The organisation I have chosen to
look at is USA Network an American cable and satellite channel owned by NBC
Universal Cable. According to Nielsen coverage estimates the channel is
received by 86.38 % of American households that own at least one television
set. Nielsen ratings are gathered by viewer diaries or small devices called Set
Metres placed in selected households.
The product I have chosen is a TV
show called Suits. It is co-produced by Universal Cable Productions, Hypnotic
Films & Television, United Korsh Company and Open 4 Business Productions.
The Show has had four seasons and been recently renewed for a fifth. It is a
Legal Drama that is currently shown on Wednesdays at 9.00pm Eastern Standard
Time. This makes it a primetime show. Primetime is the period of the day with
the most viewers making it particularly important to television stations in terms
of generating advertising revenues. In recent years Drama shows have gained the
most viewers during this time slot and therefore generated the most advertising
revenues.
Statistics taken from http://www.statista.com/statistics/223207/genre-breakdown-of-primetime-tv-ad-spend-in-the-us/
“Suits was among the top 5 scripted series on ad-supported
cable in 3rd quarter in P18-49 (1.84MM), P25-54 (2.02MM) and
P18-34 (844,000) and a top ten series on basic cable in total viewers P2+
(4.50MM). Season 4.0 of the series reached a total audience of 14.1
million viewers across its various platforms, including live viewing, DVR
playback, set-top VOD, digital on-demand and electronic sell-through.”
I have used the internet
to gather statistical information about the show such as Nielsen ratings. As an
employee of USA network I would have access to further statistical information.
Also by looking at the USA Network site I see that they conduct their own
surveys and opinion polls, which would be very useful in defining the audience
of the show and discovering their opinions. I would want to know the income
bracket, age, gender, race and location of the viewers. Using this information
I could effectively target that existing audience and help create new fans of
the show.
In a press release USA
Network President Chris McCumber said “As a leading cable drama, Suits is
at the top of its game and continues to grow in the key demographics, drawing a
passionate, young and loyal audience.” In fact according to buddytv.com it is
the number one scripted TV show in its timeslot for the 18-49 years old
audience demographic.
One way in which I would
try and increase this young audience is by advertising online. I would put
adverts and clips on Youtube and use social network sites such as facebook and
twitter. One method would be to create an internet meme generator for the show
and include it on the USA Network site as well as the show’s facebook and
twitter pages. This would give fans of the show the chance to create their own
adverts for the show which they can share online, hopefully becoming viral.
This could be used as a competition with winners receiving DVDs, show
merchandise and perhaps even a chance to meet its stars. During my research I
discovered something similar was done to promote the second season where
viewers were encouraged to create GIFs of the show.
Here are some examples
of fan made Suits memes I found online:
I would also leak select
information about the show’s storylines to Internet bloggers and television
magazines.
As well as online
advertising I would advertise on television. I would place adverts for the show
in other primetime shows with a similar demographic such as White Collar. I
would also rerun episodes of all the previous seasons of the show in order for
new viewers to catch up and for existing viewers to re-watch their favourite episodes.
I would also consider placing trailers in movie theatres before films targeted
at the same audience demographic on DVDs of the show.
Additionally I would take
out print advertisements in magazines and newspapers as well as securing
interviews with the stars of the show such as Gabriel Macht, Patrick J Adams
and Gina Torres. GQ, a men’s fashion and style magazine based in New York City,
would be a perfect fit for the show. Clothing is an important aspect of the
show, the title itself reflecting this.
Esquire and Details are similar popular American men’s style magazines.
I would also try to secure interviews with the shows stars on the top rated
talk shows as a way to promote the new season.
I would also consider
using merchandise to tie in with the show. Coffee mugs, t-shirts and key rings
would be an obvious start but I would consider other products that would tie in
with the show such as cuff links, Scotch the favourite drink of several of the
characters in the show or engraved Scotch Glasses like the pair of Tiffany ones
featured in an episode of the show. These could be limited edition products
made in small quantities. I would try and create a buzz for the show similar to
that of Mad Men a series that was regarded as much for its sense of style as
for its drama. One advertising technique used by Mad Men was collaborating with
clothing brands such as Banana Republic and Brooks Bros. Something similar to Mad
Men’s collaboration with Brooks Bros. would be perfect for Suits. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/10/brooks-brothers-introduces-limited-edition-mad-men-suit-don-draper-roger-sterling.html)
Such a collaboration
would be covered by fashion blogs and magazines thus creating more advertising
and generating more interest in the show.
To create a strong visual
presence I would use posters, wallscapes and banners to advertise the show in
various locations. Since the show is set in New York I would advertise in
iconic places such as Times Square and New York’s Grand Central Subway
terminal.
Music is an important
part of the show and the main character is a music lover with an impressive
collection of vinyl records. I would create a spotify playlist of songs from
the show and perhaps even sell a soundtrack of selected songs from the show. I
believe this would appeal to the shows key demographic of 18-49 year olds.
It is important that all
of the advertising and promotional tools used are in keeping with the style of
the show and appropriate for its target audience. The look of the show is very
sleek and polished with what I would describe as a masculine feel so although
the audience of the show is young I would avoid using a lot of bright colours
and keep to a subdued palette with perhaps one or two accent colours, The cover
of the season three DVD is a good example of this:
In my opinion this is
much more successful than the season one DVD packaging with its light colours
and emphasis on the friendship of the two main characters. The colour palette,
the placement of the two characters and the stylish clothing in the above image
all help to create a slick, stylish, masculine image. It would be my goal to
make the show ‘cool’ and stylish with a following similar to that of other
successful shows like Mad Men.