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Tag: steam

  • CBS’ marketing blitz for ‘Raymond’ finale gathers steam

    MUMBAI: As the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond heads toward its final episode on 16 May US broadcaster CBS is continuing to roll out an aggressive multi-platform marketing and publicity campaign to support the event.

    In India the show airs on Star World.
     

    The finale will be preceded by a one-hour special featuring behind-the-scenes footage, highlights from the show’s nine seasons and interviews with the cast. The multi-layered effort includes on-air tributes by celebrities; heavy promotion on Viacom radio and cable properties; extensive co-marketing with CBS’s 200-plus affiliated stations; special Raymond themed content on the special CBS Eye on American which airs for passengers travelling on American Airlines. in addition in conjunction with King World there will be a month of programming for episodes in syndication.
     
     

    In a fitting tribute CBS’ sister channel TV Land will pre-empt regularly scheduled programming to salute the series on 16 May. As the finale of Everybody Loves Raymond is airing on CBS, TV Land will be closed for business. Instead of regularly scheduled programming, viewers tuning in to TV Land will instead see a room filled with 210 guys named Raymond.

    Each Raymond represents an episode of the series, and will wear a t-shirt identifying which episode they represent. They will stand and introduce themselves, one by one, by name and episode, for the entire half hour. Throughout this tribute, TV Land will remind viewers that they should really be watching the finale on CBS.

    Prior to the series finale, Comedy Central will present a half-hour special featuring Ray Romano’s stand-up act. CBS stars and other celebrities will also take part in a series of promotional spots where they’ll congratulate the show on its nine-year run and express why the show is so special to them. Participating celebrities include Dr. Phil, Jeff Probst, Charlie Sheen, Anthony LaPaglia, Jason Alexander, Mark Addy, Jami Gertz, Rob Morrow, David Krumholtz and Khandi Alexander, among others.

    CBS has also produced a tie-in guide resembling a Barone family photo album. It is full of ways that stations can promote the finale locally. The guide includes trivia questions for local contests including a list of guest stars from Kevin James who starred in the movie Hitch to basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    Leading up to the series finale, cast members from the Emmy award-winning series will appear on several of the leading daytime and late night talk shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Larry King Live and The Tony Danza Show.

    On 16 May the cast will appear together in New York City for one last time in a media blitz. the activity will start on CBS’ Early Show and culminate on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when the cast of the show and CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves ring the closing bell.

  • BTL activities yet to gather steam, retailers admit ignorance

    MUMBAI: The Rs 350 billion Indian tobacco industry has a new mantra on its lips: Below-the-Line (BTL) activities.

    But there seems to be a drag in applying the strategies and reaching out to retailers. Tobacco companies, who refused to divulge the finer details of their BTL strategies, are taking time to adapt themselves to the changed scenario.

     

     
    As things stand, tobacco ads that once dominated the outdoor advertising segment with all those towering hoardings and glittering signboards have been reduced to three-by-two foot display boards in retail outlet premises now.

    “As per the new rule, we can display only two boards three-by-two foot size in every retail outlet,” informs Godfrey Philips India (GPI) senior vice-president (corporate affairs) Sundeep Kumar.

    Apart from brand extension programmes and direct-to-consumer initiatives, Kumar says GPI has been planning various strategies these days to exercise the limited opportunities that come under BTL activities to the maximum. He rules out any kind of reduction in GPI brands’ prices.

    According to Kumar, GPI is planning to come up with various retailer relationship programmes and new product launches. He refused to reveal if there would be an increased margin for retailers to get the brands an upper hand in the market.

    “Time will tell how things are going. We want to observe what out competitors are doing. Chances are that retailers themselves might increase the rentals for the display boards in their premises,” says Kumar.

    Major tobacco companies are also planning to provide retailers with signboards, which say, “cigarettes will not be sold to people under18,” as a goodwill gesture. The bill insists that retailers should carry these statutory signs in their premises. So tobacco companies have decided to save retailers the trouble by contributing to the signboards.

    As tobacco majors have decided to concentrate on BTL activities, their brands will be presented in visually more attractive packets. Some top brands have undergone changes in package design recently. They include GPI’s Red & White and ITC’s Insignia.

    “Earlier, it was more visual-oriented promotions. Now the whole equation of product-presentation has changed. Now the design should come in such a way that it directly targets the buyer and the purpose should be to project a distinct identity of the brand in the mind of the consumer,” offers Whisper Design Studio retail design manager Sharad Kumar. Whisper is currently handling the account of a tobacco major.

    “Now the design should be more in terms of physical interaction than graphic interaction. We should identify the target group in that particular market area and should design the boards and packets accordingly,” he says.

    According to Kumar, the whole equation of tobacco promotion is changing as design studios have started replacing ad agencies for promoting tobacco brands within the BTL frame.

    The ad ban on tobacco has complicated the promotional strategies of small-sized tobacco manufacturers and new entrants in the field. Now they have to operate within the BTL borderlines. A Mumbai-based tobacco manufacturer, who refused to be named, says that they will be concentrating more on canvassing retail sellers. “We will try to treat retailers better to get a hold on the market,” he says.

    The whole scenario seems to have lifted the tobacco retail seller to a sky-high pedestal. But a couple of tobacco retail sellers from suburban Mumbai, with whom indiantelevision.com had an interaction, beg to differ:

    “We are not excited with the common notion that the ban on tobacco ads has put tobacco retail sellers in a position of advantage. There hasn’t been any change in approach from any of the tobacco companies whose brands we stock. No one has approached us till date with offers like an extension in credit period or increased incentives,” says a retailer.

    “But on the other hand, the ban and the new rule has put us under tremendous pressure. Nowadays we are cautious while supplying to our customers because we are afraid about the official raids. The government should bring an over-all ban on tobacco instead of coming up with complicated rules,” the retailer says.

    “Though the public demand for cigarettes is consistent, the industry hasn’t been doing anything to boost our morale in the changed scenario. We are even thinking of diverting to different products,” reveals the retailer.