Indiantelevision.com Team

(31 July 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC's marketing in the digital arena is taking a new turn. The network expands its corporate partnerships with National CineMedia, Nissan and Apple's iTunes to cross-promote its upcoming drama Heroes.

This will be done by finding new ways to incorporate the products into scripts organically and offering consumers the chance to be the first to see the series.

From 1 September, iTunes will offer a free and exclusive download of Heroes - in its entirety - in addition to other bonus content from NBC, including series trailers and behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of Heroes.

NBC Universal Television Group chief marketing officer John Miller says, "We have an unusual opportunity to team with several excellent corporate partners to let moviegoers be the first to experience this daring new series with its own theatrical feel to it. We want to generate buzz across a variety of platforms long before Heroes ever airs on NBC."

Heroes is a drama that chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities.

Nissan US VP marketing Jan Thompson, related her enthusiasm for the program as part of an ongoing approach for the automaker "This programme is just one example of our strategy to engage consumers by delivering content to them in entertaining, high impact environments where we believe the contextual experience is as important as the message" she says.

In advance of the broadcast premiere, NBC and Nissan will also create three million co-branded promotional Custom Cards to be distributed exclusively at AMC, Cinemark and Regal Entertainment Group theaters across the US through box-office handouts. Moviegoers will be encouraged to view the free download and sample the wide-screen appeal of the Heroes premiere on iTunes before its broadcast on NBC.

Each co-branded card will feature a unique pin code that NCM patrons can redeem online at a special iTunes NBC Fall Season 'preview site' that will provide a free download of Heroes plus a backstage look at its filming and the NBC preview trailers of other network series for Fall 2006.

The campaign includes a 10-second First Look tease produced by National CineMedia that will run on 5,654 digital screens in 428 theaters during August, informing moviegoers to return to the theater in September to obtain their free download card.

To coincide with the in-theater card handouts in September, NBC will air a schedule of co-branded 20-second promos on the network touting the free preview download of Heroes on iTunes and NCM, courtesy of Nissan.

In addition, Heroes will receive in-theater play in August with a two-minute and 30-second content piece playing on select AMC, Cinemark and Regal Entertainment Group big screens. Additionally, the series will be represented throughout participating theatres with a 30-second spot featured on NCM's Lobby Entertainment Network plasma screens and will be branded on popcorn bags, among other promotional items, completing the integrated cinema marketing campaign.