns for others.

VH1’s viewership is made up of 70 million active, music-loving cable subscribers aged 18 to 49 with affinities for mainstream pop music. And the network’s marketing initiatives range from regional to national and encompass everything from on-air to in-store, from on-pack to online.

Whenever they call us with a promotional opportunity, we listen intently, says Jim McDowell, vp-marketing at Woodcliff Lake, NJ-based BMW, which has leveraged a handful of other VH1 events and programs over the last few years. VH1 has vitality among its target group. And there is a tremendous overlap between our customers and their viewers.

A growing legion of long-standing (Sony, Toyota, Boston Beer Co.) and new (Domino’s Pizza, Zenith, Target Corp.) advertisers apparently agree. Diva’s Live sponsor Maybelline, New York City, rolled out a Diva Hits cosmetics line and created some 25,000 P-O-P displays to support it. White Plains, NY-based Heineken used 50,000 pieces of P-O-P and hosted bar events in conjunction with an on-air party hyping the 25th-anniversary DVD release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Torrance, CA-based Toyota used its My VH1 Awards sponsorship to introduce a redesigned Rav4 mini-SUV, hosting a sweeps on vh1.com giving consumers chances to win cars displayed inside the Shrine Auditorium, the show’s venue. We take a TV entity and build a larger package around it to increase the focus for the advertiser, says McIntire. Promotion partners must be national advertisers, he notes.

Eden Prairie, MN-based Best Buy, a national advertiser since 1996, tested its first promotional partnership with VH1 last fall as part of its sponsorship of a Sting concert in New York City’s Central Park. VH1 ran tune-in spots and broadcast the show. Last winter, the chain sunk its teeth into the net’s 100 Greatest Albums of All Time countdown by adding tune-in copy to circulars, positioning P-O-P in stores, and giving all 100 chosen CDs prominent shelf space.

The program had an impressive amount of advertising and promotional support behind it, and it was appealing because we knew we had the music selection to support it, says Stacy Verstraete, Best Buy’s assistant manager of promotions and events. It was one of the most successful promotions tied to music that we’ve ever put together.

Best Buy returns next month with a similarly activated campaign as sponsor of special 90s Week programming.

Washing Both Hands

Getting results for advertisers while attracting more viewers is a tall order. But VH1 is shooting to kill both objectives with a promotional schedule that has quantity and quality. Including Free Ride, the network this summer will host nine promotions taking advertisers beyond the small screen.

Boston Beer’s Sam Adams continues its long relationship with a Summer Jam sweeps dangling chances to win admission to the Beantown-based brewer’s annual invitation-only rock concert on Aug. 25. (Last year’s show starred Stone Temple Pilots.) On-premise events with supporting radio spots in 35 markets will build excitement and collect entries.

The company in the past also tied to Backyard Barbecue, an annual contest that picks up winners in a private jet and delivers them to the backyard of a famous band for an intimate show. Past bands that have participated include Bon Jovi and The Goo-Goo Dolls. The sweeps is tagged on packaging, P-O-P, and online. VH1 has an age-relevant brand, says Boston Beers director-brand development Tim Jermain. We’re both chasing relatively the same demographic. These promotions make sense.

Brands including Sony and Toyota are tying into Rock Across America, which broadcasts from eight cities through Labor Day. Several advertisers are piggybacking VH1’s sponsorship of the Aerosmith, U2, Matchbox 20, and Bon Jovi concert tours with on-site events and ticket promotions the winner of VH1’s Just Push Play campaign (sponsored by Lexus) personally kicked off a show at one of Aerosmith’s gigs in June.

Elsewhere, VH1 is running efforts for a pair of made-for-TV movies and continues its support of Save the Music, its proprietary nonprofit initiative benefiting public school music programs. And vh1.com, which has figured prominently in all of the network’s marketing over the past year, continues its momentum by adding features and exclusive content such as an offer for free song downloads to visitors who pre-order new releases from such artists as Melissa Etheridge and Stevie Nicks orchestrated via sister MTV Networks’ Sonicnet.com portal.

We’re not busy just for the sake of being busy, says VH1 senior vp-marketing Reggie Fils-Aime. Our overall intent is to be out in the marketplace touching consumers. Promotions help us do that and, in turn, help our advertisers reach their target.

But you don’t get advertisers without an audience: VH1 has been developing new programming initiatives such as original movies, awards shows, and special concerts. The aforementioned My VH1 Primetime week-night block (from 9 p.m. to midnight) lets viewers visit vh1.com to select which Behind the Music episode airs that night; another evening showcases consumers talking about music during a What’s My 20? show.

Fils-Aime is counting on the new projects to mix with successful staples such as Behind the Music, Storytellers, and Divas that already offer advertisers choices. We will continue to broaden our message and make ourselves more relevant, says Fils-Aime. We’re working on a number of things for 2002. Those plans reportedly include a massive year-long alliance with Minneapolis-based Target Corp.

That’s nothing to shrug about.