Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

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Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

31 DAYS OF OSCAR CAMPAIGN
TBS VERY FUNNY CAMPAIGN

One CNN Center
100 International Boulevard
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
USA
Telephone: (404) 827-1700
Fax: (404) 827-2437
Web site: www.turner.com

31 DAYS OF OSCAR CAMPAIGN

OVERVIEW

In 1994 Turner Classic Movies (TCM) was a small startup cable network with a collection of 4,000 movies, 21 employees, an operating budget of between $13 and $15 million, and 1 million subscribers. TCM also had the backing of television giant Turner Broadcasting System (TBS). Within a year of its launch TCM had increased its subscriptions to include 4.3 million homes, and its classic movie library had grown to 5,600 films. But the new network had a goal of being the leading classic movie brand. To help achieve this goal, the network in 1995 introduced its "31 Days of Oscar" marketing campaign, which every year ran during March, the month of the Academy Awards.

By 2002, "31 Days of Oscar" had become a staple of advertising for the commercial-free, all-movies network, but to broaden its appeal to a younger audience while not alienating its core viewers—middle-aged Americans—the network reevaluated the campaign. For the updated version of "31 Days of Oscar," TCM partnered with the New York-based agency nicebigbrain and creative Jim Jenkins to produce a series of three ads that spoofed classic movies. The ads were shown as trailers in theaters and also as television spots. The first ad was a takeoff on the film Rocky that featured senior citizens in the starring roles. This was followed by a rendition of Ben-Hur performed by second and third graders, and the third was a remake of The Dirty Dozen that was set in an ice rink, with skaters taking the roles. While the company did not release budget figures for the campaign, previous budgets reportedly had ranged from $1 to several millions.

TCM's decision to shift its marketing strategy was a success. The "Rocky" ad earned a Bronze Lion at Cannes, and the overall campaign as well as the individual ads earned gold awards in several categories from Promax. In addition, the campaign appeared to achieve the goal of attracting younger viewers to the network.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In 1994 Turner Network Television (TNT) launched the commercial-free, all-movies cable channel TCM. The new channel went head-to-head with the long-running cable network American Movie Classics (AMC). TCM's enticement to persuade cable providers to include the new network in its channel listings was its library of 4,000 movies, which dated from the 1930s to modern classics such as Chinatown and Ordinary People. The network's broader movie offerings were also expected to draw younger viewers than those who typically tuned in to AMC.

Within a year the TCM library had grown to 5,600 movies, which included 2,300 films obtained in licensing deals with Paramount and Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros., and MGM/UA. Its subscriptions had increased from 1 million to 4.3 million homes. Fueling the new channel's growth was its ability to advertise on other Turner-owned networks, including TNT, Cable News Network (CNN), and TBS Superstation.

In 1995, to promote its commercial-free programming, TCM launched the marketing campaign "31 Days of Oscar." As part of the campaign TNT ran a special program titled Inside the Academy Awards. The TNT promotion kicked off the campaign, which included showing only films that had won or been nominated for Academy Awards during the month of March. TCM's "31 Days of Oscar" campaign became an annual marketing event for the network, with a budget by 1999 that was reported to be "several million dollars," according to Multichannel News. As well as print ads and cross-channel television spots, the campaign included movie trivia contests. In 2000 TCM's director of marketing, Katherine Evans, told Multichannel News that the annual "31 Days of Oscar" campaign was the network's highest profile event, with a budget of about $1 million. According to Evans, the company devoted about six months annually to planning for the campaign. "31 Days of Oscar is something we never stop thinking about. As soon as this [year] is over, we'll do a postmortem and start working on the next year," she said.

TARGET MARKET

From its inception TCM had aimed the "31 Days of Oscar" campaign at serious film buffs of all ages. In 2002, in an effort to attract younger viewers, TCM shifted its marketing focus by sending the message that classic films had an impact on current culture. TCM hoped to show younger audiences that the events from the past portrayed in classic movies had relevance to contemporary life. In an discussion in Broadcasting & Cable, a quote attributed to actress Elizabeth Taylor—"The only difference from movies and real life is better lighting and music"—was used to explain the inspiration for reaching out to young viewers: The network was careful, however, not to abandon traditional viewers, those in the 55-and-older demographic. Many of TCM's core viewers had seen the movies in the network's line-up as original releases in theaters, and they tuned in to watch once again those movies they had enjoyed when they first appeared on the big screen.

COMPETITION

In 1984, when AMC joined the list of cable television networks, it was the premier choice for viewers in search of commercial-free, all-movies programming. AMC held that position for 10 years, until in 1994 TNT launched TCM. The race for viewers was then on. At the time industry experts questioned whether there were enough viewers to support two all-movie channels and whether cable operators were interested in offering subscribers both networks. But when TCM was launched, AMC executives commented that they expected their new competitor to be a great channel.

By 1995 AMC counted 54 million subscribers, compared to 4.3 million for TCM, but the new network was positioning itself to take over the classic movie brand. Hurting AMC was the fact that it did not own the movies it showed. Rather, the network depended on licensing agreements with studios such as RKO, which was owned by TBS, the parent of TCM. Predictions that within 10 years AMC would be driven out of business by TCM pushed Kate McEnroe, AMC's executive vice president and general manager, to ask, "If AMC is going out of business in 10 years, does that mean that A&E, ESPN and HBO are going out of business?" She noted that those cable networks also did not own their products.

ATTRACTING YOUNGER VIEWERS

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has traditionally appealed to an older audience. In 2003 the average age of its viewers was 56. That year TCM, hoping to attract younger television watchers, launched a series titled Under the Influence. According to the network, the new series reached out to viewers who were between 18 and 34 and who might not be familiar with movies from the 1930s to the 1960s. "A lot of our audiences are older Americans who have a built-in relevance to our movies, but our challenge is to create that relevance among younger viewers," Tom Karsch, TCM's senior vice president and general manager, told Multichannel News. The series featured contemporary stars talking about classic movies they had been inspired by, as well as screenings of more recent films that would resonate with the target audience, such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

AMC responded to pressures from TCM with aggressive advertising and consumer marketing campaigns that began in 1994. The network also shifted from its all-movies format to develop original programming that appealed to a broader audience. In 2002 AMC was still in business and tackling TCM's successful "31 Days of Oscar" campaign with its own event, the 10th annual Film Preservation Festival. Programming included documentaries of highlights from 1970s movies, as well as screenings of movies like The Last Waltz, This Is Spinal Tap, and Saturday Night Fever.

While AMC and TCM were battling for classic movie viewers, A&E Television Networks in 2002 was updating its 14-year-old flagship program, Biography. According to a report in Crain's New York Business, the program had "become somewhat stodgy and plodding." The show had lost its appeal to younger viewers as well as to older audiences who preferred faster-paced, edgier cable programming. The network reported that the viewership of Biography had slipped from 1.6 million in 2000 to 1.1 million by 2002, and the audience of 18- to 49-year-old viewers had dropped from 494,000 to 288,000.

To revitalize its floundering network, A&E updated its programming and launched a campaign designed to lure back viewers. To increase its appeal to younger viewers, the network updated the movie celebrities and other people it profiled. Included were such contemporary actors as Tom Hanks and Jerry Seinfeld, rather than performers from the past like actress Judy Garland or actor and former president Ronald Reagan, who typically attracted an older audience. A television spot promoting a Biography segment on soccer player Pelé featured a close-up of Bill Clinton with a voice-over saying, "You've scored more than any player in history." Other changes included a program titled TVography, which profiled a television program rather than a person, and man-on-the-street interviews on Biography subjects. To promote Biography further and to celebrate the program's 15th anniversary, A&E launched a 10—city tour in 2002 that included stops in Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago.

MARKETING STRATEGY

In 2002, for the eighth year, TCM used the "31 Days of Oscar" campaign as a marketing strategy to promote its library of Academy-winning or -nominated films and to attract viewers. It was the first year, however, the network had taken a tongue-in-cheek approach. The three ads of the campaign were spoofs of the classic movies Rocky, Ben-Hur, and The Dirty Dozen. The ads, which were laced with humor, were designed to appeal to young adults as well as to older film afficionados. Tom Karsch, TCM's executive vice president and general manager, said in an interview with Multichannel News that, while "31 Days of Oscar" had always been the gem in the network's crown, it was time to make the campaign more entertaining. "It was time to have some fun with it, and do something a little different, and call attention to the festival in a nontraditional way," he said. TCM executives declined to provide the cost of the campaign, but Karsch told Multichannel News that the eighth edition of "31 Days of Oscar" was the network's biggest promotion to date. In terms of marketing support from affiliates, he put the value overall to be "in the millions."

TCM devoted almost its entire 2002 marketing budget to production of the "Rocky" ad, which featured residents of a retirement home starring in a remake of the classic movie. During the ad senior citizens duked it out in a boxing ring, throwing knockout punches and reciting memorable lines from the movie, including "Rocky, you're breaking the ribs" and "Can you take off you're hat? I always knew you was pretty." A voice-over at the end of the ad stated, "31 straight days of Oscar-nominated movies. It's bound to have an effect. Watch Rocky and 300 other commercial-free classics … all March long."

The hilarious remake of Rocky was such a hit with audiences that TCM ordered additional ads focusing on two other classic films. TCM's agency, nicebigbrain, staged the second ad as an elementary school version of Ben-Hur, with second- and third-graders playing the parts. Hearing a seven-year-old recite the classic line "Your eyes are filled with hate, Ben-Hur. That's good, hate keeps a man alive," followed by a cough that steamed up the child's glasses, or seeing a child throw himself under the hooves of a hobbyhorse generated laughs and more praise for the campaign.

"Dirty Dozen on Ice," a spoof on the film The Dirty Dozen, was the third ad in the campaign. Described as "laugh-out-loud funny" by Adweek, it was set in an ice arena, with the prisoners training for their suicide mission while executing all of the jumps and moves of seasoned figure skaters. The skaters shouted, "Let's go kill some Nazis," before crashing through a picture of Adolf Hitler. Then came the order "Blow it, Jefferson," and with the skills of a hockey star the character tossed hand grenades into the vents. Both the "Ben-Hur" and "Dirty Dozen on Ice" ads used the tagline "When every great movie is a classic, it's bound to have an effect."

The ads were shown as trailers in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Denver, and they were aired as television spots on affiliated stations in New York and Los Angeles, on the Turner networks, and on radio stations. TCM also partnered with sister network Home Box Office (HBO) to generate consumer awareness and increase the ratings for the "31 Days of Oscar" programming.

OUTCOME

Although TCM's "31 Days of Oscar" had long been considered successful, the campaign hit a high note with its 2002 effort. "Rocky" and "Dirty Dozen on Ice" won recognition from Adweek as Best Spots, and "Rocky" also won a 2003 Cannes Lions Bronze Award. Promax recognized campaign and the ads with a list of gold awards in several categories; the overall campaign won in the category Program Campaign Using More Than One Media, and "Rocky" and "Dirty Dozen on Ice" won in the categories Funniest Promo and Branding/Image Campaign, respectively. In addition, "Rocky" won in the Out-of-House Program Promotion category.

As further evidence of the success of the campaign, a report in Electronic Media noted that "31 Days of Oscar" resonated with younger viewers. This was the target audience TCM was hoping to reach.

TBS VERY FUNNY CAMPAIGN

OVERVIEW

Although it reached 88 million households in 2003, the daily average viewership of the cable Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Superstation had dropped to 979,000, down 6 percent over the previous year. Viewers tuning in each day during prime time had slipped 5 percent, to 1.7 million. Further, the average age of viewers was skewing older, rather than the younger adult demographic craved by advertisers. In addition, with programming that included reruns of old black-and-white sitcoms, action movies, and Atlanta Braves baseball games, the TBS offerings in general entertainment and the station's lack of focus were becoming liabilities in the huge cable television arena.

To focus its programming, establish a clear identity with viewers, and attract a younger audience, TBS in 2004 reinvented itself by borrowing a strategy that, three years earlier, had been successful for sister station Turner Network Television (TNT). While TNT had positioned itself as the network for drama, TBS claimed the flip side of the coin and relaunched itself as the place for comedy. To support the makeover, the network dropped its "Superstation" moniker and adopted the tagline "TBS very funny." Working with Publicis New York, it also launched a rebranding campaign that included television spots set in a TBS call center, with operators responding to callers' descriptions of funny situations. One spot, for example, showed a caller asking if a boss's verbal abuse of a coworker was funny. The operator listened to the description of the situation and then told the caller that it was "very funny" and that the caller could laugh. The campaign also included print, online, and outdoor ads. Although network executives did not release the cost of the campaign, the New York Times, estimated the budget at $50 million.

Based on industry and viewer response, the campaign appeared to accomplish its goals of making people laugh, helping to establish TBS as the network for comedy and attracting a younger viewing audience. The campaign won awards, and critics in such publications as Adweek and Advertising Age's Creativity described the television spots as "inspired," "verbally adroit," "outrageously funny," and "one of the best TV promo campaigns in the history of the genre." While the network's number of daily viewers in 2004 averaged 940,000, similar to the number in 2003, TBS reported that in 2005, one year after the launch of the campaign, the average age of prime-time viewers had dropped from 40 to 37 and that the age of daytime viewers had dropped to 31.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In 1970 the Atlanta-based outdoor advertising executive Ted Turner bought a struggling television station and renamed it WTCG, for Turner Communications Group. Turner created the "superstation" concept in 1976 and began broadcasting the station's programming to cable systems via satellite. The fledgling network attracted viewers with reruns of old black-and-white television favorites, such as The Andy Griffith Show and Leave It to Beaver, Atlanta Braves baseball games, and championship wrestling. In 1979 the network was renamed the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and went on a growth binge. Among the channels added to the TBS family were Cable News Network (CNN), Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Network Television (TNT), and TBS Superstation. When the network was acquired by Time Warner in 1996, changes were not far behind. While broadcasts of the Atlanta Braves games and old sitcoms were sacred and remained in place, Time Warner gave wrestling the ax. The original programming was combined with sitcoms and old movies to further enhance TBS's position as a general-entertainment network.

As the clutter of cable networks grew, increasing by some estimates to more than 500 channels, the number of viewer options that originally had made cable programming a success became a handicap. Robert Thompson, of Syracuse University, said that "the whole business model had to change. Now you have to play by a whole different set of rules." To stand out in the crowd, networks were forced to begin establishing brand identities. The Lifetime channel became known as the network for women, MTV was the channel for music, and TBS sister station TNT redefined itself as the place for drama. These changes were the impetus behind the move by TBS in 2004 to establish its own identity in order to create a niche, find an audience, and rebuild sagging viewership. Armed with research indicating that 25 percent of viewers considered themselves comedy fans who believed in the old cliché that "laughter is the best medicine" and with a library that included some of the best sitcoms and comedic movies ever produced, TBS was positioned to establish itself as the network for comedy. In 2004 TBS dropped "Superstation" from its name and embraced the moniker "Very Funny," and the change from a general- to a focused-entertainment network was under way.

TARGET MARKET

With programming that ran the gamut from baseball and professional wrestling to reruns of old movies and TV sitcoms, TBS had always considered itself a "general-entertainment" cable network, but it lacked a clearly defined identity and target audience. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the TBS audience was slightly older than the ideal, with viewers typically in their mid-40s. In addition, the network was gradually losing its audience. In 2003 the network's average daily viewership was 979,000, down 6 percent from 2002. Further, the slip in prime-time viewers was 5 percent, to 1.7 million, from the previous year. Thus, TBS had an audience that was both older than the optimum and one that was declining.

The "TBS Very Funny" campaign was specific not only about programming lineup but also about the audience it intended to reach. As TBS prepared to launch the campaign, company executives explained during a meeting with advertisers that its target audience consisted of well-educated, upscale young adults in the 20- to 30-something age group. Steven Koonin, the TBS executive vice president and chief operating officer, told the New York Times, "In cable, unless you stand for something, you're doomed. TBS will be for young adults who want television to make them laugh."

COMPETITION

At the end of 2003 A&E Television Networks was in the midst of change. Faced with ratings problems, the network had earlier begun to revamp its programming, and by November 2003 A&E reported that its efforts to turn the numbers around were working. In the first two weeks of that month viewers had increased to 1 million, 11 percent over the same period during the previous year. Viewers in the 25- to 54-year-old age group, A&E's target market, were up 22 percent, to 422,000. To keep the momentum going, A&E launched a new branding campaign "The Art of Entertainment," which was adapted for its three main programming genres: "The Art of Biography," "The Art of Documentary," and "The Art of Drama." As part of its rebranding efforts, A&E embraced reality television in the vein of Survivor and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy by introducing its own reality show, Airline. The network also updated its programming on Biography, with episodes on such contemporary celebrities as Pierce Brosnan and The Rock. In 2004 A&E was losing some of its former core audience, viewers in their 60s, and compared to 2003, its total viewership had dropped about 13 percent, to 1.15 million. The network, however, reported double-digit increases in viewers of its target audience, those between the ages of 25 and 54. Abbe Raven, A&E executive vice president and general manager, said during an interview with Variety, "As the interests of our core audience broadens, so will we. We're reaching to newer audiences but continue to satisfy our loyal viewers."

As TBS and A&E took aim at young adults and baby boomers with their marketing and programming, ABC focused on a different audience, namely, families. To interconnect its cable networks—ABC Family, Disney Channel, and Toon Disney—ABC Cable introduced the tagline "Imagination is part of the deal" and a campaign to support it. Ben Pyne, ABC Cable's senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, said of the new strategy, "It defines what we've always tried to do, but now we're coming out and saying it." As part of the attempt to build brand identity, ABC Cable introduced a redesigned website and a public-affairs effort under the theme "Learn Together" that encouraged parents to be more involved with their children and their activities. An increase in viewership among adults was taken as evidence that the strategy was working. In the first quarter of 2004 the Disney Channel, with a target audience of children under the age of 17, reported an average prime-time audience of 406,000 adults between 18 and 49, indicating that parents were spending time watching television with their kids. Rich Ross, the president of Disney Channel Worldwide, said that the network was making an effort to reach out to parents: "We have families in our shows, so we think it makes a difference because kids and families can see themselves."

MARKETING STRATEGY

The "TBS Very Funny" rebranding campaign used a series of five television spots to answer the question of what was funny while at the same time tickling viewers' funny bones. The campaign, with a budget estimated at $50 million according to the New York Times, was created for the network by its agency, Publicis New York. In addition to television spots that ran on the Turner networks and on other Time Warner affiliates, the campaign included trailers that ran in movie theaters, print and billboard ads, and special promotions that ran on the updated TBS website.

Created with the intent of strengthening the image of TBS as a place for comedy, the television spots were set in a call center, with operators responding to viewers who dialed an 800 number (800-TBS-FUNNY) to tell their funny stories and to have them rated. In one spot a factory worker called to ask if her sloppy boss's continuing verbal abuse of a coworker was funny. After listening to the worker's detailed explanation of the abuse, the operator told the caller that the situation was "really quite funny" and that she could laugh. Another spot featured an office worker calling to find out how funny it was that her boss repeatedly called a coworker by the wrong name. After listening to the details, the TBS operator decided that the situation was only "mildly funny." One spot, titled "Strange Fruit," took place in an art gallery. After listening to the caller's description of a woman telling her older male companion that she wanted to buy something "really big and really expensive," the operator concluded, "Fake fruit, pompous jerk and arm candy."

In the background of each spot were brief glimpses of scenes from some of TBS's most popular comedy programming, such as Seinfeld. Also featured were cameo appearances by supporting cast members from various programs shown on TBS, including Marcel the monkey from Friends; Estelle Harris, who played Mrs. Costanza on Seinfeld; and Mario Cantone and Willie Garson, who appeared as Anthony and Stanford, respectively, on Sex and the City. Working with the New York-based agency Cliff Freeman & Partners, TBS created additional campaigns to promote individual television programs, including Sex and the City.

SANITIZED SEX PLAYS ON TBS

In 2004, as part of its prime-time programming, Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) entered into an eight-year agreement with Home Box Office (HBO) to buy and show in reruns the pay channel's hit series Sex and the City. Before launching the reruns, however, TBS editors cleaned up the steamier dialogue and scenes so that the program fit the strict guidelines of basic cable standards. The network also created a marketing campaign that used print ads and television spots featuring young actors who portrayed the show's adult female characters as teens. Other ads used the trendy new forum of Web logs, or blogs. These ads, introduced during the 2004 national elections, appeared on 50 political blogs with the theme "Vote Carrie," highlighting the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker. Web users who clicked on the ad were taken to VoteCarrie.org, a blog spoof that described her political platform and encouraged users to E-mail their comments. Including Sex and the City in its programming and the new campaign promoting it were designed to appeal to TBS's target audience—affluent, well-educated, computer-savvy young adults.

Although TBS already had been using its full roster of comedy programming for several years, the "TBS Very Funny" campaign was designed to rebrand the network as the authority on television comedy. The effort also was intended to shift TBS from its reputation as a general-entertainment superstation toward a more focused, clearly defined image as a place for entertainment. The strategy was borrowed from sister network NT, which had successfully reinvented itself with the "We Know Drama" campaign as the network to turn to for drama. Koonin called the TBS rebranding effort "a full-fledged media push. We're literally changing everything on the network, the look and the lineup." Changes to the program lineup included reruns of contemporary sitcoms the network already owned, such as Friends, Home Improvement, and Seinfeld, as well as the addition of reruns of the Home Box Office (HBO) hit Sex and the City. The network also announced plans to develop original comedy programming, such as a reality show based on the original Gilligan's Island television series. The popular TBS series Dinner and a Movie remained on the schedule, but comedy movies were to dominate prime-time programming on weekends.

OUTCOME

If getting a laugh from viewers, driving home the message that TBS was, as Koonin put it to Broadcasting & Cable, the "epicenter of funny," and reaching the target audience were the desired results, then the "TBS Very Funny" campaign was a success. Following its launch, a report in Advertising Age's Creativity praised the television spots as "outrageously funny." The campaign also appeared to resonate with the target audience of young adults. In 2005, following the launch of "TBS Very Funny," the network reported that the average age of viewers tuning in during prime time had dropped from 40 to 37.

In addition, the "TBS Very Funny" campaign was honored by the advertising industry. It received a 2005 Gold EFFIE, as well as a Silver CLIO for the spots "Name," "Wings," and "Strange Fruit."