2008 EMMAs—Diversity Advances through Marketing

Things continue to improve with NAMIC’s Excellence in Multicultural Marketing Awards, the EMMAs. Not only has the quality of entries continued to rise yearly, the number of entries has as well. Entries this year were up 10% over last year’s record intake, says Daphne Leroy, NAMIC’s VP for Marketing and Communications. And the awards themselves have expanded, with a new category, Diversity Awareness, added to the mix. Some things haven’t changed, though. The EMMAs presentation will be held during NAMIC’s conference this month in New York. ESPN Deportes again will be sponsoring the awards and CableFAX will be NAMIC’s exclusive media partner for the EMMAs. Below are profiles of this year’s first-place winners, along with a list of second- and third-place winners.

Case Studies/Campaigns Category

CABLE COMPANIES

• COX CENTRAL FLORIDA NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUE PROJECT, COX COMMUNICATIONS

History and diversity came alive for Cox Central Florida employees and their community when VP/GM Mike Giampietro’s interest in baseball took over. His curiosity prompted him to suggest that learning about the Negro Baseball League could be an excellent learning tool. Nine former Negro League players were brought to Cox offices, local schools and functions to discuss their lives. The results were many: a visceral, unforgettable experience for kids, a better understanding of history and diversity for adults, a stronger bridge to the community for Cox and a salute to a largely neglected group of living pioneers.

2nd Place

• KNOW YOUR/OUR HISTORY, TIME WARNER CABLE

• INCREASING USAGE AND AWARENESS OF A FREE ON-DEMAND NEWS CHANNEL TO AFRICAN AMERICAN CUSTOMERS, TIME WARNER CABLE, LOCAL NEWS DIVISION

3rd Place

• DETROIT MASALA EXPANSION, COMCAST

• ANNUAL OUR HISTORY ART CONTEST, COX COMMUNICATIONS NEW ORLEANS

  
  NETWORKS

• FILIPINO ON DEMAND LAUNCH CAMPAIGN, INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS

The Filipino community loves to buy and use advanced products and has a tremendous demand for content, so launching a Filipino-related SVOD offering should be a natural, International Networks reasoned. The hurdles? How to make sure people know the SVOD product contains unique content; that it’s not a time-shifted version of the linear The Filipino Channel, says Shelly Kurtz, Executive Director, Affiliate Sales and Marketing. "We used phrases like ‘one of a kind’ and ‘exclusive programming not on any other cable channel,’" she adds. Filipino on Demand became the top premium VOD service for average viewing time (62+ minutes).

2nd Place

• LUCHA LIBRE BAJO LAS ESTRELLAS/WRESTLING NIGHT UNDER THE STARS, TUTV

• VH1 HIP HOP HONORS WEEKEND, VH1

• CELEBRATE DIWALI WITH BOLLYWOOD HITS ON DEMAND, INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS

3rd Place

• MI SHOWTIME MYSPACE CAMPAIGN, SHOWTIME NETWORKS INC.

• BRAND RE-LAUNCH 2007-8, ¡SOPRESA!

• THE ULTIMATE QUINCEANERA, MUN 2

Marketing Tactics Category

CABLE COMPANIES

DIRECT MAIL

• GMA MARI MAR FEVER DIRECT MAIL (FILIPINO), COMCAST

In short, "it" sells. Still. To boost subscriptions for Filipino network GMA Pinoy, Comcast tried direct mail. Rarely has a mailed piece been as direct. The image (below) featured actors from GMA’s top-rated drama, Mari Mar, and the tone is, er, feverish. "It was my first choice. The creative was so compelling," says Natalie Rouse, Comcast’s director, national ethnic marketing. As were the results: a 9.3% rise in GMA subs, a 5% install rate, and a cost per customer acquisition of just $23.21 ($60-$90 is the norm).

GRASSROOTS

• COX CENTRAL FLORIDA NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUE PROJECT, COX COMMUNICATIONS

It’s not easy to describe the mix of emotion and awed silence that ensued when nine former Negro League ballplayers told their stories to Cox employees and school kids [ see first entry on page 34]. A taste: a 2-hour, all-system breakfast with the players ran to four hours, says Marketing Manager Michelle Cooper. "There were tears…we were amazed at the depth of their experiences," Cooper adds: "History was being made and history was being learned." Agreed.

Second Place

• GMA MARI MAR FEVER TABLE TENT (FILIPINO), COMCAST

INTERNET/NEW MEDIA

• ROGERS.COM/DESI, ROGERS CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, INC

Rogers marketers wanted their South Asian offerings to stand out from the bevy of products at rogers.com. But this had to be done in a way "that shows we understand the community," says Bobby Sahni, manager, multicultural marketing. The result was a microsite with a heavy Bollywood emphasis. ARPU rose 14% YOY; total multicultural revenue grew 38.3% YOY.

OUT OF HOME

• ROGERS.COM/DESI, ROGERS CABLE COMMUNICATIONS INC

In marketing as in life, it’s advisable to use what you’ve got. In Toronto, many South Asians live in ethnic neighborhoods. So Rogers posted ads in areas with heavy South Asian traffic to push its rogers.com/desi microsite. The messaging featured a Bollywood montage. "Bollywood unites [South Asians]. We wanted to be loud and proud of our programming,"says Bobby Sahni, manager, multicultural marketing. As noted above, ARPU rose 14% YOY in ethnic households.

2nd Place

• TIME WARNER CABLE LOS ANGELES REGION HISPANIC FSI 2008, TIME WARNER CABLE

PRINT

• COX NORTHERN VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL TIER LAUNCH, COX COMMUNICATIONS, NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Looking at the picture above, it’s clear that Cox Northern VA was targeting the competitive dominance of DBS in international programming. The print piece worked. Digital penetration rose 12 points in Korean HHs and 7.7points in Chinese HHs.

2nd Place

• SET ASIA FREE PREVIEW, COMCAST

RADIO

• BADIYA FESTIVAL, BADIYA OFFER (DIWALI), ROGERS CABLE COMMUNICATIONS INC

A hallmark of Rogers Cable’s multicultural ads is their authenticity. For major South Asian holidays Diwali and Eid, Rogers hired a local producer to create a tune that would relay holiday greetings, says Bobby Sahni, multicultural marketing manager. It went to India for the voiceover. Within the holiday greetings was a triple play offer and a chance to win a gold bar. The radio spot supported a print offer. It helped keep cost/call less than $100.

TELEVISION

• 2 PRODUCT ACQUISITION TV "PLASMA," TIME WARNER CABLE

As good marketers know, even a straight-forward, 60-second spot involves myriad decisions. "We’re all about fact-based marketing, so we started with facts," says William Ortiz, senior director, multicultural marketing, Time Warner Cable. The Spanish-language direct response piece included a toll-free number on screen within seconds. Another key, Ortiz feels, was the offer: digital cable and high-speed access for $49.90. As the piece says, 2 services for less than it costs for satellite. Now that’s a winner.

2nd Place

• AFRICAN AMERICAN DRTV-CRITICS, COX COMMUNICATIONS

ALL OTHER MEDIA

• CUSTOM CD-VALENTINE’S DAY (FILIPINO), COMCAST

It pays to remember Valentine’s Day, and be several months early. In October Comcast California marketers were brainstorming as GMA Pinoy was playing music videos. Somehow they hit on the idea of GMA stars singing love songs on a CD, says Natalie Rouse, director, national ethnic marketing. Comcast sent 900 free CDs to new GMA subs. Nearly half had never been basic cable subs. But don’t tell your sweetheart the CDs were free.

2nd Place

• "LLAMADAS ILIMITADAS" TIME WARNER CABLE

NETWORKS

DIRECT MAIL

• OUR HISTORY MONTH CAMPAIGN, TV ONE

A picture’s worth a thousand words. Sometimes a painting is, too. For its Black History Month campaign this year, TV One commissioned 3 paintings to represent a trio of specials it was running. "We wanted people [who received the direct mailer] to have a personal connection with our programming," says George Lima, VP, Affiliate Marketing & Affiliate Ad Sales. The 100K pieces of mail to households in Comcast’s Atlanta footprint resulted in 2,205 new customers.

2nd Place

• HISPANIC "THALIA" MAILER, COMCAST/AMEREDIA, INC.

3rd Place

• CHARTER LATINO SUMMER GETAWAY, TUTV

• UNIVISION AND COX NEW ORLEANS 2007 COPA AMERICA, UNIVISION COMMUNICATIONS INC.

DIVERSITY AWARENESS

• DISCOVER DIVERSITY, DISCOVERY NETWORKS U.S. HISPANIC GROUP

Discovery’s Multicultural Alliance held a contest that asked employees to describe diversity. During a meeting, a quartet of employees realized there were many diversity tales. The resulting contest submission was a site where 20 fellow employees told diversity stories, says Alexis Espejo, the team’s leader. Their entry won Discovery’s contest.

2nd Place

• A YEAR OF OPPORTUNITY: 2008 INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS CALENDAR, INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS

TELEVISION

• OUR HISTORY MONTH-WAKE UP EVERYBODY, SAY IT LOUD, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TV ONE

The lyrics to great songs can resonate for years. And when they’re spoken without music, as opposed to sung with music, they tend to get more attention, says TV One EVP Susan Banks. That’s the thinking behind a series of spots TV One created for Black History Month ’08. Creative director Judy Huern used lyrics from classics by Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Harold Melvin. Talent like Richard Roundtree, spoke the powerful words on a set conceived by VP Scott Perkins.

2nd Place

• DIWALI PROMO SPOT, BOLLYWOOD HITS ON DEMAND, INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS

3rd Place

• TU PRIDE, MTV

ALL OTHER MEDIA

• CRASH THE PARTIES ’08, SI TV

Si TV spotted the trend in youth involvement in the ’08 election early. It sponsored Crash the Parties, a search for two young Latinos who’d cover the Democrat and Republican conventions for the channel. The results exceeded expectations. Some 120 people entered the reporter contest, garnering nearly 40,000 votes and 500K Web impressions.

2nd Place

— VIVA HOLLYWOOD POP-UP PASSWORD, VH1

Feeling No Payne

Promotion for the TBS sitcom captures a record 5 awards as it extends the network’s reach into the black community.

We trust the people at TBS and Turner Network Sales who marketed Tyler Perry’s House of Payne have a lot of room on their shelves. They’ll be picking up a record five EMMAs. That quintet will rest next to the CableFAXIES award they received from us in May.

Prior to House of Payne, which premiered to record ratings in June 2007, TBS lacked a strong presence in the black community. This led to a two-part strategy: promote House of Payne while using the Tyler Perry brand to create awareness of TBS with black viewers, says Vicky Free, VP of entertainment marketing for TNT, TBS and TCM.

One of Perry’s strongholds is in black churches. Accordingly, TBS worked hard on faith-based marketing, establishing an advisory group to learn how best to partner with churches, Free says. Ministers were sent email about how themes of upcoming Payne episodes could be used in sermons. In addition the network sent episodes early to churches so they could hold special Family Fun Nights, where branded merchandise also was distributed.

Marketers wanted to reach viewers on multiple media platforms, Free says, so a dedicated site on tbs.com was created. For a radio push, relationships with talent were cultivated. DJs were flown to Atlanta to meet the cast.

But five EMMAs? "It’s a testament to the support Turner gave to the series," Free says. "It also shows there’s a hunger, particularly among African Americans, to have a series that they can feel good about and that promotes family."

Back to table of contents for CableFAX: The Magazine‘s 2008 Most Influential Minorities in Cable issue.