Scripps Pitches Ad 'Stories'
by Anthony Crupi - MEDIAWEEK
After pitching media buyers during the upfront on the concept of customized ad narratives that help keep viewers during ad breaks—and offer clients a clutter-free environment—Scripps Nets has drafted 26 separate “Short Stories” for clients including Dial’s Renuzit and Liberty Mutual. Some “stories” have run; others will roll out in coming weeks.
Each treatment is structured around three vignettes, which run in successive pods throughout a single half-hour program. In the Renuzit effort, a homemaker puts the finishing touches on her basement renovation with an assist from the new Tri-Scents product, incorporating the room deodorizer as a design element. Each vignette is wrapped by billboards, and the first and third installments lead into a 30-second Tri-Scents spot.
Per a third-party researcher commissioned by HGTV, unaided brand recall more than tripled in the two months the Tri-Scent execution ran on the network. Additionally, 74 percent of viewers surveyed reported an intent to purchase the product. The Tri-Scent spots ran in select HGTV programs across a range of dayparts, with prime-time placement going at a premium. “Prime is pricey, because you’re talking about the equivalent of 80 percent of the avails, with the billboards and the two :30s,” said Jon Steinlauf, senior vp advertising sales, Scripps Nets.
Meanwhile, the collaboration with Liberty Mutual incorporates the theme of the company’s current marketing campaign, “Responsibility. What’s Your Policy?,” which challenges viewers to adopt a more altruistic worldview. In the treatment, a Girl Scout troop volunteers to rebuild a police K9 training facility.
“It builds to a point where the ads simply work a lot harder,” Steinlauf said, adding that financial services now accounts for 10 percent-15 percent revenue for HGTV, DIY and Fine Living. “Those three networks help them diversify their spend, which skews so heavily toward sports and news.”
Agencies that have trialed the concept said they’d likely be back for seconds. “We wanted to take over the home-makeover genre, which so clearly lines up with the client’s brand,” said Sarah Wehrli, account director for Omnicom’s Green Room Entertainment. “We’ll definitely include Scripps in the mix in 2009.”
While the story initiative has been met with enthusiasm, Steinlauf said that there’s a limit to how many vignettes will run in the course of a day. “It’s becoming one of our most popular tools, but we won’t run the risk of overexposure.”
Of course, the executions wouldn’t work as well if the Scripps brands weren’t already so clearly defined, Wehrli said. “HGTV is ESPN for people who are into home design,” she said. “It’s authentic and viewers respond to that.”
