TCOM 469 Media Sales & Promotion

Fall 2003 Group Project Instruction

Promotional Campaign for Celebrities Uncensored

Objectives:

• To apply the promotional principles learned from the course in developing a promotional campaign for a media organization for real life use.

• To create promotional materials for the promotional campaign

Background

E! Entertainment Network is 79.2% owned by a joint venture between subsidiaries of Comcast Communications Corporation and The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast controlling 50.1% and Disney controlling 49.9%. The remaining 20.8% is owned by subsidiaries of two of the U.S.'s largest cable multiple system operators- Media One and Tele-Communications, Inc.- with each holding a 10.4% share. It is a leading cable network in providing entertainment news and shows related to the entertainment industry. Its brand vision is to serve the fan by building contemporary entertainment and lifestyle brands that matter. The E! Online web site is the online version of E! and its brand vision is to be the ultimate source for people who love entertainment. The brand image of E! is bold, inside and revealing.

Promotion Target: The Celebrities Uncensored show.

The target audiences for the Celebrities Uncensored show are adults aged 18-45.

The Celebrities Uncensored show is a show full of celebrity clips that present the celebrities in their natural responses. It is important that E! is not perceived to endorse the paparazzi. The networks present the footage--but not necessarily condone it. Everything should be presented in a light, fun way. E! has promoted Celebrities Uncensored in a summer magazine campaign. Other

than that, the show was just promoted with on-air promos. The promotion budget for the show in 2004 is $100,000.

Tasks:

1. Watch the video tapes of the show or on air and go to the E! web site at http://www.eonline.com for more info about the show.
2. Conduct audience research (using personal interviews or focus groups to the target audiences of the project. A discussion guide is provided to you for your reference (see Exhibit 1). You can use it or modify it during your own research), secondary research such as articles on the Internet and the trade press about the program genre and audience feedback. The rating performance by episode can be found in Exhibit 2.
3. Define more carefully the needs and interests of the target audiences and how the show can satisfy their needs and interests
4. Develop the promotional objectives
5. Create promotional strategies to achieve those objectives
6. Create promotional materials (or prototypes) for use in the campaign
7. Prepare presentation materials for a 20-minute oral presentation in class. Audio-visual equipment will be provided to facilitate your presentation.

Presentation Outline (20 minutes for each group). No overrun will be allowed.

1. Title for the Promotional Campaign (you can create your own title)
2. Target Audience Definition (Background and Research)
3. Promotional Objectives
4. Promotional Strategies

- Strategy type and justification: acquisition, retention competition.

- Promotional media to be used and justifications

- Promotion themes and justifications

5. Promotional Materials Examples (e.g., print ads, station promos, slogans, etc. If an event will be organized, describe the event and how it will achieve the promotional goal). If you have more than one item, only create the most important one example for use in the presentation. You are not required to produce a station promo in video form.
6. Promotion Budget Breakdown (see example in exhibit 3)
7. Promotion Action Plan (Timeline)
8. Program Effectiveness Evaluation

Guidelines in Preparing the Promotional Materials

• If you choose to create a station promo (or a series of promos) for the campaign, you are strongly recommended to use the Student Technology Center located at Saddlemire 200. They let you check out digital video camera, show you how to edit the video footage using I-Movie, and put the video online for presentation. Another option is to prepare a storyboard showing the concepts and key scenes and scripts for the promos. The student tech center can also help you in creating professional looking presentation materials using Power Point.

• There is also a short self-guided tutorial on the course web site on presentation skills and use of Power Point.

(ONLY ORAL PRESENTATION IS NEEDED FOR THE GROUP PROJECT)

Grading

Background Research 15 points

Strategies and justifications 20 points

Creativity and Effectiveness in Promotional Ideas/materials 15 points

Presentation Skills (including responses to instructor’s question) 20 points

Team Spirit 10 points

_______

TOTAL 80 points

The project is due on the presentation date (Dec 8, 10 or 12). Depending on your group’s specific project, you will be given the dates that you can choose for your presentation. Your group will choose the presentation date by Nov 24. Mandatory attendance is expected for each presentation day.