Thu. June 17, 2004
Silver Spring, MD -
Is your mind just a little too full of brilliant ideas these days? Can you just be a little too smart sometimes? If so, the Discovery Channel knows how you feel. In fact, the network is highlighting the unforeseen consequences when the information provided in its programming becomes too much of a good thing through a new on-air brand marketing blitz that cautiously encourages viewers to "Know More Than They Should."
Using sly humor, offbeat imagery, the power of surprise and a decidedly tongue-in-cheek attitude, the new campaign breaks on Saturday, May 29. Designed to extend the momentum begun with 2003's "Entertain Your Brain" campaign, the new effort highlights the balance of intelligence and entertainment inherent in Discovery's programming and then turns these concepts upside down.
The four spots highlight the unforeseen consequences of "knowing more than you should" about everything from time travel and teleportation to the nuances of telepathic cattle herding. Created by award-winning director Jim Jenkins, who's previous work includes campaigns for ESPN, American Express, MasterCard, BMW and Animal Planet, the spots will promote the Discovery Channel brand and serve as the focal point of an integrated summer-long promotional campaign supporting the network and its most high-profile programming. The new brand ads will run concurrently with an array of program-specific marketing efforts supporting new series and signature specials such as BIG and AMERICAN CASINO and the perennial favorite SHARK WEEK, as well as other key summer premieres.
"Entertain Your Brain was a bold step for Discovery and we think that these new spots take this ethos to an even higher level," said Julie Willis, senior vice president, marketing for the Discovery Channel. "We've always had smart, sharp and savvy viewers so we've created a campaign that wonders what would happen if Discovery gave them the tools to know more than they should?"
"The starting point of the campaign is the premise that watching Discovery Channel makes you smarter maybe sometimes a bit too smart," added Jenkins. "The really exciting part is that Discovery is willing to have some fun with it's own image in that each of the four spots demonstrates the effect of just a little too much knowledge in a funny, offbeat way."
In addition to promoting the Discovery brand, the spots are designed to help viewers find key new programs. Among these are BIG, a new series premiering Tuesday, June ' that challenges designers and fabricators to create enormous versions of everyday objects -- a titanic toaster, a behemoth blender, plus-sized popcorn popper and a gargantuan guitar. Series-specific advertising for this series will run concurrently with the new brand spots as Discovery launches an integrated campaign that promotes the network and other series and specials including SHARK WEEK, AMERICAN CASINO and others.
Off-network advertising will be highlighted by spot broadcast on network programs such at "The Today Show," "Dateline," "The Tonight Show" and "CSI," and cable television such as ESPN, TBS, MTV, Spike TV, TNT, Comedy Central and USA.
Starting Monday, May 24, online consumers will also get a taste of the "Know More Than You Should" commercials, which will run in 30-second streaming video spots while viewers are waiting for site pages to download. Finally, the Discovery Channel will launch its own microsite where viewers can watch all the spots as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the commercials.
Last year's "Entertain Your Brain" campaign the largest brand and program marketing campaign in Discovery history -- launched in conjunction with world premiere specials and hot new series. The network realized double-digit ratings increases in target demos and household ratings after combining the brand messages with programming messages in a series of national television, radio, print and alternative marketing campaigns for specials such as NEFERTITI RESURRECTED, which earned a 4.0 household rating and drew close to 10 million people in its premiere, and series such as AMERICAN CHOPPER, that has contributed to the Discovery Channel's record-breaking ratings among persons 18-34, men 18-34 and men 18-49.
Discovery Channel is the United States' largest cable television network, serving 89.' million households across the nation with the finest in informative entertainment. Discovery Networks, a division of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, the Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Kids Channel, The Science Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Discovery Times Channel, Discovery Wings Channel, Discovery en Español and FitTV. The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.
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