Media come in many forms. Companies gain millions of dollars in revenue each day because they are able to own many different types of media, and thus promote their products within the company. They are able to do this through the different forms they own, as a means to expand their products into new consumer markets. This practice is called cross-promotion.
Today, I will step into the shoes of a marketing agent and attempt to create a cross-promotion campaign for my favorite TV show at the moment. I for one am not an avid TV viewer. And for that reason, I rarely draw together the interest to watch TV series, because I don’t spend enough time watching them to appreciate their storyline. However, I have recently discovered, Giuliana & Bill, a reality show chronicling the marriage of Giuliana and Bill Rancic. Now in it’s third season, Giuliana & Bill airs on The Style Network. The Style Network is a sister channel of E! Entertainment Television, both owned by Comcast Corporation.
The Style Network is a national broadcast that offers series featuring fashion, beauty, home design and multiple reality shows, all of which are on the subject of the betterment of one’s daily life. The Style Network viewer demographic is made up of women age 18-49.
While the Style Network’s targeted audience is females, the Comcast Corporation owns many sport franchises, such as the Philadelphia Flyers and the Philadelphia 76ers. Sports fans tend to be male in gender. Of the 26% of males who follow sports very closely, 23% were from 18-29 in age. This contrast in audience demographics creates a difficult obstacle in advertising a primarily female watched show to a predominately male audience. A successful cross-promotional campaign is going to require multiple strategies.
I propose that in order to cross-promote Giuliana & Bill, we have to find a way to get sporting event attendees to connect with Giuliana and Bill in a way that would bring them to the Style Network to watch an episode. I think that the demographic of men to target would be those ages 18-29. From 18-29 most men are single, dating, or newlywed. This means that a male could take his partner on a date, consisting of attending a Flyers or 76ers game, where the couple would be introduced to Giuliana and Bill as a couple like themselves. At this point, the next time the couple sat down to watch TV and saw Giuliana and Bill’s show they would stop skimming through channels and decide to watch an entire episode.
In order to create a connection, Giuliana & Bill needs to be advertised during games; both at Flyers & 76ers home games that take place at the Wells Fargo Center, owned by Comcast.
During breaks throughout the game short clips from Giuliana and Bill’s show can be played on the JumboTron, followed by a quick message from Giuliana and Bill in which they are watching a game (either a 76ers or Flyers), addressing the fans and wishing the team good luck. This technique will show fans that couples, like Giuliana and Bill, can enjoy watching a game together. Hopefully persuading sports fans that see an episode of Giuliana & Bill on TV while skimming through the channels, to stop and watch the show, because they have become more familiar with the couple.
Next, players on the Flyers & 76ers, around 18-29 years of age, that are dating, engaged or newlywed need to create a short message to advertise Giuliana & Bill. Most times throughout a game, random players appear on the JumboTron and give a quick bio of themselves. If at this time, they were to mention Giuliana & Bill, fans would be more likely to look out for the show. For example, Flyer’s center, Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood recently married. If Fisher were to mention that in his free time he enjoys watching TV with his wife, who enjoys watching Giuliana & Bill, fans would be sure to start watching.
Let’s see if we have been successful. Comcast owns the Style Network, in which Giuliana & Bill airs, and sports franchises such as, the 76ers and the Flyers. In order to expand Giuliana & Bill’s consumer market, which currently consists of females, gathering viewers of a different gender is required. This is because Flyers and 76ers fans, like any sports fans, are primarily male. Efforts have to be made to connect a male dominated fan base of the Flyers and 76ers to a female dominated viewing demographic of Giuliana & Bill. The idea is that by cross-promoting Giuliana & Bill within Comcast, the product (Giuliana & Bill) will expand into a new consumer market (that of a male demographic).
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