Twentieth Television Puts $8 Million Toward Bernie Mac Promo
To boost the off-net launch of the hit comedy series The Bernie Mac Show, Twentieth Television has kicked off a $7 million to $8 million marketing campaign with a sweepstakes offering consumers a chance to win a wireless Hewlett Packard Pavilion home computer system.
The Bernie Mac Show is a half-hour comedy about a man who has unique views on parenting. The show debuted in off-net weekday syndication on Monday. On-air spots will direct viewers to enter the School’s Back and So Is Bernie Mac sweepstakes online beginning Sept. 19 at BernieMacShow.com.
The top winner will receive a Hewlett Packard Pavilion home computer system with two CPUs, a dv10000 series notebook, two 23-inch flat panel monitors, a Photosmart digital camera and portable photo printer, a Scan jet Scanner and a Photosmart 8250 printer. Secondary prizes include Bernie Mac back-to-school and work backpacks loaded with PDAs and show merchandise.
A radio promotion targeting the top 20 markets rolls out Sept. 19-26. Grand-prize winners in each market will get an Apple Photo iPod and be automatically entered to win the Hewlett Packard grand prize in the national sweepstakes.
To build buzz around the off-net syndication run, Twentieth Television kicked off guerilla-style marketing tactics, launching aerial banners over popular beaches in New York and Los Angeles during Labor Day weekend. In addition, street teams distributed 13,000 The Bernie Mac Show branded beach balls and 30,000 tune-in palm cards.
“This is an opportunity to build on the existing brand,” said Susan Kantor, senior VP-marketing and creative, Twentieth Television. “With a promotion like this, we hope to reach the fans. We want to touch viewers in several different ways. It’s a very effective way to go.”
The sweepstakes runs through Sept. 30. TV spots and Internet materials support. Twentieth Television and MerryMedia, Inc., a Los Angeles-based entertainment marketing company, handle.
