It’s summer and consumers are exploring the great outdoors. So what’s a cable network to do when many of its viewers hit the beaches and parks?

Join them, of course.

Mobile tours have become a favored way for cable networks to make a physical connection with viewers that they can’t reach through two-dimensional TV screens. “All the A-list networks have dabbled in mobile tours,” says Neal Frank, ceo of marketing shop Marlin Entertainment, New York City. “It lets them tie-in locally, take the brand off-air, and lets people touch it.”

These tours involve a lot more than hopping behind the wheel of a rented vehicle and tearing across the country. “I think the biggest challenge to a mobile tour — beyond the logistics — is making sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck,” says Tom Alexander, vp-trade marketing at Atlanta-based Cartoon Network, which hit the highways in 1999 and 2000 with a tour called Cartoon Cartoon Fridays (April PROMO). “There is a lot of labor involved, and a lot of capital investment.”

Costs can be high. Even a three-month tour can run into the multi-millions of dollars. “Mobile tours aren’t so good for short-term promotion,” says Frank. “Unless you’ve got a program that’s going to last for a year or two, it’s an inefficient expenditure.”

So why do it? Because tours reach people — not just TV viewers, but advertisers looking for off-air activity and, perhaps most importantly, cable operators. “We use mobile tours to boost viewership, but also as a pressure tactic to convert local operators who aren’t carrying our programming,” says Adam Sanderson, senior vp-marketing at Burbank, CA-based ABC Cable Networks Group, which includes Disney Channel, Toon Disney, ESPN, SoapNet, and Buena Vista Television. Some nets will even encourage event attendees in markets where they aren’t carried to besiege local cable providers with requests. (Call it a grassroots I Want My MTV.)

This summer, Cartoon Network parks Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in the garage in favor of Boomerang Express, a tour promoting the network’s 15-month-old classic cartoon channel. “This allows us to touch our end-users on a local level,” says Alexander. The effort kicked off in late June and will stop in 10 cities including Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, and St. Louis. RPMC, Calabasas, CA, handles.

Most nets don’t likes traveling alone, so Cartoon Network teamed with affiliate Turner Network Sales to put the tour together. And DirectTV, El Segundo, CA, is sponsoring visits to regional retailers (such as Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha, ABC Warehouse in Detroit, and Satellite Relay in Phoenix) to push subscriptions. “This is a great way to generate overall brand awareness and make a big splash locally,” says Maggie McDermott, DirectTV’s vp-acquisition marketing.

Here’s a look at some other cable networks that may be dropping by the neighborhood this summer.

• The History Channel, New York City, is in the midst of its first mobile foray with The Time Machine, a customized 48-foot trailer that hit the road last September for a year’s worth of visits to 50 cities and more than 150 schools to sponsor educational activities and contests. Clarion Marketing and Communications, Greenwich, CT, handles.

  To date, the tour has generated more than 100 million media impressions. “Every city wants us on their morning show,” says Artie Scheff, senior vp-marketing and on-air promotion (who would not divulge attendance figures). “This personalizes our brand.”

  The tour thus far has been a History Channel-only affair, although the network has had its share of sponsorship offers, says Scheff. “We may look at future tie-ins with a consumer electronics sponsor,” he suggests. “We may also tie in with retailers to appear at their stores.”

• ABC Cable Networks’ all-cartoon channel, Toon Disney, unveiled its first effort, Chillin’ with the Villains, this spring. A 30-foot trailer is decorated with some of the most popular cartoon villains from the network’s programming. The campaign launched in San Diego and will go cross-country before concluding in Los Angeles in September.

  The tour features the Most Animated Kid in America contest, in which kids four to 14 take a “screen test” to demonstrate their wacky sides. One winner in each location receives prizes, and 10 semi-finalists will be displayed on disney.com/toon, where visitors will select a grand-prize winner who earns a trip for four to Hollywood to be animated in a real cartoon that will air on the network.

  Meanwhile, kids who prefer to work behind the camera can color animated cels of Disney cartoon Hercules at stations sponsored by such cable affiliates as AT&T Broadband, Comcast, Cox Communications, and AOL Time Warner. (DirectTV is also along for the ride.) Thousands of the cels will be combined to create a cartoon that will air at the end of the tour.

  The Chillin’ with the Villains bus includes on-board frozen treats (such as Hades Freeze and Cruella Concoction) courtesy of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.’s Minute Maid brand. “We like to make connections with consumers by tapping into what they’re passionate about,” says Brad Taylor, Minute Maid’s director of entertainment partnerships. “And kids and their families are certainly passionate about Disney.”

• AOL Time Warner’s HBO, New York City, launched its third annual HBO Road Tour on Memorial Day weekend in Miami, and will visit 20 cities through September. Visitors can record voice-overs for their favorite HBO original programs such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Oz, and sample video-games such as the newly released HBO Boxing for Sony Playstation. At each stop, a DJ will spin tunes while visitors play basketball on set-up courts.

  Tour sponsors include Teen People magazine, Coca-Cola, Real Cosmetics, and urban apparel manufacturers such as Fila USA’s ENYCE, Ecko Unlimited, and Original Man Wear, Inc. Time Warner record labels are sponsoring personal appearances by artists such as Lil’ Kim and Jermaine Dupri in some locations.

  “We’re targeting the 18- to 30-year-old market that really drives the hipness factor for our brand,” says Bernadette Aulestia, HBO’s director of target marketing. “Consumers get excited about having HBO in their backyard. It’s like a little block party.”

  HBO is making stops at venues such as the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City, Taste of Chicago, and the 16th of September Festival (Mexican Independence Day) in San Jose.

  With tours like this, who needs a TV?

It’s summer and consumers are exploring the great outdoors. So what’s a cable network to do when many of its viewers hit the beaches and parks?

Join them, of course.

Mobile tours have become a favored way for cable networks to make a physical connection with viewers that they can’t reach through two-dimensional TV screens. All the A-list networks have dabbled in mobile tours, says Neal Frank, ceo of marketing shop Marlin Entertainment, New York City. It lets them tie-in locally, take the brand off-air, and lets people touch it.

These tours involve a lot more than hopping behind the wheel of a rented vehicle and tearing across the country. I think the biggest challenge to a mobile tour beyond the logistics is making sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck, says Tom Alexander, vp-trade marketing at Atlanta-based Cartoon Network, which hit the highways in 1999 and 2000 with a tour called Cartoon Cartoon Fridays (April PROMO). There is a lot of labor involved, and a lot of capital investment.

Costs can be high. Even a three-month tour can run into the multi-millions of dollars. Mobile tours aren’t so good for short-term promotion, says Frank. Unless you’ve got a program that’s going to last for a year or two, it’s an inefficient expenditure.

So why do it? Because tours reach people not just TV viewers, but advertisers looking for off-air activity and, perhaps most importantly, cable operators. We use mobile tours to boost viewership, but also as a pressure tactic to convert local operators who aren’t carrying our programming, says Adam Sanderson, senior vp-marketing at Burbank, CA-based ABC Cable Networks Group, which includes Disney Channel, Toon Disney, ESPN, SoapNet, and Buena Vista Television. Some nets will even encourage event attendees in markets where they aren’t carried to besiege local cable providers with requests. (Call it a grassroots I Want My MTV.)

This summer, Cartoon Network parks Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in the garage in favor of Boomerang Express, a tour promoting the network’s 15-month-old classic cartoon channel. This allows us to touch our end-users on a local level, says Alexander. The effort kicked off in late June and will stop in 10 cities including Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, and St. Louis. RPMC, Calabasas, CA, handles.

Most nets don’t likes traveling alone, so Cartoon Network teamed with affiliate Turner Network Sales to put the tour together. And DirectTV, El Segundo, CA, is sponsoring visits to regional retailers (such as Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha, ABC Warehouse in Detroit, and Satellite Relay in Phoenix) to push subscriptions. This is a great way to generate overall brand awareness and make a big splash locally, says Maggie McDermott, DirectTV’s vp-acquisition marketing.

Here’s a look at some other cable networks that may be dropping by the neighborhood this summer.

• The History Channel, New York City, is in the midst of its first mobile foray with The Time Machine, a customized 48-foot trailer that hit the road last September for a year’s worth of visits to 50 cities and more than 150 schools to sponsor educational activities and contests. Clarion Marketing and Communications, Greenwich, CT, handles.

• To date, the tour has generated more than 100 million media impressions. Every city wants us on their morning show, says Artie Scheff, senior vp-marketing and on-air promotion (who would not divulge attendance figures). This personalizes our brand.

  The tour thus far has been a History Channel-only affair, although the network has had its share of sponsorship offers, says Scheff. We may look at future tie-ins with a consumer electronics sponsor, he suggests. We may also tie in with retailers to appear at their stores.

• ABC Cable Networks’ all-cartoon channel, Toon Disney, unveiled its first effort, Chillin’ with the Villains, this spring. A 30-foot trailer is decorated with some of the most popular cartoon villains from the network’s programming. The campaign launched in San Diego and will go cross-country before concluding in Los Angeles in September.

• The tour features the Most Animated Kid in America contest, in which kids four to 14 take a screen test to demonstrate their wacky sides. One winner in each location receives prizes, and 10 semi-finalists will be displayed on disney.com/toon, where visitors will select a grand-prize winner who earns a trip for four to Hollywood to be animated in a real cartoon that will air on the network.

  Meanwhile, kids who prefer to work behind the camera can color animated cels of Disney cartoon Hercules at stations sponsored by such cable affiliates as AT&T Broadband, Comcast, Cox Communications, and AOL Time Warner. (DirectTV is also along for the ride.) Thousands of the cels will be combined to create a cartoon that will air at the end of the tour.

  The Chillin’ with the Villains bus includes on-board frozen treats (such as Hades Freeze and Cruella Concoction) courtesy of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.’s Minute Maid brand. We like to make connections with consumers by tapping into what they’re passionate about, says Brad Taylor, Minute Maid’s director of entertainment partnerships. And kids and their families are certainly passionate about Disney.

• AOL Time Warner’s HBO, New York City, launched its third annual HBO Road Tour on Memorial Day weekend in Miami, and will visit 20 cities through September. Visitors can record voice-overs for their favorite HBO original programs such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Oz, and sample video-games such as the newly released HBO Boxing for Sony Playstation. At each stop, a DJ will spin tunes while visitors play basketball on set-up courts.

• Tour sponsors include Teen People magazine, Coca-Cola, Real Cosmetics, and urban apparel manufacturers such as Fila USA’s ENYCE, Ecko Unlimited, and Original Man Wear, Inc. Time Warner record labels are sponsoring personal appearances by artists such as Lil’ Kim and Jermaine Dupri in some locations.

  We’re targeting the 18- to 30-year-old market that really drives the hipness factor for our brand, says Bernadette Aulestia, HBO’s director of target marketing. Consumers get excited about having HBO in their backyard. It’s like a little block party.

  HBO is making stops at venues such as the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City, Taste of Chicago, and the 16th of September Festival (Mexican Independence Day) in San Jose.

  With tours like this, who needs a TV?