May 6, 2008

Advertising Campaign for a Network or Cable Operator: Pico Adworks/Cablevision Mexico and MK Advertising

WINNER: PICO ADWORKS & CABLEVISION MEXICO FOR "AND WITH YOUR DISH, DO WHATEVER YOU LIKE"

Pico Adworks helped Cablevision Mexico attack its competitor, SKY, by focusing on that silly-looking gizmo attached to people's rooftops — the satellite dish. This admittedly negative ad campaign was launched in reaction to SKY's public mocking of Cablevision Mexico and its customers. The timing of Cablevision Mexico's campaign was everything, though — the Combos package of TV, Internet and phone services had just launched, enabling Pico to craft a campaign that cast SKY as a one-trick pony. TV, print and point-of-purchase ads showed Cablevision customers finding new and absurd uses for their deactivated dishes, ironically highlighting the limitations of satellite. Pico's ultimate message for consumers: Buy a triple play from cable and liberate your satellite dish from the bonds of its preordained destiny.

Fast Facts

• 259 campaign spots ran between July and September 2007.

• Cablevision added 24,487 customers during those months.

WINNER: MK ADVERTISING FOR SHOWTIME'S 2007 NCTA CAMPAIGN

MK Advertising did a good job making attendees at last year's NCTA Cable Show forget about HBO and its retired poster boy, Tony from New Jersey. MK's ads in cable trade publications leading up to the show in Vegas last spring presented bold close-ups of well-known talent from Showtime's top original series, such as Jonathan Rhys Meyers ( The Tudors), Mary-Louise Parker ( Weeds) and David Duchovny ( Californication). Rather than pitching the shows themselves, MK pitched the stars and made them look like they were part of one cast: the cast of Showtime. Not a bad way to create a cohesive identity for the premium network. The tagline — "The hottest shows are now on Showtime" — reinforced the sense of a shift in the balance of power and the emphasis on sex as a counterpoint to another certain network's emphasis on angst and spiritual crises.

• MK Advertising used a consistent color treatment in the close-up ads of Showtime's stars.

• A five-page false cover promoting Showtime's original series and strip ads ran in the trades to convey the sense that Showtime is everywhere.

Honorable Mentions:

American Life TV for "I'm a Baby of a Baby Boomer" — The network for baby boomers boosted awareness of its programming and target audience with spots featuring baby boomers such as Joe Namath, Patti Lupone, Graydon Carter and Susan Sarandon with their children.

International Networks for On Demand's Newest Community...Filipino — Print and Web ads for the newly launched Filipino On Demand channel featured Filipino celebrities who helped educate the target audience about Comcast's on-demand content.

truTV Launch Campaignc — The Jan. 1 re-brand of Court TV was hard to avoid. It was trumpeted with a pulse-quickening high-definition, surround-sound theatrical trailer that distinguished truTV's fact-based content from bogus "reality" programming; a promo also popped up on the Dow Jones ticker on New Year's Eve.

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