IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: FOX

  • “How REAL Will American Idol Get This Season?”

    It’s that time of year again! All our favorite shows are returning, after a seemingly long-awaited hiatus. The longest running singing competition, American Idol, has returned for its thirteenth season. But this season, Idol has been forced to change things up. The show is taking on a fresh, new approach to increase the amount of viewers by revamping their marketing schemes.

    In previous seasons, the show directed promotions towards the judges, featured cities, and upcoming drama. The initial aspirations of the show to seek out raw talent has slipped within the past seasons and in return, turned away viewers. At the shows peak, American Idol attracted 30.4 million viewers in season eight. Since then, viewer ratings have only decreased and reached an all time low with 14.3 million viewers for season twelve. As a result, Fox has decided to rebrand the show by bringing in a new team of producers, less drama-filled judges, and a more heartwarming advertising campaign.

    Within the past seasons, focuses of promoting the show featured drama among the judging panel rather than the actual talent of the contestants. Producers recently have realized the show has drifted away from the heart and original purpose of the show–discovering real people with real talent around the country. In an effort to rebrand their image, season thirteen marketers began focusing on the background stories of the contestants in hopes to return Idol to its initial purpose.
    American-Idol-2014-spoilers-480x265

    American Idol

    One component of the new advertising campaign features eight contestants in their hometowns sharing their personal motivations as to why they sing. Producers felt this new type of advertisement would help viewers identify with the stories and be able to relate to the contestants. Viewers are invited to participate in the hopeful journey of the “average Joe’s” transformation into a superstar.

    American Idol’s new video promotion of the upcoming season also focuses on introducing new contestants and excluding any drama or glamour of the judges (hallelujah). In addition to highlighting real contestants, marketers have incorporated social media by producing a new tag line for the show, #ThisIsReal, to encourage audience conversations on Twitter. Producers hope that the incorporation of social media marketing will increase the show’s ratings and reputation. The advertising of real people and their real aspirations are designed to appeal to a variety of audiences on social media platforms, especially the younger demographics.

    By incorporating a variety of platforms such as television, print and social media, American Idol hopes to attract a wide array of audiences through this new and improved IMC campaign. Do you think this new campaign will be effective in increasing and engaging audiences? Or will American Idol continue its downward spiral?

    -Briana McWhirter, Emily Foulke, Hannah Turner

  • Ad it all up

    The anticipation of the 2011 TV line up is almost complete as we
    are wrapping up the first week of an intense premiere season. Coming soon we
    will view the Nielson rating which will say which show came out on top with the
    most viewers and what networks picked the best shows to debut. However, there is
    more to just ratings from a show that make it popular, there are strategies
    weaved into placing certain advertisement’s along with the viewers of those
    shows.

    When watching the recent Emmy award-dominating force, Modern
    Family, on Wednesday
    evening    ,  did you notice that actress Sofia Vergara, who plays the role
    of gorgeous Gloria Pritchett, debuted her new clothing line at K-Mart for the “
    You are Woman, So dress like a Woman line”? Maybe the nostalgic 60
    second Pepsi commercial caught your attention while watching the hit show X
    Factor on Fox which took the audience on a journey through the
    past. The commercial starts off as a new performer about to enter
    the stage but before he goes on he picks up a can of Pepsi, takes a swig, then
    stares at the logo it then evokes emotion from the new performer and, it
    sends him into a tumbling daydream full of Pepsi’s pop stars past commercials,
    such as the late Michael Jackson, Ray Charles and Mariah Carey to name a few,
    then you are left to a blurred vision of this man about to enter the stage and
    become his own start like those who drank Pepsi its first big brand spot touting
    its connection to the program.

    Is it a coincidence for both of these commercials to premiere
    simultaneously with these shows? You would be silly to consider such a
    thing. Thematically, the spot placement of each advertisement is
    seamless. Pepsi really is wondering who will become the next, since they have
    promised the winner of The X Factor a starring role in a Super Bowl commercial
    this winter.  Sofia Vergara knew she had the “mom” and “working
    women” audience during the Modern Family season premiere; ABC and Sofia knew
    those mom’s and working women were those who helped nominate her for the 4
    Emmy’s this year. It was a perfect fit for one of the highly anticipated comedy
    shows to integrate Sofia’s personal achievements.

    The Nielsen rating suggests that consumers are watching TV more
    than ever before, which makes what they are watching an integral and essential
    part of a marketing campaigning for brands. This is there one opportunity this
    fall season to make impact on those targeted viewers to entice them to purchase
    a can of Pepsi over Coke, or that leopard Mini skirt at K-Mart over the
    over-priced department stores. These are ad placement strategies, brands and
    networks have merged together to get more bang for your buck.

    – Jordan Hill, Ashley Nelson, Michela Noreski